How to keep it looking good.

[090]

Not my head, too far gone.
Im talking about my bikes. I restore them to look the goods but after a few rides i turn them to shit!
I do notice a few bikes in photos that are racers that look good after being ridden such as Crabmans' , Tahitian_reds' and STW's.
So what do you guys do? Throw yourself under the bike in a crash? Continually touch up paint etc?
I know this isnt a 'change the world' thread, but i thought i'd ask to see if there is an ongoing upkeep to keep them looking good .
Any tips would be good.

[worms]

i will give you a tip brad, its called elbow grease, you cant buy it but it works

[Hoony]

for what its worth Brad i always spray armourall over the plastics and wd40 all over every thing else (except front disc) before each ride. i wash it asap after a ride a light degreaser and hot soapy water and then rinse off.

i don't worry about touching up paint as it will only wear off again next ride.

the key to keeping them looking good is the plastics, once they look shabby so does the entire bike. some of my plastics are  15 - 20+ years old and still look good after many seasons.

[paul]

buy 2 of each  ,ride one like you stole it ,and give the other one to your dad to look after  ,what would you rather some one saying that bike looks nice or great race champ

[STW996]

Well Like Paul said 2 off each can help (I have done that) and Hoony is on the money with cleaners, I use the Polyglaze dash and trim cleaner does not attract the dust like the armourall and silicon spray after cleaning keeps then good and the grime is a lot easier to clean off. Another good thing to use that always makes bikes look good is the old super cheap (brand) tyre cleaner best 1.95 (on special) you can spend, works on all rubber surfaces

If after all that it does not look cleaner grab my brother Brett he is a cleaning freak

[worms]

now come on guys, you all get serious and i just recon he has far toooooooooo many bikes and cant even remember which ones he rode last too worry about how to clean them, i would have my son trained at least in the finer points of cleaning dads bikes brad. anyway enough stiring, INOX is the best thing since sliced bread as it cleans everything but it dosent harden electric wiring as a lot of cleaners do and makes wash down easy as because nothing sticks to it, your bikes get dirty but it just rinses off.

Cheers Trev

[crabman]

090
Thank you very much for the compliments about the condition of my bikes. Probably the most important / best advice is to clean the bikes as soon as possible after riding. Here in South Africa I clean with bike cleaner / degreaser without a fine hose pipe spray. Generally unless it is very muddy, I never use a high pressure washer. Once dry I then spray the bikes completely with a water dispalcement fluid Castrol wd 40 and thereafter prep the bike for the next ride as soon as the bike is dry, lube the chain and check / adjust spokes etc.
To my mind, you cannot keep a VMX bike clean and tidy without WD 40 and silicone. In all probability I would not ride any of my VMX bikes if the conditions were extreme with particular reference to extreme muddy conditions. Whilst I ride all my VMX bikes, I selectively only ride my VMX bikes when conditions will not destroy /damage my bikes.
I hope it helps.
Gavin Williams

[Nathan S]

So what do you guys do? Throw yourself under the bike in a crash?

I tried that, but it still looks like shit....

Seriously, I've given up trying to keep the ride bikes looking like you've just finished the resto. I'm now working on the idea that once you've removed 25+ years of use/abuse/neglect/corrosion/dodgy mods and gotten the bike into a good mechanical state (and a presentable cosmetic state), then a good cosmetic tidy-up is relatively cheap and easy when the time comes.

[Gerard De Ruyter (Twistandshout)]

also pays to blow off remaining wash water from the bike with your handy little home compressor (then wd40 the metal and silicon or INOX the plastic).

[Graeme M]

Or just leave your bike with the mate who transported it for you in the hope he'll give it a scrub...

[suzuki27]

I like to shave mine and then buff it with KY jelly! Comes up a treat.

[shortshifter]

I reckon twistand shout has it nailed but I havent got a compressor so I use a leaf blower to get rid of excess water.Sometimes I just leave them using the excuse that its got a bit of character!