Washing your Yamaha TW200 is a great way to also do a visual inspection over the entire bike. And, your bike simply looks great afterwards! Here is how I do it.
Pre-Soak With Simple Green
I start by spraying Simple Green over the whole bike! It’s that simple! Buy as much Simple Green as you can! Simple Green Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner – (Original, 32 Oz Spray and 2-67.6 Oz Refill), 3 Piece Set
Once I finish spraying the bike down, I start setting up my pressure washer.
Pressure Washer – BLAST DIRT!
Yes, I use a pressure washer on my bike. Yes, I wash the chain “HARD” and I probably shouldn’t! But I do go just as overboard on getting the water “out” of my chain – more on that down below.
To start my wash, I SIMPLE GREEN the whole motorcycle down! This stuff works great! I will give the whole bike a good spray down with the Simple Green. Once the “green juice” has a minute to settle in and break the grim up, then start my pressure washer blast.
The TW200 is dualsport, so it’s going to get dirty and needs cleaning! Or better yet, you should want to clean it as there are benefits to spending time going over your bike. Washing your moto is a great time for visual inspection! So WASH YOUR BIKE! Need a Pressure Washer?
I USE A LOT OF WD40!
Why do I use a lot of WD40? WD–40 stands for Water Displacement, 40th formula. That’s the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed the product. The first company to use WD–40 Multi-Use Product commercially was Convair, an aerospace contractor, to protect the outer skin of the Atlas Missile from rust and corrosion. So if it was good enough for them, then it is good enough for my Yamaha TW200.
I was my chain “hard” with the pressure washer as i want to get all the grit and grime out off and off of the chain. But now, I have a lot of water “in” the chain and it has to GO! Get gone – get out! The best way to disperse or displace the water from the chain is to give it a heavy dose of WD40!
HOLIDAY WISH LIST! LOTS OF WD40 Non-Aerosol Trigger Pro 20-oz.!
CARE FOR YOUR METAL
WD-40 can help remove rust from metals, but you should not be letting your TW200 get to the point of rust!But you may be buying an old relic your bringing back to life, so WD40 helps with that! chrome, and stainless steel without further damaging the surface of the metal or removing the paint. If you have a serious resto-rust TDUB project and something stronger, try WD-40 Specialist Fast Release Penetrant Spray.
CARE FOR YOUR RUBBER & PLASTIC
While I do use the standard WD-40 for the entire bike, WD-40 does make a rubber / plastic specific lubricant WD-40 Specialist Silicone. One day I will have to give this a try. Just so you understand that this is not a WD-40 only promo blogpost, when it comes to the plastic sprays, my two current favorites are Motul Shine & Go and Maxima SC1 High Gloss Coating.
LUBE YOUR CHAIN – OFTEN!
Don’t give me that, “OH I forgot!” LUBE OFTEN! Lube your chain often – often – often! Like after or before every ride! Think about it… You chain takes ALL THE ABUSE! The chain get’s the brunt of the clutch dropped, torqued against the fat knobby tire gripping the surface. We expect a lot from our chains even though we abuse the crap out of them!
What I am currently using is the Maxima 74920 Chain Wax – 13.5 oz. Aerosol. We used Maxima 74920 Chain Wax on all moto chains at Gustin Motorsports ALL THE TIME!
For my 3-day / 448-mile Anza Borrego Desert Ride, I carried with me, MOTUL Chain Paste. While I liked the convenance of having chain lube with me on the go, I did not like the application process. I feel that the Motul Chain Paste is better suited for street bike guys. I simply chose to try it as I was running out the shop and didn’t have anything small enough.
WHAT I WANT TO USE: For my next multi-day moto trip, I want to use is the small 56-milliliter refillable cans you see in the Motorex Offroad Chain Care Kit 102370. For comparative purposes, the 56-mL can is the same as approximately a 2-once can. It’s small enough to carry and is enough to lube your chain 5-6 times.
Happy TDUBBIN’ in the free world! BRAP! BRAAP!! BRAAAP!!!
Is it time for a new chain? Thinking about a gear change?
https://www.tdubclub.com/2020/04/12/gear-ratio-chart-go-faster-or-creep-slower-tw200/
