Bird Baths and Rain Riding

[thepittsburghguzzi]

PSA: I love my V7 Classic more and more with each passing mile. I want to pick your guys' brains on two things: washing/cleaning, and riding in the rain. As for keeping the bike clean, I'm not of the "showroom clean" mentality - in the words of my uncle, "it's a damn motorcycle and it's meant to be ridden". The V7 looks beautiful no matter how much road schmutza gets thrown up onto her, but I do my best to keep her looking decent.

What kinds of products do you use? Per the recommendation of a buddy and online reviews, I picked up a bottle of S100. It's biodegradable, supposedly safe for all surfaces on the bike, and is said to work well. What steps, if any, do you guys take after cleaning? I've seen cans of SC1 Clearcoat that some guys like to spray on most of their plastic and paint surfaces to keep dirt from clinging. There is of course the option of traditional wax on the gas tank. Thoughts on this?

As for rain, I'm not asking about how to do it or how to handle such a thing (this has probably been covered many times over), but rather - are there particular spots on my V7 Classic that I should pay extra attention to after riding in wet conditions? I love not having a chain to worry about rusting out. With the airbox vents being mid-bike behind my legs, they don't seem to be in the direct path of water spray. Have you guys with V7s noticed any 'trouble spots' that are first to get rusty or otherwise adversely affected by wet conditions?

In a few short days, I've tacked on almost 500 miles. This bike is so endlessly charming, so full of character. When I leave it parked outside of work, it's a conversation starter and a big source of pride. *Fist bump* to my fellow Guzzista!

[Cam3512]

I use aerosol spray on (white foam) Honda cleaner/wax - Good for ALL surfaces.  S100 can damage paint.

[redrider]

S100 is a no no. Expensive and damaging to some surfaces. Good old car wash concentrate, dish rag(purloined on the sly) and a wheel brush. Your Uncle is  right.

[Waltr]

  S100 is acid based and will corrode aluminum.  I use a combination of Murphy's oil soap and some kind of car wash soap.  The Murphys will gently remove oil based road film and gunk.  I blow my bikes dry with a leaf blower and wipe down with a chamois spayed with Eagle Wax As You Dry.
In between washing I use a number of spray and wipe products.

 

[John A]

I use the Ken Hand method, but he's more of a perfectionist than I   

[Nic in Western NYS]

I use aerosol spray on (white foam) Honda cleaner/wax - Good for ALL surfaces.  S100 can damage paint.

Honda spray wax.  Diluted Simple Green on the wheels.  That's it.  No other detergents and no water under pressure.

[oldbike54]

I use the Ken Hand method, but he's more of a perfectionist than I   

 At JN Smyth's memorial service we had to shovel the Turnip's motorbike out from under its own pile of detritus left after a sudden stop 

 Dusty

[swordds]

I use Turtle Wax Rinse Free Wash and Wax in a hand spray bottle  Spray it on and wipe it off. Of course for the rare times I have heavy mud I rinse that off with a hose first.   I have used dryer sheets for love bugs on my car but haven't had that problem with my V7II yet.  On my helmet I use eye glasses wipes.   On my bicycles I use only Pledge furniture wax and may start trying the same for my motorcycle just to compare but I have been very happy with the Turtle Wax Rinse Free so no real reason to change.  I don't have a garage so I use a motorcycle cover.

[Dilliw]

You are probably better off asking the Harley crowd what they use instead of this place. 

A friend of mine uses Pig Spit on the black stuff of his Sportster.  I'm going to try can of that with the Griso.

[Chuck in Indiana]

The thing about S100 is you have to spritz it on and totally rinse immediately. If you don't.. uh.. can you spell corrosion, kids?  I use it.. carefully.
Cam sez:

I use aerosol spray on (white foam) Honda cleaner/wax - Good for ALL surfaces.  S100 can damage paint.

Me, too.

[JeffOlson]

I used to worry about these things when we lived in suburbia and had a garage. Now that we live in the country, on a farm with no garage, I let it go.

At home, my Norge is parked outside under the large overhang of a shed. If I am not going to ride it for a protracted period of time (say, because the temperature is below freezing and the roads are slippery), I will cover it. Otherwise, it remains uncovered. At work, my Norge is parked in a reserved spot in an underground garage, uncovered.

Because it rains here in Oregon, much of my riding is in the rain--a lot of rain. The rain actually helps to wash off the farm dirt that is unavoidably everywhere! If the weekend weather is okay, I will wash my Norge with warm water, a fleece mitt, and a quality auto soap. Then I let it dry naturally. Otherwise, I won't bother washing it.

I figure if a motorcycle can't stand up to a bit of weather, well, it is time to replace it with one that can. I think your V7 can stand up to a bit of weather.

[jas67]

I had a 2009 V7 Classic.  The chrome rims like to rust.    Keeping them from rusting required frequently polishing with chrome polish and waxing.    I tired of that.   It is one of the reasons that when the 1TB bikes came out with choice of cast alloy (Stone), or wire wheels with alloy rims (Special) I sold it and upgraded to the newer bikes.

But, otherwise, treated the painted surfaces as you would any painted surfaces on a car.

[LowRyter]

I mostly use the spray on stuff.  Like Pledge but you get in the motorcycle shop. I think Cycle Gear brand is like $6.

[John A]

The thing about S100 is you have to spritz it on and totally rinse immediately. If you don't.. uh.. can you spell corrosion, kids?  I use it.. carefully.
Cam sez:
Me, too.

I think what Chuck means is Uniform Etch, not the heartbreak of Intergranular Exfoliation   

[malik]

The chrome rims on the V7C tend to rust easily. Keep on top of it with chrome polish. Water also collects INSIDE the rims & rust forms on the inside. I clean the  bulk of the rust out with a wire brush or wheel, treat with rust converter, etching primer & a lacquer. It also happens with Enfield rims badly & there I use self-amalgamating tape from the chandlery  instead of rim tape. Rust doesn't do nice things to tubes.

Other rust spots I've noticed:- the welds on the chromed OEM rear rack - a smidgin of ACF50, or some other lubricant works there. - some of the washers on the crankcase bolts, ACF50 or oil there too - the gearshift & brake linkage arms may collect some corrosion, so same treatment there - you should also be lubricating the side stand pivot bolt anyway, so while you are there ........... It would be a good idea after washing to smear a little oil on the fork tubes above the fork seals & below the lower triple tree - detergents seem to remove the oil film & rust starts at the top. On older bikes that have been sitting around, like Brevas & Nevadas, the mirror stems seem to collect rust, so polish or lubricate those. Keep an eye on exposed allen bolts that point upwards, the rubber bungs on the V7C head bolts seem to fall off readily. After you have dried the bike off, & drained it on the side stand, idling the engine till warms dries out the bits you can't get to.

If you ride salt treated roads, spray ACF50 on exposed aluminium - it seems to help inhibit corrosion

When you change the rear tyre, remove the final drive & re-grease the splines. If rusty water dribbles out, there maybe a little hole in the boot over the universal.

That's all I can think of, it might sound a lot, but doesn't actually take much effort. Keeping the old-style smallblock rocker covers looking good, now that takes effort.

[thepittsburghguzzi]

You ladies and gents are a wealth of knowledge, thank you kindly for the feedback! The bikes are under their covers right now, sadly - snow and rain mix here in the 'burgh today. It ought to warm up soon and I've got a laundry list of things I want to do with the KZ, and give the V7 a nice detail.

Malik, thanks for the thorough run-down on what to look for! I have Simichrome that I plan on using for the wheels and exhaust and all other chrome bits - yes?

S100 seems to split people into two camps, but the package claims that it's "non-acid, ph balanced, biodegradable" and a few customers at work have raved about it, while cautioning that they rinse it off immediately and thoroughly.  Many have mentioned Simple Green, so I'll give that a try in the future.

The bike goes under a high-quality, all-season cover whenever bad weather comes. When I park at work, I'm not going to cover it for an 8-hour shift assuming it isn't raining that day. Seems silly :P

And in sum, I don't need it to be showroom clean all the time - I agree with Jeff Olson, on the bike being designed to withstand a certain mount of weather, etc. So, we all have our happy medium that we strike on clean vs. riding the damn thing and letting it get a little dirty. Balance seems to be the key!

[rocker59]

S100 - works well, but do rinse it immediately.

Simple Green - don't use it on any paint or carbon fibre parts, if you want to keep them shiny.

[Texas Turnip]

pittsburghguzzi,

As far as I know I'm the only person that has ever had a Guzzi abducted by the dealer and taken to the car wash. The babes at the bikini bike wash wouldn't get near it.

Now I like to look at a clean bike, but I've never had to leave a rally early because "it might rain".

Tex