How To Wash Your Motorcycle | MC Garage

Dirt and grime not only look bad on your bike, but they’re also bad for your motorcycle’s finishes. We’ll show you the proper way to deep-clean your bike in this video from the MC Garage.

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When you wash your bike, you're not just making it look good, you're removing dirt, grime, dead bugs, and corrosive crud that's bad for your bike's paint, chrome, and metal parts.

Step 1: Gather Your Motorcycle Washing Materials
To get your bike looking its best you'll need a washing mitt, two buckets, a general-purpose car wash cleaner, an old paintbrush or sponge brush for getting in nooks and crannies, and a chamois or a stack of old towels to dry the bike off when you're done—just make sure they're clean. If you're using a spray-on car wash, you need that, a brush, and a way to rinse off your bike.

Step 2: Prep Your Motorcycle
Whether you're washing the old-fashioned way with soapy water and a mitt or using a modern spray-on/rinse-off cleaner, your motorcycle needs to be cool so the water, soap, or cleaner doesn't just evaporate when you spray it on. Move your motorcycle out of the sun and into the shade, that's where you should be working. Washing in the shade is preferred because the sun won't dry things out and create water spots and streaking.

Step 3: Rinse Off Your Bike
When your bike has cooled, go ahead and spray it down with either a hose or with your bike-specific product. Wait a couple of minutes for the bike to soak and for those exoskeletons and grime to loosen.

If you're using something like WD-40 Bike Wash, then you just need to rinse the bike off with water and the cleaning process is supposedly done, but if you've got stubborn grime or if you're using soapy water, then it's time to bust out the wash mitt and your brushes.

Step 4: Washing With The Two Bucket Method
As for those two buckets, one is for your soapy water, and the other is just for rinsing out your mitt or sponge so it stays clean. Here's the concern—your bike is dirty, and if you just scrub it down with a dirt-encrusted mitt, you could scratch and haze your paint.

So clean small sections of the bike at a time, starting at the top and working your way down. Rinse your sponge regularly and rinse off the bike as you go. You can use an old brush to get in around spokes and engine fins and clean other nooks and crannies, and once the bike is good and clean, give it one final, thorough rinse with a hose.

And whenever you put your sponge or cleaning tools down, put them in the rinse bucket. Setting them on the ground is a great way to pick up sand or grit that might scratch your paint.

Step 5: Dry Your Bike And Run The Engine
With your bike all washed and rinsed, it's time to dry it off. You've got a couple of options here, from using compressed air or a leaf blower to just toweling or chamois-ing the bike down. Again, make sure whatever you're wiping your bike with is clean and grit-free. Once you've gotten it blown off or wiped down, it's a good idea to start the bike and let it run to help evaporate any residual moisture that didn't flow out of the drain hole in the muffler.

Step 6: Lube Your Chain
You have a clean motorcycle, but don’t forget to lube your chain. The water, soap, and cleaner have stripped off any lubricant and this is the perfect time to reapply, and reapply it correctly. If you want to, you could wax your paint too. It’ll add extra shine and protect the finish so it’ll stay pretty longer.

Can I Wash My Motorcycle With A Pressure Washer?
At this point, you’re probably wondering if it isn’t just easier to blast your bike with a pressure washer. It’s tempting for sure, but you need to be careful not to direct the stream of water at your wheel bearings, swingarm pivot, fork seals, chain, and electrical connectors since you could compromise the seals. For a thorough clean, you’re better off doing it by hand.

How To Wash A Motorcycle The Right Way
- Get your motorcycle washing materials ready
- Let your bike cool or wheel it over to the shade
- Rinse your bike down
- Wash with soapy water using the two bucket method
- Rinse off the suds and dry your bike
- Lube your chain
- Go for a ride!

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What do I need to wash a motorcycle? (0:29)
Rinsing off your motorcycle (1:08)
Washing a motorcycle using the two bucket method (1:30)
Should I use a pressure washer to clean my motorcycle? (2:17)
Drying your motorcycle (2:45)
Clean and lubricate your chain (3:05)

[roygoodeve]

And once you've cleaned it, it's best to sit down with a few beers and just stare at it :)

[AlexWishard]

As someone who loves to detail, and does it for customers on weekends as a side-hustle, I feel a bit compelled to mention a few things that refute Ari's points, which I'm sure to most of you is probably already known... but just in case:
- Soaps - use wheel/rim-made cleaners to help get off grime that's tougher than paint-made soaps; use brushes and an old wash mit in a third bucket to agitate the dirt and grime more thoroughly (this third bucket is only to be used for the rims, as brake dust is super corrosive)
- Wash in straight lines to avoid putting in swirls
- Get grit guards to trap the dirt at the bottom of the bucket as it settles, so that you don't re-trap the dirt because you agitated the water at the bottom when rinsing out your mit
- Don't use a sponge at all - the fibers wrapped around the sponge (the yellow side Ari used) scratch the paint, and capture grit, only to drag it back over your paint, compounding the scratches. It all stays on the surface of the sponge. Use a microfiber mit or a high grade lamb's wool mit (top to bottom in the sections) to lift the dirt/water off. Wash in straight lines, and viggorously rinse the mit
- Don't use old towels to dry it off the paint - Use microfiber towels with a slightly higher pile and density (300 gsm +/- and about a 70%-30% in fiber mix). Old towels don't dry as well, and aren't really great at lifting dirty water drops. Dry in straight lines, and consider using a spray wax to create a buffer zone between the towel and paint, and hydrate the towel and paint as you dry
- Wax only lasts about 2 or 3 weeks max, even with the new blends coming out. Use a synthetic sealant first, and then follow it up with a wax. Synthetic sealant lasts way longer (about 5+ months depending on the exposure time), with more protection. Use the wax on top for more protection and give it the shine that the sealant can't (they work best in tandem)

There are tons of soaps for every piece of your ride, so please don't use AP cleaners, or anything that is lemon or lime based. Go for neutral PH cleaners. If you don't want to buy online from Detail King, Chemical Guys, AMMO NYC, etc., I'd recommend Meguiar's or Turtle Wax for off-the-shelf retail products you can find anywhere. Also consider getting a blower to help get out trapped water your towels/hands can't reach. Nothing more annoying than having water stains after washing your bike.

Enjoy your next ride and stay safe guys!

[kungfuman]

I just ride mine through one of those gas station car washes. I get a nice cleaning too.

[dahveed]

Why do Ari's bag of "old towels" look nicer and newer than my “inside the house towels”?

[faridsa]

This is guy is getting more and more shredded every video!

[GETUPANDGO]

Clean chain, clean bike, so satisfying!

[laurentbouchereau]

I just bought a 250cc hyosung motorbike 2 weeks ago, and was not to sure of how to go about the cleaning process and stumbled on this video. Very informative. Thanks

[-n]

Damn it. Now I need to go out and wash my bike.

[JimmyJamesMarquees]

Ideally you don't want to use a sponge since they trap dirt and will cause micro scratches (those circular swirls every bike has). You will want to wash with either a microfiber cloth or wash mitt. Also it's a good idea to start with the cleanest, painted parts of your bike. Since at the start of the cleaning process, you wash mitt and buckets are pretty much 100% clean, there is less change of getting swirls on your painted areas. This might seem a bit over the top, but it will make a huge difference after a couple of years :)

Also wax is good, but make sure older waxes are removed from the painted areas when you apply wax. And most shampoo's won't be as aggressive to clear wax from the bike. So if you want to wax, use a proper car / bike all purpose cleaner to remove old wax, so you'll just have your new wax on there :)

Also for drying, micro fiber drying towels are a bit saver.

[MrTherio]

I use compressed air to dry, here’s a quick tip. Wrap a piece of tape (duct or electrical ) around the end of the air nozzle to avoid scratches when getting close to painted surfaces. Thanks for the vid!

[hawaiianpunchoner]

I've had my bike a few months now and I was hesitant to wash it because thinking I'm gonna ruin something....watched 3 other videos on washing a motorcycle and they were at those car washes with the high pressure hose... your video made the most sense to me... THANK YOU.

[siemens]

I'm watching this and I don't even own a bike

[christopherpollard]

Just got my first "bike" two weeks ago, already got about 520 miles on my 2020 crf250 rally (dying to get past the break in period)... These videos have been an awesome way to try and gather some basics, thanks for the great content!

[scandimc]

Pro tip: dont get colored rims! Its a pain in the ass to clean

[dlby]

Just subbed, you explain everything with no rubbish fillers... AWESOME 😘

[Roadstar]

I ride mine to the spray car wash and clean it that way most of the time. I avoid spraying the engine until it's already caught plenty of overspray and dripping water, so that it doesn't cool down too quickly. I avoid spraying directly at anything that is lubricated. Then I dry with a towel and ride away. If it has a gloss finish I'll wax it by hand at home. It's worked pretty well for me the past 20 years, except when the car wash does a shitty job of maintaining their machines (which is, unfortunately, often).

[justaguyreal]

2:30 I've always found that the lower pressure or idle pressure at a car wash was really great without the high pressure risks

[WicakMifta]

Another quick and detailed explanation! Nice one!

[justingreen]

I am extremely particular about washing my vehicles and Motorcycle and I thought I would learn nothing from this video but that 2 buckets thing is a good idea !!

[punkszher]

Just finished washing my bike and youtube recommended me this video.
Just weird algorithm.
Ride safe motorcyclists!