How To Clean A Motorcycle Cover Properly?

Written by Joshua D. Mattie Reviewed by Editorial Team

Updated on January 17, 2023

How To Clean A Motorcycle Cover Properly?

A motorcycle cover protects your bike from elements such as the sun’s UV rays, rain, dust, and grime. By covering your motorcycle, it also ensures reduces the risk of theft since thieves wouldn’t know what model of bike you have when it’s concealed.

With that said, taking care of your cover is necessary to ensure it continues serving you well. With time, it can gather dust. And if you don’t clean it, it might end up transferring the dust to your bike. The dirt on these covers can also affect their durability and cut down their lifespan.

Read the following article to discover how you can properly clean your motorcycle cover to keep it in top condition and make it serve you for longer.

Table of Contents

What you need to know about motorcycle cleaning

Cleaning your motorcycle is easy if you know how to do it. If you read through motorcycle cover reviews, you’ll discover that most manufacturers ship these covers with a set of instructions on how to clean them. This translates into an easy cleaning job.

By far, the safest and most effective way to clean your motorcycle is by hand. However, you can also come across some covers that are machine washable. In this case, you’d want to carefully understand and follow the definite instructions they come with on how to clean them in the machine.

Unless stated by the manufacturer, NEVER attempt to machine wash your motorcycle cover. Likewise, avoid machine drying your cover after clearing it, unless the manufacturer advises you to do so.

With this information in mind, let’s now discuss how you can clean your motorcycle cover…

How to clean your motorcycle cover?

Before you start cleaning your motorcycle cover, you need to arm yourself with some tools and supplies listed below.

Things You’ll Need:

Mild washing powder
Large cleaning cloth
Hot and cold water
Bucket and a hose
Work clothes, e.g., apron

Cleaning procedure

1. Layout your motorcycle cover on a protective surface such as a tarp or a blanket. Widely open the cover to prepare it for cleaning and ensure it doesn’t touch the ground.

2. Next, use the hose to help loosen away the dust and dirt stains on your cover. Try to hose it as much as possible, giving more attention to areas with dirt spots.

3. After hosing, you’ll get a clear picture of the tough stains on your cover that wouldn’t go away with simple hosing. Apply your mild detergent directly on these areas and give it a few minutes to settle.

4. Now prepare a solution of warm water and your mild cleaning powder in a bucket and use it to gently scrub all the other parts of your motorcycle with a large cleaning cloth. Again, give the stained areas more focus.

Continue scrubbing until the water runs clear as an indication that the cover is now clean.

5. Use the hose once more to rinse your motorcycle cover and get rid of all the soapy residue on the surface of your cover.

6. Once clean and thoroughly rinsed, leave the cover to air dry. Give it enough time to dry before you can store or reuse it again.

Extra tips for cleaning your motorcycle cover:

Never use abrasive and harsh cleaners on your cover, unless you don’t really care about maintaining its quality and longevity.
Make a habit of cleaning your motorcycle cover every time before you store it
After cleaning, give your cover enough time to dry. This is essential to ensure you don’t store it with moisture that might facilitate growth and build of mold.
When not in use, keep your cover neatly folded in its storage bag. You don’t want to leave it around in your garage as more dust and dirt will accumulate on it. Pests, too, might end up damaging it.
If possible, use pressurized water washer in the place of a hose; it does a better job of loosening the dirt and rinsing your cover.

Final Verdict

Taking good care of your motorcycle cover is as simple as cleaning it properly. This helps get rid of dust, dirt, and any stains it might have gathered when protecting your motorcycle from various harsh weather elements.

Make sure you clean your cover before storing it. And only stick to mild washing powder.

Oh! Avoid machine washing or drying your cover unless the manufacturer states it’s safe to do so.

Joshua D. Mattie

My motorbike addiction began with 50cc at 5 years old. I rode motocross as a teenager & into my 20's when I worked as a mechanic. This helped me to see the light—sportbikes & cruisers became a passion. Now I'm building BikersRights to be the #1 resource for everything on 2 wheels!