Cleaning

[DJUK]

Hi there, going to clean my bike at the weekend and was wondering how long it takes to take the fairings off? Roughly...

Basically I took my bike to get a service at rainbow in Rotherham and they told me I had loads of salt all over the bike and it needed a thorough clean to avoid corrosion. So thought I'd take fairings off, get jets wash on with snow foam and then a blast to rinse off, dry some how (other half's hair dryer and towels) clean the fairings and apply wax and refit. Hoping that should do it.

Dom

 

[Godzilla]

I would say it depends. I have don't it loads of times now and takes me about half hour or so. Used to take quite a bit longer.

 

[DJUK]

I'll say about 45-50 minutes then. I'm pretty handy with a screw driver, just wiggling the parts off that might be the problem. Couldn't get the rear off brake light and fairing off last weekend though. Hicks under something and I was getting annoyed that it wouldn't come out. I would of broke it if I'd of carried on. Ha

 

[soofsayer]

Basically I took my bike to get a service at rainbow in Rotherham and they told me I had loads of salt all over the bike and it needed a thorough clean to avoid corrosion. So thought I'd take fairings off, get jets wash on with snow foam and then a blast to rinse off, dry some how (other half's hair dryer and towels) clean the fairings and apply wax and refit. Hoping that should do it.

Dom

Hi Dom. As Godzilla said, fairings take about half an hour with a bit of practice. I recommend you take plenty of time (hour or more) getting them off and maybe take a few iPhone pics or notes to remember what goes where. The aluminium fairing screws can snap off if over tightened or cross threaded so take your time and don't over tighten.

Probably teaching you to suck eggs here but for starters only use cold water when you are cleaning up salt, nothing warm or hot ever. I'd consider washing the bike twice with a micro fibre glove to get all salt off, heavy soaking with cold water first and at the end to dilute anything you've missed. The problem with pressure washers is that they can push water (and salt) into seals and other areas that a) you can't get to and b) are not going to be cheap to fix when they have corroded (electrics). Apart from towel drying, if you haven't got a motorcycle dryer (blower) then a 10 minute run up the road will ensure it is bone dry. Or run it standing still for a bit will also do the trick.

or screw all that and come out for a blast instead .

 

[RichC]

Drying wise pick up a leaf blower and put it away with a cheap dehumidifier on for 24 hrs.