Cleaning your 3 wheeler questions..

[dcreel]

I've always been a hose it off and done kind of a guy. But I don't like the dirty dingy way my trikes look when they are put up in the garage.

Besides soap, and a bucket of water what do you guys use to get your trikes looking good. Especially the engine area.. I've always used Gunk Engine Bright before hosing the engine off. Is there something you can spray on the engine and undercarriage and hose off besides Engine Bright? Break out some small brushes and things to clean the cracks and crevices..

I know about plugging certain holes to keep the water out and not spraying directly at electrical wiring. :lol:

Just wondering what your secrets are to keeping them looking nice on a regular basis between rides.. I know Armor All on the seat is a bad idea as well.. :D

[BiGDawG]

lol i learned that armor all or any leather cleaner is not fun on the trike seat.. lol i did it twice before i learned my lesson from almost slipping off when popping a wheelie, as for cleaning i been wondering the same thing i can get my plastics looking good with the turtle wax car wash i use on my truck but can never get the motor looking good..

[tri again]

regular hair shampoo in warm water works great on cars
and trike plastic. Haven't tried cream rinse yet tho.

ez off oven cleaner is like a buck at the dollar store
and seems like it would be one step closer to
non toxic but I doubt it. Probably eats plastic and wires too.

I'll have to read those directions.

[adam38654]

Maybe an aluminum brightener for rims. I think they are slightly acidic.

[tri again]

Maybe an aluminum brightener for rims. I think they are slightly acidic.

yeah, didn't mythbusters clean something with coca cola?

[just ben]

I use purple power its cheap like 5 bucks a gallon at dollar general and works well

[ForeverThreeWhe]

I pull into a DIY car wash (Car Lovers) http://www.carlovers.com.au/ on the way home from the dunes and i hit the trike with a hose, then a hose with soapy water, then a rinse that off and drive home.
When you het home, spray everything except grips and seat with WD40 or a similar water disperant.
WD is the trick. It will make your whole bike shine and gets rid of that dull look especially if you ride in mud.

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo105/ForeverThreeWheels/finished1.jpg

[Jason125m]

I clean my bikes after every ride that they become dirty, i hose them down as a starter, I then do a soap and warm water treatment. Then I will break out the brushes, and clothes. I roll up cloths into a tube shape to clean the head. I use tooth brushes, and other brushes for other hard to reach areas that a cloth will not do. I use " rust check " on every metal component. Its expensive, but it keeps it rust free, and makes her shine. I use armor-all " ultra shine " on everything else. Except the seat. Unless i need to make it look really good. I use tire foam, or armorall on the tires also.

[brd812]

Simple Green, won't tanish the polished stuff as bad. Neverdull on all polished stuff once a year, WD-40 by the gallon on metal and wiring except. brakes and chain, can make hell of a mess, esp on white plastic. armor all on everything else, but the seat and grips and even do them when it going to sit for a while. 1 shot of sea foam on full tank of gas.

[Dammit!]

Wisk laundry detergent. I forget who it was that figured this out but there's enzymes or something in it that break up dirt. Mix it up with water in a spray bottle, coat the entire trike, then hose it off. Works awesome. Even gets the dinge off white fenders, usually without even wiping it. Maybe one pass with a rag at most.

After that I spray everything metal with wd40. Plastic gets armor all once in a while, as do the tires just to prevent dry rot.

[zzmegad]

good to know about the wisk, ill have to try that... Ive always hit it with water, then soapy water, then some wd and clean rags to polish some things up. Most times my stuff is always dirty and dingy looking too. Thing is when I put all that work into cleaning her up, I feel bad thrashing her the next day. I need a garage queen and a rider..lol

[dcreel]

I'm definitely going to try out the the Wisk and the WD40.. Thanks for the replies fellas..

For the guys using silencer plugs and clamp on filters on the carb, what do you do to keep the filter from getting wet or water out of the carb inlet? Are there any silencer plugs that are better than the others? Or are they not generally needed?

[aldochina]

just wrap a plastic grocery bag over the filter, and tie it tight, or a couple wraps of electrical tape. if its not to much of a hag, take it right off, and stuff the bag in the carb opening itself. wrags tend to wick the water in, but better then nothing. i use wisk in my wash bucket, and wash as usual. stuff works good!

[Tri-Z 250]

I always hose and use Dawn or Joy dish soap....and treat with WD-40 as I heat the motor to dry.

As a NOTE: DO NOT SPRAY THE ROTORS or DISC's brake area. The WD will come off when ridden, but it takes time. If it gets on the pads it will glaze them causing them to work less effective, and cause heat buildup.

Purple POWER degreaser WILL eat your magnesum covers, and your casted heads if left on too long(like oven off it strips the paint first)....I do recomend it for resto work for the degreasing and taredown of the machine. I recomend wearing gloves when using the product as well...unless you like split cudicals and hangnails.

[Mosh]

I use a hose to get the heavy stuff off, then super clean except on anodized and polished parts and rinse.
The wife gets nuts and uses a sponge and baby bottle brush for the nooks and cranys..
I hose the engine, electrical, and airbox down with wd-40, and chain.
Then Maxima SC1..for the body, and cables, and switches, and tire cleaner for the tires. the SC1 will actually take oxidizing of the tank down too and hide the white film.
WD 40 will stain your fenders.
I had a new Banshee with white plastic. 2 years of WD on the fenders made them turn yellowish brown.
I get the 1 gallon can of WD with a spray bottle. Lasts about 1 year for everything I use it for.
I use the 1 gallon super clean jugs with a sprayer. you can clean bikes about 10-12 times, depnding how muddy you get them, with 1 gallon.

[atc350xer]

Wisk laundry detergent.

Keister showed me that one... works great!

[El Camexican]

I use liquid dish soap, like Sunlight in warm water and a big sponge. Rinse, rub, rinse. Your hands will be baby butt pink when you're done. For 2 stroke oil and chain lube stains spray them with WD-40 first, cuts it like butter. Maybe wipe those areas with a rag before hitting it with the clean soapy sponge. There are plastic polishes out there, but be carefull as the ones for car headlighst can leave a dull finish, so find a good practice spot like under the seat to test it. If you are looking to impress your buddies, or take photos, a light fogging with WD-40 after cleaning makes plastic and engines look like new...for a while anyway. Stay away from the brakes, hand grips, tires, seat, etc.

[Nubbinz]

I dont wash my quad or trike... the film of dirt preserves the plastics, the one or two times i have washed them they look brand new because everything is protected because of the dirt, and all i did was use a sponge and a hose, no soap... the trike gets left under a roof but my 93 kingquad is always out in the sun... just throwing that out there... oh yeah, itll prob disolve the coating on wires but pb blaster is kinda like wd40 but stronger, its the only thing ive ever seen that will straight up disolve gear oil... also maybe try that Gojo hand wash on anything other then metal components, hope it helps

[atctim]

I don't use Wisk, but the really cheap laundry detergent. I have a big 3 gallon pump sprayer. I mix laundry soap and water 50/50. Hit the bike everywhere with it (do not do this in direct sunlight, do not let it dry, do not do it on a hot bike). Let it sit for 3 - 5 minutes, then pressure wash. This gets 90% of the dirt off. I think it was Ditchmud who originally found this secret.

In the past 3 years this is the only way I have ever washed all the mud and gunk off my (new then) XR650L. and because of this method, the plastics still look brand new, no scratches from washing with a mit or sponge. Then I dry them off with compressed air. WD40 on the chain to dissipate the water!

[zzmegad]

awesome thread dcreel, lots of good info on a simple task that has lots of differant tricks...

I also use a pump sprayer to apply the soapy water, I love that

[Jon Boy]

spray bottle of Mean Green, water, rag, toothbrush and a rag on a wire coat hanger to get into the intake tube inside the frame and that's all. :lol:

[brd812]

never heard the laundry soap one. got a try that. thanks Tim

[dear140]

i always wash with a car wash concentrate looks good. for getting dirt and oxidation and such off of your engine use Greased Lightning it's a great product and it is cheap.

[bansheekx]

I always use laundry soap and alott of elbow grease brushing and wiping. WD40 on all of the bare metal parts and pledge furniture polish on the plastic to make it shine.

[Mr_RPM]

Theres a product called SC1, they call it new quad in a can

its a plastic polish, works amazingly. works good on the jeeps fender flares too.

just spray it on and let it set for 30 seconds and you will have a beautiful dry finish

[Xpress]

I've tried a LOT of things to clean my bikes and make them look presentable. Dawn dish soap with water in LOTS of different mixtures, oven degreasers (do NOT use if you like your paint), carb cleaners, starting fluid, toothbrushes, ect. ect. and NOTHING seems to work as well as WD-40 does. WD-40 is a degreaser and it's quite cheap for what it does.

What I do is I spray it all over the dusty, dirty and greasy parts of the bike, and give it a good soaking. One can will clean 2-3 bikes depending on how much you use. I let it soak in for about 10 minutes, then do a light spray over the really greasy areas, then break out the hose with a high pressure nozzle and have at it. Since the WD-40 is a degreaser it should break up the oils and whatnot and it should wash away with the high pressure water spray. I always cover up my air filters and exhaust outlets to keep the water from entering places it shouldn't go. Takes about 20 minutes total, but leaves a pretty clean bike that doesn't look like a rag when you put it away.

I generally do a quick spray of WD-40 inside of the moving joints to get out all of the water, then I go over the whole bike with the leaf blower to get most of the water out. The remaining water shouldn't hurt anything.

Don't forget to remove the plastic bags from your air filter- don't ask how I remember this ;) :lol:

[bentthumbtriker]

dont spray wd-40 on after market ufo plastics because i got some on my yz80 and it went all dull looking like you rubbed it down with fine sand paper.

[keister]

This is my area of expertise. My method is extremely close to what Dammit described. I will give you a step by step.

1. Shut off the gas and stand your trike up on its grab bar (remove fenders on most models).
2. Hose the bike down to get the big mud off undercarriage and skid plates
3. Cover entire trike with 50/50 Wisk/water mixture from a pump sprayer (Roundup pumper works well)**
4. Light a smoke and drink a beer (~7 minutes).
5. Rinse trike - set it back on all 3 wheels
6. Repeat steps 3 & 4.
7. Air dry if its hot and sunny, otherwise use leaf blower to dry the wheeler.
8. Generously spray all plastics, rubber, lines, hoses (not the seat) with Armor All - no need to wipe it off, it will dry.
9. Spray all metal components with WD40. Especially kicker, all springs, insides of cables, and motor.
10. Finish 6-pack while and admiring its beauty.

Start to finish this process should take 30 minutes. Remember, the beauty of this is that you never touch it with a rag, sponge, brush, etc. The WD40 will remove oxidation and make your motor (especially unpainted ones) look MINT!!

**Special thanks to Ditchmud for spreading the word on the "Wisk trick." Any laundry detergent will work, but Wisk is the most expensive and hardest to find - doesn't your trike deserve the very best??

[redskinman]

This is my area of expertise. My method is extremely close to what Dammit described. I will give you a step by step.

1. Shut off the gas and stand your trike up on its grab bar (remove fenders on most models).
2. Hose the bike down to get the big mud off undercarriage and skid plates
3. Cover entire trike with 50/50 Wisk/water mixture from a pump sprayer (Roundup pumper works well)**
4. Light a smoke and drink a beer (~7 minutes).
5. Rinse trike - set it back on all 3 wheels
6. Repeat steps 3 & 4.
7. Air dry if its hot and sunny, otherwise use leaf blower to dry the wheeler.
8. Generously spray all plastics, rubber, lines, hoses (not the seat) with Armor All - no need to wipe it off, it will dry.
9. Spray all metal components with WD40. Especially kicker, all springs, insides of cables, and motor.
10. Finish 6-pack while and admiring its beauty.

Start to finish this process should take 30 minutes. Remember, the beauty of this is that you never touch it with a rag, sponge, brush, etc. The WD40 will remove oxidation and make your motor (especially unpainted ones) look MINT!!

**Special thanks to Ditchmud for spreading the word on the "Wisk trick." Any laundry detergent will work, but Wisk is the most expensive and hardest to find - doesn't your trike deserve the very best??


That took

Yeah,I stopped by Walmart this morning to pick up some WD-40 and Wisk after reading this thread,They only had a few bottles of Wisk and it was largest one they make,didnt really wanna buy the extra large bottle but I went ahead and got it

[Dammit!]

I forgot to mention the leaf blower trick. I used to do that before I sold the thing. lol.

[atc350xer]

This is my area of expertise. My method is extremely close to what Dammit described. I will give you a step by step.

1. Shut off the gas and stand your trike up on its grab bar (remove fenders on most models).
2. Hose the bike down to get the big mud off undercarriage and skid plates
3. Cover entire trike with 50/50 Wisk/water mixture from a pump sprayer (Roundup pumper works well)**
4. Light a smoke and drink a beer (~7 minutes).
5. Rinse trike - set it back on all 3 wheels
6. Repeat steps 3 & 4.
7. Air dry if its hot and sunny, otherwise use leaf blower to dry the wheeler.
8. Generously spray all plastics, rubber, lines, hoses (not the seat) with Armor All - no need to wipe it off, it will dry.
9. Spray all metal components with WD40. Especially kicker, all springs, insides of cables, and motor.
10. Finish 6-pack while and admiring its beauty.

Start to finish this process should take 30 minutes. Remember, the beauty of this is that you never touch it with a rag, sponge, brush, etc. The WD40 will remove oxidation and make your motor (especially unpainted ones) look MINT!!

**Special thanks to Ditchmud for spreading the word on the "Wisk trick." Any laundry detergent will work, but Wisk is the most expensive and hardest to find - doesn't your trike deserve the very best??


Keister's method works... his worst wheeler is prettier than my best one :)

[dcreel]

Awesome keister exactly what I was looking for.. I do have a stupid question though.. How do you keep your trans fluid from draining out the case vent?

Thanks for all the answers guys..

[atctim]

Of all the times I've stood my trikes up - tranny fluid has never came out of my R - ever.

[Dammit!]

Same here. Even standing them up in the truck and driving several hours the only things that's leaked was a little bit of coolant out of the overflow.

[dcreel]

I've never tilted my Tecate back on the grab bar so I was just curious.. But when I twisted my trans fluid filler cap off I have filled my trans for a ride using the vent so I just figured it would leak out... I'm going to have to try it and see..

[redskinman]

I've never tilted my Tecate back on the grab bar so I was just curious.. But when I twisted my trans fluid filler cap off I have filled my trans for a ride using the vent so I just figured it would leak out... I'm going to have to try it and see..

I havent either,just exactly how do you do this I wonder? Especially by yourself

[dcreel]

I havent either,just exactly how do you do this I wonder? Especially by yourself

I've done it with other trikes by myself by chocking the rear wheels and leaving it in gear.. and lifting like hell.. remember to squat and use your legs :lol:

[nicker71]

The best stuff Ive ever seen has been "Trim shine" it works great and the shine doesnt go away like armor all. you can spray it on dirty parts and it will make them shine. I think they sell it at o riellys. The company name is stoner.
I use wd-40 when ever I run out of the trim shine.

wd40 never stainned my finders but I never had white plastic.

[keister]

I havent either,just exactly how do you do this I wonder? Especially by yourself

Put it in gear, set the parking brake, grab the front forks, and heave. The only one I have a little trouble with is the Big Red - I kinda roll the front tire up my belly and chest.

"Also, remember to lift with your back in a twisting jerking motion - completely take your legs out of the equation."

[redskinman]

Put it in gear, set the parking brake, grab the front forks, and heave. The only one I have a little trouble with is the Big Red - I kinda roll the front tire up my belly and chest.

"Also, remember to lift with your back in a twisting jerking motion - completely take your legs out of the equation."

what parking brake?,lol
im lucky I have brakes at all :)
I have 1 3wheeler with just front and 1 with just back brakes

[kylegrimes]

Would oven cleaner mess up the gaskets??

[dcreel]

Would oven cleaner mess up the gaskets??

easy off is some serious stuff.. be careful with that.. :lol:

[kylegrimes]

How to stand your trike up on the grab bar
step 1 crank it
spet 2 pop the clutch
YOUR DONE!!!(:

[gomer202]

i usually spray my bike with a hose and then preasure was the engine with lowest preasure and then use as spray bottle with cleaner

[Xpress]

Would oven cleaner mess up the gaskets??

No, but say good bye to paint ;)