Following on from last week, I’m sure we all enjoyed the sunshine. Only 10 hours of heavy showers during the ride and now it’s time to clean off some of that road dirt and grime.
Life of grime
First things first, wash the grime off your scoot. Before turning the hose on it, I use Muc-off, or Demon Machine (the B&Q cheap stuff is rubbish). I spray this all over the scoot and underneath the front mudguard, under the legshields as well, not just the shiny side! If you have an open-mouth carb block it off with a bit of paper – the last thing you want is water in your engine.
Then grab your hose at a medium pressure and give the scoot a good rinse off all over and underneath, you can use a sponge or a rag. I tend to use a clean paintbrush as it gets in all the nooks and crannies.
Clean rubbers
Make sure you wash all around the engine and around the back of the loop. I take the panel rubbers off that go around the loop and wash all the grit out of the loop. Clean the rubbers with some water-less wash, then I clean the beading around the back of the panel. The reason for this is that this grit around the back of the rubber and the panel beading rubs and acts like sandpaper. It can scratch your loop and the back of the inner beading on the panels.
Blow dry
Now (and I know you may not have one), I get my airline out and blow the scooter dry. An airline is ideal for this as you can dry around bolt heads, locks, wheels and even underneath. If you haven’t got access to an airline, use a nice soft towel – I just don’t let Mrs P know!
Now your scoot should be relatively dry. Next I get the Turtle Wax water-less wash out, good value at only £6.00 a tub, I only use this after most of the heavy grime has gone, its handy after a short run out to just give the scoot a once over and not a full blown deep clean. I spray all over again and dry it off with a microfibre cloth.
Gritty dampers
Now your scoot should look nice and shiny. If you have BGM dampers it is wise to pull the bit of rubber up a little way and clean behind the back as grit clings here and can cause it to pit and ruin the damper.
Get your brake cleaner out and a clean paint brush and spray all around your engine, around the carb and the back wheel – work it off with the paintbrush. Using a paintbrush is particularly good on the rear wheel rim behind the back of the wheel nuts. Now dry your engine with the airline if you have one other wise let the brake cleaner evaporate.
Silkoline Pro prep
Once your engine is clean and dry I spray on Silkolene Pro Prep, which is available from any bike shop or Silkolene dealer. I spray it on top of the cable adjusters, the gear swivel, all around the crankcase itself and this keeps it clean as grime doesn’t stick to it. A bit of WD-40 can come in handy here and there, however I have noted that it can change the colour of your crankcase to a slightly dirty gold and it’s a devil to get off.
Embellish the chrome
Now pop your panels back on and use a good quality wax. I’m using Autogloss at the moment but I am always looking for quality wax and have tried lots. Also use a kneel mat, if you’re comfortable, you are more likely to do a good job. Once my wax has been buffed off with a microfibre cloth I give it a quick spray over with Chrome Embellish Quick detailer – this is a great product and is fantastic at showing off paintwork it gives it an extra zing. Available at Mercurochrome for around £5 and it’s U.K made, my bottle has lasted me for months.
Fire it up
Now is the time to fire the Lambo/scoot up but remember if you have an open mouth carb remove the paper you bunged it up with! This will warm the scoot up and dry it off completely.
Top tip: Power washing a scooter is not ideal, as it forces water everywhere and with today’s modern cleaning products it’s not really necessary.
Top tip: I have found spraying underneath the legshields with ACF-50 or chain wax which is meant to keep superbike chains from rusting, adds a great layer of protection.
Top tip: Why drill holes to hold your Sat Nav bracket when heavy duty Velcro spots can do the job for just £2.99? I stuck mine on the speedo behind my SLUK Screen -you get a true speed off your Sat Nav, so don’t worry that you can’t see your speedo, I did over 300 miles like this and the Sat Nav did not move an inch.
Nick Prince
