Deep Cleaning your xii

[Hillbilly]

I was wondering what everyone does to keep there bike clean. As I've been rebuilding my xii, it seems like this poor thing was rode and just put away. There are alot of tight spots that are hard to get at but it seems like every now and again you would want to strip it down pretty far and give it a good scrubbing. What do you do to keep your bike clean?

[Chris Cochran]

Tooth brushes, decent rags, warm-to-hot water, liquid laundry soap, and just water-wet rags. The external, painted areas get some good ol Lemon Pledge furniture polish, although I have waxed a bit, too.

[VoyKimmer]

I strip all the plastic off of both bikes in the winter clean everything inside and out with Honda spray polish and do my winter maintenance.

[Hillbilly]

Thanks for the replies, I was just curious how or when you cleaned your bikes. Like I was saying, seems the fellow before me just rode it and shoved it into the back of a garage or barn. I plan on keeping this for a while so I'm going to be cleaning every winter it looks like.

[Chris Cochran]

Yep, things can look a little evil underneath the outer parts (seats, saddlebags, and so forth.

[VoyKimmer]

My 96. Haven’t started on the 02 yet.

[Z1kawasaki fan]

I would I like to do the same thing to my 2003.
Where did you get the information as to removing all the fairing parts; Screw locations and order of disassembly, etc.
Thanks

[VoyKimmer]

Been doing it for around 20 years. Very easy . I believe I followed instructions in the manual the first time. Mirrors off first, then windshield chrome plastic piece, headlight cover , windshield, lower fairings then upper fairings. I clean and polish each individual piece as I remove them.

[SgtSlag]

I would recommend that you "deep clean" your engine, internally, as well. This only needs to be done once -- seriously, just once. Modern engine oils are amazingly good, but a thorough, internal cleaning, once, is a great idea, IMO.

There are a couple of ways to accomplish this:

1) Add 3 oz. of SeaFoam to the crankcase oil; idle the engine, on the center stand, for five minutes (or until the temp gauge reaches operating temperature), shifting through all five gears, allowing the back tire to spin freely. Then change the oil and filter with modern, SN+ oil, of the correct viscosity range, of course. Done!

2) Do the same thing, using Marvel Mystery Oil, or Dexron ATF, around 3 oz. Same warm-up, shifting, then drain and replace both the oil and the oil filter.

This will dissolve any varnish deposits within the engine, and the oil-sharing transmission, and clutch plates. The crud will mostly be captured by the filter, or dissolved within the oil that you drain and replace.

I do this to all of my vehicles, once, and only once. Modern oils of SAE SN+ are highly detergent, and their thermal breakdown temperatures are high enough that they produce little, to no varnish and carbon deposits for the life of the engine, if used consistently, and changed regularly.

I would also recommend adding SeaFoam, Marvel Mystery Oil, or Techron Fuel System Cleaner, to the gas tank around once per month during riding season, prior to a 2+ hour long ride which will truly flush the fuel system. I've been using SeaFoam to stabilize my gas during Winter storage, since 2006, and in the Spring, my bikes all fired up as soon as gasoline reached the carbs, running perfectly. I have not had a carb tuning issue on my XII since they were gone through by my mechanic, as I keep the fuel system clean all year. I'm going on 4+ years without touching the carbs (a fuel rail O-ring rotted, leaking fuel onto the tranny, otherwise it would be 10+ years). Cheers!

[Hillbilly]

Thank you again gentlemen, voykimmer: Nice bike.
SgtSlag, I like the idea of the internal clean.