Dirt bike cleaning isn’t overwhelming, and it’s a terrific way to get your ride ready for an adventurous spring of shredding up trails in the Colorado mountains.
If you want to do this properly, all you need are three basic tasks: prepping, cleaning, and drying. While this doesn’t include other preventative maintenance (which is also essential), cleaning helps preserve bike materials and restore its aesthetic.
Dirt Bike Prepping
There are certain dirt bike components that you clean differently. For that reason, detach the bike’s seat and apply some seat foam to that. When you detach the seat, you should also remove the air filter and seal the overflow hoses.
Then, cover the engine area with duct tape and plug the muffler with a wash plug (these are areas you don’t want to get wet). Finally, your bike might have a lot of mud chunks all over it after miles of hard racing. If so, it’s better to knock excess dirt and foreign material away with a mallet before applying water.
Washing Your Bike
Once it’s time to wash your dirt bike, we recommend a low-to-medium PSI from a pressure washer. While you can do most of the work with a garden hose, pressure washing can get some of the rough spots much easier.
Here, you’ll want to position the bike on its side to have a clear shot at everything. First, rinse off the obvious stuff with a low water pressure, followed by higher PSI to get the stubborn spots. Be sure to hit the fenders, cases, tank, and other framework.
Then, switch the bike to its other side and do the same thing again. You’ll also want to wash the skid plate (if applicable). You can use an S.O.S. pad or Scotch-Brite pad to address whatever the water doesn’t get. When you arrive at that stage, use a reliable bike wash solution to help sanitize the framework.
Drying Your Bike
Yes, you should dry your bike, just like you would for your car or SUV after a carwash. It’s easy to dry it with a simple towel or supplement that with compressed air (for electrical components), a microfiber cloth, and finish with some bike polish.
So, there you have it. The cleaning effort isn’t rocket science, but it’s a wise idea to do this before hitting the trails or joining a joining a racing league with us. Just because it’s a “dirt” bike, doesn’t mean you have to leave it filthy all the time.
Colorado DirtBike Info enjoys helping our racing and riding patrons master every detail of dirt bike riding. You can also use us to enroll in riding clinics, explore various Moto Parks, and everything else around the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Contact us anytime for advice, help, or other bike cleaning suggestions.
