To clean or not

By Alison Green
Published on June 2, 2009
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Photo by Joe Berk,www.MotoFoto.cc

Every motorcycle gets categorized in some manner. There is displacement, brand, horsepower, riding position, intended use, number of gadgets on board… The distinctions are endless and taken very seriously by some… If you don’t ride “X” then you can’t run with the crew…In effect, the rider gets lumped in with the bike category.

But I like to draw the lines in a different fashion. We all fall somewhere between the extremes of show-bike polishers (bikes that never get dirty), and hard-ridden bikes that never get cleaned!

Whether we like it or not, we all fit somewhere along the “Bell Curve of Clean” when it comes to our rides. And there are many, many shades of grey between those who make a fetish of polishing and those who prefer to let nature take its course.

I envy those special few who have bikes that will never see the rain. Bikes with the chrome so brilliant that it hurts in sunlight. (But we mustn’t leave them in the sun too long – might fade the paint you know…)  I love those machines that take centre stage at big bike shows… and oh the paint, the chrome and the sparkle! Bikes as Art. Granted these show-stoppers are at the extreme end of the Bell Curve. In fact, many of them are right off the end of the chart as they have never seen pavement, much less a raindrop.

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