Cleaning the CBR250RR

Cleaning the CBR250RR pretty much follows the same procedure of any other modern road bike. Depending on how pedantic you are and how dirty the bike is, it will take 2+ hours.

Recommended Products

  • Cleaning sponge or cloth
  • CT-18 foaming gel
  • Methylated Spirits
  • Silver/Chrome Polish
  • Leather upholstery cleaner
  • Clean Rags

Spray Down

Give the bike a quick once over with a sponge or hose to remove any excess dirt

Scrub

CT-18 is a foaming gel that is basically concentrated car washing liquid. It's great value considering 2 cap fulls are enough to clean your entire bike, and $30 will give you about 200L of diluted liquid! It helps to inhibit rust as well. Give the bike a good soaking in the stuff. Allow it to soak into particularly dirty areas. It is fine to get onto the chain and brakes, however it will not likely remove heavy duty grime from either. That comes later.

Re-Scrub

If the paintwork still shows dirt apply another dose of CT-18. Polish with a clean rag or micro-fibre cloth. Don't worry too much about the wheels or brakes at this stage.

Make Unpainted Metal Parts Shiny

Grab your chrome/silver polisher, follow the instructions and work it into the grime. The rear tire on the chain side can be notoriously filthy and you will probably spend your most time here. You should be relieved to notice that the cleaner carves through the muck and it should lift off easily. At this stage you will probably soil several rags (an entire pair of old trackie dacks in my case!) depending on the state of your wheels.

Also work this stuff into any chrome/metal parts of the bike for a nice shine. Avoid contact with painted parts.

Seat

Use any decent household upholstery/leather cleaner to condition your seat. We aware that it can make the seat slippery afterwards.

Brakes

Get yourself some methylated spirits, dampen a cloth with it and rub into the brake discs front and rear. You should find that it lifts off the brake dust without too much effort.

Tires

Tires. I generally avoid cleaning the tires due to the potential loss of traction. Your average car tire shine product is in fact a terrible thing to put on bike tires because it is slippery as hell! However tires do tend to collect various muck, the worst offendor being chain lube. Proceed with caution, and don't do anything dumb like put it on the tread!

Tidy Up

Tidy up, maybe give the windscreen and mirrors some special attention with a glass cleaning product. Check your tires to make sure they haven't got any slippery stuff on them. Lubricate chain if necessary. Stand back and admire!