First bath

[Cpd419]

I’ve had the ct for just over a year I thought it was time for its first bath. I guess I’ll do it once or twice a year whether it needs it or not.

 

[Kev250R]

1.5 years in and I've yet to wash mine! Not that I'm proud of that, just haven't taken the time to do it yet. Probably should though, I rode my Trail to my local Cars & Coffee this morning and parked next to a shiny Harley my Trail was looking a little shabby!

 

[Cpd419]

Part of the allure of my vstrom was not caring about it having to be clean. I cleaned and waxed it once or twice a year. It looked almost new after ten years when I sold it.

 

[Kev250R]

Part of the allure of my vstrom was not caring about it having to be clean. I cleaned and waxed it once or twice a year. It looked almost new after ten years when I sold it.

Warning: Long, only vaugely-related reply about keeping vehicles clean follows. Sorry for the thread hi-jack, feel free to skip.

I used to have an old 4x4 ('98 Isuzu Amigo 4wd) which I used regularly off-road and it looked like it. It was fairly well kitted-out, larger off-road tires, two radio with comically-large antenna mounted to the roof, permanent pin-stripes in the paint from me taking it down trails which were too narrow for it, etc. I rarely washed it. In fact when I was dating I generally drove it as a test to see how my date responded (honestly, most didn't care, if they even noticed at all). Then I met my now GF, we go out a few times and decide to take a weekend road trip up the coast...in the Amigo since we thought we might go wheeling out on the sand at Pismo and the Amigo was the only thing I owned which was 4wd. I spent two solid evenings after work the week before we left cleaning, vacuuming, putting the rear seat back-in, putting fresh T-shirts on the seats (a poor man's seat covers), replacing the battery in my remote since the ignition key, for reasons which were never clear to me didn't actually work in any of the door locks so the only way to lock the doors when parked were with the remotes-one of which my ex-GF still had and the other one, mine which was mostly worn-out and didn't always work.

One of my neighbors stopped-by one night during my marathon cleaning session and remarked that I was either selling it or I was in love. We shared a laugh, then I convinced him to help me put the hardtop back on.

New love is fun. We had a memorable weekend. The Amigo performed well, my GF enjoyed looking out the sunroof and seeing the afore-mentioned comically-large radio antenna whipping around. We went antiquing at one point (don't judge me, we were both on really good, new relationship behavior) and that rear seat I'd toiled with to bolt back in got folded and stowed so I could make room for something she bought, which had I not been carrying a large plastic tote with tools and supplies in it which took-up most of the rear cargo space probably would have fit just fine.

Eventually I replaced the Amigo with a brand-new 4x4 truck, which I wash reguarly and am hyper-neurotic about. One of our biggest fights to date was when her son let an ice cream sandwhich melt on the back seat. While we were cleaning the rear seat and I was cotemplating writing-off my nearly-new truck, my GF lamented that I should have kept the Amigo since it always smelled like wet dog, there were rocks in the cupholders and I never cared if anything spilled in it! We laugh about it now. Though her kid no longer eats ice cream within sight of my truck LOL!

 

[mcmd]

1.5 years in and I've yet to wash mine! Not that I'm proud of that, just haven't taken the time to do it yet. Probably should though, I rode my Trail to my local Cars & Coffee this morning and parked next to a shiny Harley my Trail was looking a little shabby!

Hi Kev,
Is that the gathering in Columbia. TN? If so, I see photos posted on Instagram by Mike Wolfe of this event. It looks like a blast!

 

[SneakyDingo]

Part of the allure of my vstrom was not caring about it having to be clean. I cleaned and waxed it once or twice a year. It looked almost new after ten years when I sold it.

V-Stroms only got washed when crossing rivers I was the same. Barely ever washed it, only when it started to look really dirty.

I'm trying to wash the humble Honda at least once every 1000 miles. We have a motorcycle detailing service where I work which I'm tempted to do as a laugh, because I think it costs more than the $114 it would take to replace all of the panels on the bike.

 

[Kev250R]

Hi Kev,
Is that the gathering in Columbia. TN? If so, I see photos posted on Instagram by Mike Wolfe of this event. It looks like a blast!

Is that the guy from American Pickers? No, I live in So.Cal. and the one I go to is about 15 mins from my house. Yesterday we had about 25 classic cars of various types and four bikes. I had planned on driving my '63 Datsun truck but it wouldn't start and was blocking my garage. My Trail was the easiest unique vehicle I could get out of the garage on short-notice. I'm glad I took it as a lot of people wanted to talk about it. One guy is now considering buying one to keep at his vacation house.

In my area car gatherings like this are pretty common, but a lot of them have a lot of ego's attatched to them which I don't like or their so crowded you have to get in-line by a certain time in order to maybe get a spot in the lot (South County Cars & Coffee in San Clemente). The one I attend is pretty chill, it's mostly the same guys and cars every week. We eat donuts and solve the worlds problems for an hour or so then go on with our day. I like that as I would rather be out using my car/truck/bike then I would sit around all day staring at it.

 

[mcmd]

Is that the guy from American Pickers? No, I live in So.Cal. and the one I go to is about 15 mins from my house. Yesterday we had about 25 classic cars of various types and four bikes. I had planned on driving my '63 Datsun truck but it wouldn't start and was blocking my garage. My Trail was the easiest unique vehicle I could get out of the garage on short-notice. I'm glad I took it as a lot of people wanted to talk about it. One guy is now considering buying one to keep at his vacation house.

In my area car gatherings like this are pretty common, but a lot of them have a lot of ego's attatched to them which I don't like or their so crowded you have to get in-line by a certain time in order to maybe get a spot in the lot (South County Cars & Coffee in San Clemente). The one I attend is pretty chill, it's mostly the same guys and cars every week. We eat donuts and solve the worlds problems for an hour or so then go on with our day. I like that as I would rather be out using my car/truck/bike then I would sit around all day staring at it.

Yeah, that's the Picker's guy. Apparently the one in Columbia, TN is quite popular. Yours sounds good, too. Cool cars, motorcycles and donuts. My kind of gathering!

 

[Kev250R]

Yeah, that's the Picker's guy. Apparently the one in Columbia, TN is quite popular. Yours sounds good, too. Cool cars, motorcycles and donuts. My kind of gathering!

Thanks! To be fair, there are a lot of them in my area. It took me a while to find one where the people are chill (well, most of them; there's one guy who won't talk to me because I don't say 'Porsche' the correct way ) The cars are cool and the donuts don't suck

 

[Tex68w]

I've washed the Trail once in the nine months that I have owned it and I doubt it gets it again in the coming three lol. So the average looks to be set for once a year lol. I am the opposite with my dirt bikes/enduros, most never clean them but I am religious about it and clean them after nearly every outing but they usually bring top dollar when I go to sell too.

 

[Kev250R]

I've washed the Trail once in the nine months that I have owned it and I doubt it gets it again in the coming three lol. So the average looks to be set for once a year lol. I am the opposite with my dirt bikes/enduros, most never clean them but I am religious about it and clean them after nearly every outing but they usually bring top dollar when I go to sell too.

I do much the same. My Quads get a full bath after a trip. Mainly so I can see if something needs attention before the next trip. They also get their own house (wooden shed) in my backyard. The bikes are not amused LOL!