How far is too far?

[mstevens]

I had to trailer my Monster to BCM to get a seriously worn rear tire replaced. I put it on the trailer the night before so I could sleep in a little longer. It rained really hard that night.

Does that count?

[somegirl]

i'm pretty cRAzY about keeping my things clean!?! i don't even take my car out of the garage when it rains, let alone the bike. whenever its at least a 40% chance of rain i drive one of the wifes cars...

I hope you clean it for her too.

[DoubleEagle]

I guess I'm a freak.

I wash and dry and sometimes wax my bikes every time I go for a ride.

When I go for a ride I ride at least 100 miles . I do like my bikes to always look like the day I bought them.

I clean and lube the chains every 500 miles.

When I come home from a ride I'm done riding for the day.

It takes me about an hour to clean a bike and get it put away until next ride time.

I clean my Helmet , Boots , hang up my leather Pants, Jacket and Gloves and turn on the Dehumidifier to pull any moisture out of the leather .Then the next day I put some conditioner on the leather so it feels like new. Boots smell like new.

For me it's all part of the experience of riding. Second nature.                        Dolph     

[Cider]

And we have a winner!

Thanks, DoubleEagle--you make me feel sane.

[KnightofNi]

I guess I'm a freak.

I wash and dry and sometimes wax my bikes every time I go for a ride.

When I go for a ride I ride at least 100 miles . I do like my bikes to always look like the day I bought them.

I clean and lube the chains every 500 miles.

When I come home from a ride I'm done riding for the day.

It takes me about an hour to clean a bike and get it put away until next ride time.

I clean my Helmet , Boots , hang up my leather Pants, Jacket and Gloves and turn on the Dehumidifier to pull any moisture out of the leather .Then the next day I put some conditioner on the leather so it feels like new. Boots smell like new.

For me it's all part of the experience of riding. Second nature.                        Dolph     

do you have eto touch everything 3 or 4 times as well? 

[DoubleEagle]

do you have eto touch everything 3 or 4 times as well? 

  No touchy !      Dolph     

[sugarcrook]

If I'm boozed up and want to ride, I clean the bikes as an alternative.  Other than that, "cleaning" is getting the dead bugs off the visor. 

[redxblack]

My daily commute is a 70-150 mile ride, a lot of which is through the twisties.  What does that count as?

it counts as awesome.

I ride a lot, and often it's through the rain. I have a sham-wow in the garage to dry the chrome cans to keep them from water spotting. I use it sometimes.

[redxblack]

I guess I'm a freak.

I wash and dry and sometimes wax my bikes every time I go for a ride.

When I go for a ride I ride at least 100 miles . I do like my bikes to always look like the day I bought them.

I clean and lube the chains every 500 miles.

When I come home from a ride I'm done riding for the day.

It takes me about an hour to clean a bike and get it put away until next ride time.

I clean my Helmet , Boots , hang up my leather Pants, Jacket and Gloves and turn on the Dehumidifier to pull any moisture out of the leather .Then the next day I put some conditioner on the leather so it feels like new. Boots smell like new.

For me it's all part of the experience of riding. Second nature.                        Dolph     

your cleaning habits are legendary. I can imagine you selling ANYTHING you own as new and potential buyers would be totally unaware they're getting used stuff.

[Loyalizer]

I averaged over 3000 miles a month on my first Monster 620. In less than a year and a half, I was 136 miles shy of 40k. I cleaned that bike every chance I got and it was often. I even cleaned parts of the bike you will never see, unless you are CSI.

Now my new 620, I part my bike inside my studio and it is less than 6' from where I sleep. It is my only means of transportation.  Cleaning, taking care of my monster never affects riding time. I take care of her, she takes care of me. She is beautiful and she's hot... In the cold winters of Southern California, after a ride she heats the whole studio up... She's cool too, she's into 3-way and up for girl on girl too. 

[ArcDeDucati]

I clean my bike about once a month.  She's got 5500 on her this year already but I can't get the bugs off the forks and radiator.  What does one use to do this easily?  I usually do the WD 40 thing with a bunch of rags to clean the bike in entirety, the bugs however do not like to come off. 

[El Matador]

I clean my bike about once a month.  She's got 5500 on her this year already but I can't get the bugs off the forks and radiator.  What does one use to do this easily?  I usually do the WD 40 thing with a bunch of rags to clean the bike in entirety, the bugs however do not like to come off. 

Simple green ftw

[Triple J]

Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with how much you've put into a bike. If you've actually taken the time to mod it yourself and invested effort into it, you will ultimately want to take as much care of it as possible.

This is a good point. I've never kept my bikes all that clean. However, I now keep the Monstrada pretty clean...it being dirty bugs me. 

[Loyalizer]

I clean my bike about once a month.  I usually do the WD 40 thing with a bunch of rags to clean the bike in entirety, the bugs however do not like to come off. 

Do you live near a nuclear power plant ? Are we talkin' starship trooper bugs? I'm a WD40'er too. The bike looks like a Da Vinci.

[Goat_Herder]

I don't see a problem with cleaning the bike every now and then.  I commute 45 miles everyday when it's not raining (I am in Seattle) and I try to lube the chain every month.  If the tank and cowls are dirty when I service the chain, I'd give it a quick wash and WD40 some part. 

Yah, I don't really buy the "bike is for riding and not for washing".  I ride it and really enjoy it.  And 5 minutes of washing per month doesn't really eat into my riding time.