You can wash your motorbike, but not your car??

Gungahlin Al said :

Buy a rainwater tank and thumb your nose at water restrictions.

Even when it hasn’t rained for a month and if there is any water in your tank it came from the hose or through a valve on a pipe connected to the water supply.

I doubt that washing a car with a high pressure hose uses any more water than a 2-3 minute shower.

What Steady Eddie said!!

I wash the twin maybe every second month and use SFA water to do it. I do however, think it would be fair to allow all you tin top drivers to give your falcodores a scrub on the front lawn (if it is still alive) every now and then.

Do you want some crackers with your whine?

I’d love to know the ‘fair & equitable’ component behind car owners being required to fork out $20 or more to professional car washes when trying to maintain their asset .. yet garden owners are within their rights to let rip with all hoses blazing onto one single el-cheapo potted petunia etc (value $2) at token domestic water rates for 21 hours a week!

Fortunate indeed for the gardening enthusiasts – if that’s your ‘thing’.

Not very equitable to car enthusiasts, or simply for those who happen to value their expensive motor vehicle more than their flower bed.

Like others I do try to be Waterwise, choose not to own a sprinkler and in truth haven’t watered any garden anywhere in the last 30 years. Yet legally I can’t expend less than 10 literal minutes of water per fortnight, running from one solitary hose, to maintain my single most valuable asset?

Yes I already have one of those ‘eco-wise’ pressure washers, as do many Canberrans. And yes these days a good quality paintjob (vehicle respray) can cost around $5,000~$8,000 (!) although respraying is not the most ‘eco-friendly’ procedure, is it?

Btw don’t be fooled into thinking that the ‘hand wash’ mobs and all those ‘do it yourself’ outfits like Carlovers etc actually recycle their water, because by law they cannot – this fact according to the Car Wash Association of Aust. So every drop of their runoff goes wasted straight down the stormwater drain, which is a damn sight less waterwise than me washing a car on my lawn!

Finally, after spending the $20 or whatever exhorbitance on a mediocre job at a professional joint, plus fuel for the trip, how the hell can I apply protective polish or wax to the valuable paintwork of my car without scratching or grinding it, after said paintwork has being immediately tainted by dust & dirt from having driven it back home from the carwash?

[/whinge]

Pommy Bastard-What do you mean by “wash your motorbike”? Why would you do that?

You should shower every day too!!!!!!!

BenjaminL said :

Time to test out that wet weather gear and go through the automatic car wash on my bike…

I am so tempted to try that =) I’d have to be tipsy mind you which as i don’t go near the bike if I’ve even had a wiff of grog probably rules it out from happening…

You can’t use a high pressure hose (like those at DIY commercial car washes) on exposed engine and brake components. It’s fine in a car where the engine etc is covered up, but bikes don’t have that luxury.

I have always been a little worried about this, ever since pressure cleaning the engine on my car, and having to dry it out to get all the cylinders firing. But the bike seems to handle rain no worries…

Because motorbikes are cool.

You can’t use a high pressure hose (like those at DIY commercial car washes) on exposed engine and brake components. It’s fine in a car where the engine etc is covered up, but bikes don’t have that luxury.

What do you mean by “wash your motorbike”? Why would you do that?

Time to test out that wet weather gear and go through the automatic car wash on my bike… Has anyone ever tried this? I’d be worried the laser guided spray would not see me and bonk me on the helmet or something.

Its not like bikes need a lot of water to clean, i mean the tank and faring on a bike would add up to… the bonnet on a family sedan?

I haven’t washed my bike since December and ride it almost everyday…

You grot

True. I think I might go wash it now. With a bucket of course.

johnboy said :

Plenty of cars can’t go through the commercial car wash either.

What sort of car cannot go into a manual washing bay at a commercial car wash?

Presumably, if someone wants to wash their car at home manually, they are capable of doing so at a commercial wash.

That said, I’d love it if car washing at home was sanctioned on one weekend per month basis, or something similar.

p1 said :

I haven’t washed my bike since December and ride it almost everyday…

You grot

Buy a rainwater tank and thumb your nose at water restrictions.

Maybe a push from the trail bike lobby. Can’t ride a unregistered trail bike to car lovers.

Although you can take it on the same trailer you use to take it out of town….

I haven’t washed my bike since December and ride it almost everyday…

No problem washing a motorbike at most commercial car washes, provided they’re the DIY type with the high pressure hand-held hose.

Plenty of cars can’t go through the commercial car wash either.

Because the bikies made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

I’m guessing you’ve never tried to ride a motorbike through a commercial carwash.

It’s not new, it’s been a standard part of the restrictions since they were imposed.