When I get done riding I'm pretty tired from the tight and technical to having to hold up the bike after failing a hill climb. Now The last thing I want to do when I get home is wash the bike however it is completely nessecary if I want my bike to last. A clean bike will prevent dirt and grime from getting into your business when you are working on the bike. Mud can also hide problems that need to be fixed from a visual inspection. The worst thing is to take your bike out only for it to break down after 10 minutes of riding.
The easiest thing to do is to use a power washer and wash the bike with an intense stream of water. There are problems with this approach because the high pressure can actually move a seal, force water and dirt through a seal, scratch up your plastics or rip off your graphics. I was power washing my bikes for a while and I learned that it's not the best approach to washing your bike. There is also dirt in the water so once your bike dries there will still be a layer of dirt covering a lot of the most hard to reach places.
I know that there are individuals whom enjoy taking a long afternoon and washing and waxing their dirt bike or car to perfection by hand but that's not me. I've tried this approach myself in the past with bad results, I just don't have the skills and end up still with dirt in all the tight places and streaks on my plastic. Besides, I also would rather be doing other things.
Recently I was asked to give ProClean Cleaner a try. The directions were so simple even I can do it! You wet the bike, spray on the cleaner and then you wash it off what could be simpler? The real question is whether it really works and at what pressure? Large chunks of dirt can fall off even with a regular pressured house hose so where it really counts is the thin film that dries onto your bike after a simple wash.
I gave this product a try on several of my machines in which two of these machines had been sitting for months. Even though my CR500 had been power washed 6 months ago it still had dirt and the same with my KTM 495 which had been washed 3 months ago. I tried Pro Clean Cleaner on these machines and I was amazed that the dirt really did come off that easily. I thought perhaps I still may need to use a cloth to whipe off the machine but I didn't. The dirt came off and the plastics didn't streak afterwards like when I use regular soaps.
One of the good things about the cleaner is that its water based so I don't have to worry about the soap being toxic on my bike. I would reccomend anyone who has a dirtbike give Pro Clean Cleaner a try no matter what your style of washing is and see how it works out for you. This will save anyone a lot of time cleaing their bike!