Ride for an hour, clean for two?

I'm normally all about cleaning things. I mean, detailing my car was always a favorite hobby. But, I have to say that I don't share the same love of detailing my bike.

This may be for a couple of reasons.

1. I don't really know what I'm doing. I feel like I have a reasonably good grasp of how to clean my chain apply chain lube. But, anything else...I just wipe it down with a damp towel and call it good. Unfortunately, that probably isn't enough. But, I don't really know what else I should be cleaning, how to clean it, or what tools I would need to clean it.

2. It feels like I have to clean my bike ALL THE TIME. Every time I bring it to see Ted at VCC (Hi John Jasker!), he asks how often I'm cleaning one part or another. My answer, of course, is..."I don't know". But, of course, I do know. Never. I never clean that part. So, I inevitably leave feeling guilty about the fact that I don't keep up on my cleaning the way I should.

Yesterday I rode home from work right after the storms went through. So, the roads were VERY wet with plenty of sizeable puddles. Plus, it rained one me for the first 3 miles or so...obviously I got wet. And, my bike got trashed.

It's amazing how little time it takes on wet roads for a bike to go from cleanish to completely wrecked. I just spent the better part of an hour cleaning the chain on my Volpe...and HOUR...and my bike still looks like I dragged it through a muck field.

My r5 needed a little lube on the chain...it was squeeking a lot on Thursday morning. So, I wiped it down. Cleaned it with a little soap-n-water. Wiped it dry. Then applied some lube. Took maybe 15 minutes and the chain looks like new. When I was done I looked at the Volpe and just sighed. It needed work too.

So, I took the Volpe down and started cleaning. An hour later I quit cleaning...not because I was done, but because I was bored. I could have cleaned all night and it still wouldn't have been done. Lame.

I had a friend, once, who used to own racing motorcycles. A couple of them were very special, very unique bikes that were basically for show purposes only. He would ride them...but, not often. They spent most of their time at bike shows. On the rare ocassion when he would ride the bike he would bring it back to his shop when he was done to clean it. He was constantly lamenting how much time he spent cleaning the bike...repeating his mantra over and over again. "Ride for an hour. Clean for two."

That's how I feel.

Maybe I just need to get a lot more effecient. Maybe I need better tools. Maybe I'm just wasting my time. I'm just tired of cleaning!