Pressure washers?

[vandy010]

Hey folks,
just curious as to what you blokes are washing your bikes with these days and any info you care to share.
whats a good pressure washer?
bang for your buck so to speak,
and what's the good points/brands to consider?
cheers!
 

[Hoony]

good Idea Mick, i am in the market for one as well.

[DR]

Mick, after being a motorcycle detailer for some years all I can say is just be very careful using pressure washers on bikes. The pressures can have water enter the engine and wheel bearings and other 'lightly sealed' items via blowing in through the seals, o'rings or gaskets. Can play havoc with electricals too. It will/can remove decals and paints from plastics (will sometimes also remove shitty cheap paints from frames and engines and tanks ) personally I wouldn't use high pressure washers on motorcycles. BTW, I do have a pressure washer, it was a $99 cheapy, been using it for 6 years now with some path cleaning jobs lasting days on end so reliability doesn't seem to be an issue regardless of price. handy thing to have around the home though

[firko]

I had a Kartcher that shit itself so I bought an el Cheapo one at Aldi and it works a treat on the bikes. For those who aren't boycotting Supercheap you can get a decent cheapy there for under 100 bucks.
As Doc says, be careful where you point the pressure spray, bearings, electrics and stickers are pretty vulnerable. I use mine to remove the heavy mud and then thoroughly dry the electrics out.
My mate had a shit time with his 490 Maico at CD7 because he'd cleaned it with his pressure cleaner and had forgotten to air out the motoplat. I got it going for him but it could have ended up a long trip for no go.

[Hoony]

i was considering a karcher Firko, how long did yours last?

do you reckon its worth the extra for the karcher over the el-cheapo's ?

[vandy010]

Ditto Hoony's queston re:- the Karcher
i'm aware of the cons of high pressure water but sometimes the garden hose just ain't enough.
especially now i'm looking at 3 bikes plastered with mud after the Masters games here in QLD.

[suzuki27]

I got a base model Karcher on special at one of the hardware chains- about $120.
Hasn't missed a beat in 3yrs.
Don't point it at body parts, including fingers.Man that hurts.

[DOK]

I got a karcher a few months back. on special at bunnings at the time I think only $70.
It was entry level pressure about twice the pressure of the garden hose.
Its fine to remove heavy stuff off your bike but I still do the ct18 rubbed on with a paint brush as well.

[GMC]

I bought my Karcher in 85 and still use it (who says I'm a tight arse)
Cost me $399 from memory. They were an alloy bodied pump then, I think they use plastic these days

It's always played up a bit getting it up to pressure, I usually have to pull the trigger on and off to get it up to pressure.
I always put it down to using river water through it from a low pressure gravity feed tank.
These days I run dam water through it from a medium pressure gravity feed tank and 25 years on I still have to play with the trigger to get it up to pressure.
Apart from that it still works fine.

[firko]

i was considering a karcher Firko, how long did yours last

Mine was a base model that had been given to my mate as a gift a few years earlier. He replaced it with a super dooper version and gave the old one to me. He'd used it at his work almost daily so I guess you could say it'd been pretty reliable up until it stopped working while I was hosing down my caravan a few months ago. I never really checked it out so there mightn't be very much (if anything) wrong with it. I must get it out and see if there's much wrong with it. The Aldi* one cost me around $80 and it's pretty good quality.

*It pays to keep an eye on the Aldi catalogs as they often have great tool and gizmo specials. Last weeks ratchet ring spanner set for $29.99 was a great deal. I'm actually going to Aldi later this morning so you can bet I'll come home with something cool.

[mx250]

Read the specs and warranty carefully - some are not intended to be anything more than a powerful hose. They will have 'warranty words' like "for household use only" etc etc. Some will have a recommended time limit for use. Choose careful/appropriately for your intended use -  not all washers are born equal.

Despite advertising and pretty pictures on the packaging they are not washers or cleaners - on a dirt bike you will still have to get in there with a brush and detergent to get stains and grim off. Pressure 'washers' are great for getting general build up of mud etc off - you will still have to get in there with elbow grease to get things clean. People do damage when they try to use the 'washer' to get rid of every bit of dirt rather than getting in there with a brush and elbow grease. That's when they use concentrated jets in and around wheel bearing etc.

For some jobs the pressure washer is unbeatable. I have several large outdoor tiled areas which I clean from time to time with the Karcher. The Karcher uses one tenth the water a hose would and does tens times the job a broom or blower would. The pressure washer gets between the titles and bricks and gets rid of dirt and moss not only making it look a better job but also stops long term structural damage of weeds etc 

My Karcher is nearly 20 years old and it has run continuously for 4 and 6 hours at a time cleaning roofs etc. It is so old it has brass fitting through out .

[Hoony]

last time i was tyre kicking in Bunnings i saw they there was shit loads of karcher models.

can some of you guys post up the models you have bought recently if you have time, and if you are happy with the performance, i'm not a tight arse but i do like things to work well (or at least as they say they are supposed to) Knowledge is power !

[vandy010]

Yeah! what he  ^^^ said...

[Mick22]

I got a base model Karcher on special at one of the hardware chains- about $120.
Hasn't missed a beat in 3yrs.
Don't point it at body parts, including fingers.Man that hurts.

Same here!

One bit of advise on pressure washers, my dad worked for Repco in the section that designed new products such as the pressure washers and he also repaired Karcher washers under warranty back when people used to actually repair things instead of throwing them out!

He said the best way to make any pressure washer last was not to hook it up turn it on and then pull the trigger. The best thing to do is to hook it up with the power off and pull the trigger for 30secs until the water has bled through and there is no more air in the hose then turn it on, apparently makes a huge difference to the life of the pump. Its always worked for me, my Repco washer is still going after 35 years and I've got 2 Karchers, one 25 years & another 3yrs still going.

[matcho mick]

bought mine at bunnings few years back,it's a karcher 2.36,no probs ,just don't aim it too close to the bikes electrics/bearing seals,decals when washing works for me,just stand back thurther,& use wide spray nozzel, CT180 truck wash with a brush,then power wash off, a silicon spray,bike shine etc under,over the guards makes it easier to clean off mud next time too,