How to Clean an Electric bike

Date：2021-11-23 Categories：Blog Views：1,607 views

Your ebike can, and will, get dirty at any time of the year. However the colder, wetter, and more dreary months of the year are a time when your ebike is potentially going to get a lot dirtier a lot quicker than it usually does. It is during this time that you may be looking at your ebike and thinking: “you need a good clean”.

Clean an Electric bike

In reality, even without this extra, seasonal dirt, it is always a good idea to keep on top of the cleanliness of your ebike. Not only does keeping on top of the cleanliness of your ebike mean that you always look top-class wherever your ebike may take you but it also safeguards the longevity of its working components, ensuring that they’re free of dirt and debris, and helps to ensure your safety.

So make sure you stay on top of the cleanliness of your ebike by following our foolproof guide for cleaning your ebike.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I CLEAN MY EBIKE?

Quite obviously the frequency of ebike cleaning depends upon usage. Do you use it everyday? Then you’re probably going to want to clean your ebike every week. If you just ride your ebike on the weekends then you’ll only really want to clean it once a month.

How often you clean your ebike does not only depend on its usage but also the prevailing conditions when you do use it. If, for instance, you just spent a weekend afternoon on a trail which was rather muddy and perforated with puddles then you may want to consider cleaning your ebike really soon. However, a week later, you could ride that trail all weekend and your ebike would still look brand new. It all depends on the prevailing conditions.

Regardless of how often you clean your ebike you should always give it a good wipe down after every ride. Doing this stops the dirt from building up, helps to prolong the life of the ebike and its moving parts, and makes it easier for you to clean when you do sit down to clean it properly.

SETUP AND SUPPLIES

A small side note before we get into the nitty gritty: It is best not to clean your ebike directly after use, especially if your trip was a wet or muddy one. Whilst you may want to clean the dirt off your ebike as soon as you get home you’re actually better off waiting for the bike and the dirt to dry before cleaning your ebike. Leaving the dirt and dirty water to dry makes them easier to remove, yes it does sound a little contradictory to the general washing and cleaning advice we’ve all received in the past, but it’s true!

First things first, you should leave your battery in whilst you’re cleaning your ebike. HOTEBIEK ebikes are designed to withstand splashing water, and the addition -if you choose- of a bit of light soap won’t affect this. If you have a stand that you use when you work on your ebike you can also use this to facilitate easier cleaning of your ebike; just make sure you have ample space to move around it and work.

If you don’t have a stand you should lean your ebike against a wall or a fence, where you have enough space to work around it. You can also just have the kickstand down if this works best for you. It goes without saying that this should be done outside in a space you can make a mess in.

Soap is not necessary for cleaning your ebike but if you do want to use it you can use a light amount of dish soap in your water; just ensure that it is not a heavy degreasing soap such as car wash soap.

For cleaning supplies you’re going to want a sponge or rag (for wiping down the frame), a soft bristled brush (for cleaning the tires), and a dry rag for wiping everything down afterward. If you’re deliberating between using a sponge or a rag for cleaning a rag is much more nimble than a sponge.

As far as it goes for water you’re going to want to use either a pair of buckets, one with lightly soapy water for cleaning and one with plain water for rinsing, or, if you wish, you can use a garden hose, but only use it on the shower or sprinkle setting so that the water pressure is very light.

Finally you’re going to need some chain lube so that you can lubricate your chain to help prevent rusting once you’ve finished cleaning down your ebike.

Clean an Electric bike

SUPPLIES NOT TO USE

Do not use a pressure washer to clean your ebike. Ebikes are not built to withstand high pressure water jets. Using a pressure washer can force water, dirt, and debris into places it shouldn’t be in and wreak havoc on the workings of your ebike.

You should also not use car soaps on an ebike as most car soaps have wax in them that is not suitable for ebikes.

COMPONENTS & PARTS NOT TO CLEAN DOWN

Before we describe what to clean and how to clean your ebike we first need to discuss what shouldn’t be cleaned with water because, after all, there’s some sensitive equipment on an ebike. You should avoid getting any water or soap on the following parts. You may however, wipe them down with a dry rag:

The hub bearing (that’s the center of the wheel)
The bottom bracket (where the pedals connect together through the frame)
The headset bearing (where the handlebars connect to the frame)
Seat post (where the seat connects into the frame)
The brake pads and rotor, or discs
Chains and gears

These areas of your ebike are to be avoided when cleaning your ebike with water so as to avoid getting any water in the motor or the frame of your ebike. You’ll want to avoid the brake pads and rotors so that any soap you may use doesn’t mess with their functionality, contaminate them and make them squeak! Staying away from the aforementioned regions of the frame will mean that these joins won’t creak in the future and that no water will get into the frame.

CLEANING YOUR EBIKE

Firstly you want to use your brush to clean the dirt from what are probably the dirtiest parts of your ebike, the rims and tires of your bicycles. As these are the parts that come closest to the surfaces on which you ride these are going to be the ones which can get really dirty really quickly. Here you want to be careful to avoid the hub bearing and the brake pads and rotors. You’re also going to want to scrub the pedals here too.

After that you’re going to take your wet rag or sponge and wipe down the frame of your ebike. Make sure you get to the underside of the frame where dirt is most likely to gather. Here you’re going to make sure that you avoid wiping down the bottom bracket, the headset bearing and the seat post.

Once your ebike has been thoroughly cleaned you’re going to want to rinse off all the dirty soap and water. For this you can either take a garden hose, set on a light sprinkler setting, or a wet rag. Once the dirty, soapy residue has been cleaned from the ebike you can use your clean, dry rag to wipe the bike dry. When doing so, start at the top, paying good attention to the headset bearing and the seat post (it is almost inevitable that these may have gotten wet so making sure we dry them is a good practice). Do the rims last as these may still have some particles of dirt hanging out on them which your dry rag will get rid of.

Once you’ve wiped the bike dry you’re going to want to lube the chain to prevent it from rusting. To do this you’re going to want to take your chain and run it through a clean dry rag to wipe off any water that managed to get on it. Next take your chain lube and apply a slow but steady stream to the inside of the chain as you rotate the cranks until you’ve touched the whole chain.

Lastly you’re going to want to take out the battery and, using a fresh dry rag, wipe down the contacts on the battery and the frame, the space in which the battery sits, and the bottom of the battery which is in contact with the frame. These parts of your ebike should be relatively clean but it’s always good to give them a once over. It is important that you do not use any water on these parts of your ebike.

Now you’re all set to store your ebike, and it is all beautiful and clean for your next adventure!

A FINAL WORD ON EBIKE CLEANING

Use your best judgement when deciding how often and when you should clean your ebike. When you do clean your ebike you shouldn’t need to use a huge amount of elbow grease, if you do then you should consider cleaning your ebike more often, which will make the process easier and, therefore, quicker.

As with anything the more you do it the better you become at it, the faster you can do it, and the more enjoyment you can get out of it. A good saying to live by is that “if you take care of your ebike your ebike will take care of you!”

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