Washing a motorcycle is the most basic form of motorcycle care and it’s also a vital step to keeping the paintwork on our machines looking as good as new. However, many of us live in apartments where there’s no access to water, neighbourhoods that have water restrictions and some of us just don’t have the time to give our bikes a full wash.
This is where ‘dry cleaners’ come in handy, but is it really safe to give your pride and joy a dry clean?
When I say, dry clean I don’t mean sending it to the dry cleaners, but rather cleaning your motorcycle without using water. Now there’s plenty of dry cleaning products on the market for cars and motorcycles, but this week we’re using a bottle of Motul’s E1 Wash & Wax (W&W).
Before we get started; it’s very important to note that your motorcycle shouldn’t be more than moderately dirty when giving it a dry clean. If your motorcycle is covered in mud or any debris from an adventure ride, it’s best to rinse your bike and give it a proper wet wash. If you ride on the road and only ever get your bike covered in bugs, brake dust, chain wax and a bit of garage dust, then ‘W&W’ will work just fine.
Since there is no bucket of water needed you can use W&W anywhere, all you need is two microfibre cloths and a shaded off area. I prefer using two cloths for the job as one does the washing and the other does the drying—preventing dry lines from forming. If you don’t have a shaded off area you can still wash and wax, but you’ll have to do smaller sections at a time to prevent the soap from drying. If the soap does dry, don’t panic, just spray a thick layer of W&W on top and wipe it off.
Motul’s Wash & Wax does more than just clean, it shines and protects just about everything on your motorcycle—without needing a rinse.
My favourite thing about dry cleaning is focusing on all the necessary spots on my bike, rather than detailing and having to lube everything, just because they got into contact with water and soap. For instance, getting my bike chain wet. This causes me to unnecessarily having to put chain cleaner on and re-lube the bike chain—super annoying. So, using W&W helps me stick to my usual chain maintenance schedule.
With the necessary know-how, dry cleaning your motorcycle can be a safe, enjoyable and quick process, where both time and money can be saved. Dry cleaners aren’t just convenient for those who don’t have access to an outdoor water source, they also hold a spot on the garage shelf for motorcycle enthusiasts and Sunday riders too. The only downside to dry cleaning is washing your bike more frequently and I don’t think that’s a bad habit.
I’ve honestly never really believed or trusted in dry cleaning a motorcycle, but after using Motul’s Wash & Wax for the last few months, I will say it worked well enough for me to change my mind. As a daily rider, I tend to give my bike a wash twice a week, so for me, dry cleaning makes a lot of sense and in saying that, I’ll be keeping my bottle of W&W topped up.
Motul MC CARE ™ E1 WASH WAX
For more information on the product used in this article, click on the link below…
