by Simmy Parker
There are many professional dryers on the market, all with a high price tag. Often with special interest hobbies or toys, like a motorcycle, companies will create a product specifically for that niche market in order to gain capital.
Meanwhile, you could be using something you already have to get the same job done with the same results.
An example of this is cleaning supplies. You can buy Windex to clean glass, or special sprays to disinfect your countertops.
Did you know you can just use white vinegar for both of these jobs? It’s one of those situations where companies take advantage of a certain market, and anything vehicle related is especially vulnerable.
With today’s economy, and the uncertainty of tomorrow, we need tools we can rely upon. It makes sense to have one tool for multiple uses.
You will not only save money, but also storage space. Did you know that you can use a leaf blower to dry your motorcycle (and vehicle)? You don’t need to purchase a special professional dryer.
While some people like to wash their bike and leave it in the sun to air dry, others prefer to dry it manually to avoid water spots. These are left behind especially if your municipality’s water is heavy with minerals like calcium.
What does the professional dryer have that’s so good? These dryers use an air filter that catches any debris like dirt before it shoots out.
Also, the motor will heat the air for efficient drying, but since we only ride our bikes in the summer, a leaf blower will be sucking in warm air and pumping it out, anyway!
The hose on a professional bike dryer will have varying rubber tips. This can make it easy to get around all the angles of your bike, while the rubber tips won’t leave scratches.
But folks in favour of the leaf blower know this takes away some of the quality time you’d like to spend with your bike, while you detail it out on the driveway.
Using a leafblower may require more attention this way, because it does not have all of the special attachments. You will have to be careful you don’t scratch the bike or hit it, but this should be common sense.
This extra attention will encourage you to look at its details up close and enjoy the bike from a perspective that you don’t always see.
After washing your bike, it will take a long time to get into all the nooks and crannies with a rag, and some parts are downright impossible to reach with human fingers.
Air drying isn’t the best option especially if you have to keep your bike in a garage where lack of ventilation slows the drying time. The leaf blower will take about five minutes to dry the bike thoroughly. It is a fast machine, since it covers a large surface area.
To wash your motorcycle, use light water pressure and try not to spray directly toward the bottom of the seat. You should cover the seat with plastic (like a garbage bag) before spraying with the hose.
You can use any car wash soap if the bike is dirty and the spray detailer isn’t strong enough. Never use dish detergent: it will remove the wax. You’ll want old terry cloth wash clothes and small rags.
The leaf blower works by sucking in the air around it, channeling it by motor through a focused blow tube. Keep in mind that the surrounding environment will affect the air that’s blown onto the motorcycle. For this reason it’s best to stay in a clean environment.
Whether you wash the motorcycle on the driveway or in the garage, you should clean the floor around it. You can do this conveniently: when youre done rinsing the bike, apply the water to the ground below the bike and make sure everything is washed away. This will ensure that no dirt gets sucked into the leaf blower or kicked up onto the bike.
Of course, dirt and dust will eventually touch the bike, just by riding it down the road. However, if your bike has just been washed, then it will be wet, and dirt will stick easily to the moisture.
This is all a matter of simple physics. If you follow those simple steps, you don’t have to worry about an air filter or anything like that.
Most leaf blowers will come with more than one attachment that allows you to concentrate the air stream. This will come in very nicely when it comes time to blow the water out from tricky spots like around the mirrors and in the wheel rims.
You will still want to go over the bike with a polishing cloth to get a nice shine. There will be very minimal, if any, water marks left after the leaf blower, since it blows the water away (rather than evaporating and leaving mineral deposit).
Try to wash the bike in a shaded spot, if you can. The sun will evaporate water droplets quickly and you’ll be left with water spots before you can plug in the leaf blower.
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About Simmy Parker
Simmy is an outdoor expert who loves to spend time in the wilderness. She received a BS degree in Civil Engineering at Sacramento State University, and has put her skills to use by helping design and build some of the most impressive structures in the world. However, Simmy's true passion lies in sharing her love of nature with others, and she spends much of her free time leading hikes and teaching people about the flora and fauna that can be found all around them.
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