New rider Q: How often do you wash your bike, clean your chain?

Depends on which bike. The Wing gets lots of bugs on it and try to wash it after each riding event depending on the weather/temperature. No bugs yet but it hasn't been out of the building yet either. No chain, no maintenance/cleaning.
V-Strom gets washed after a muddy or dusty tour of the logging or forestry roads. Not much chain "cleaning", oil it with chainsaw bar/chain oil aprox after every other outing. New chain/sprockets last season.
Always wash at home. Hose and bucket w/Dawn dish soap and Zip wax solution. Cleans and beads water well. No car wash or pressure wash.
I don't spend a lot of time with cosmetic appearance on the V. It's got it's share of character marks with more to come.

A bucket, some car-wash soap, a microfiber cloth and a low-preeure hose to rinse takes care of everything except rear wheel, chain guard, chain and sprocket(s)
Wet cloth on windshield while washing rest makes it easy to clean without scratching.
I follow up with a coat of Carnauba Wax on all painted surfaces and polished steel (fork tubes)
That is once a season and allows a good overview of condition, etc.
As for the chain, Every tank or so, wipe down with a cloth to remove surface dirt, apply new chain lube (for me, 75w gear oil) and wipe again to remove excess oil and dirt.
Ride, repeat as needed.
When rear wheel gets sufficiently coated with oil/dust, a rag with either kerosene, WD-40, or paint thinner will easily remove the gunk and the rim can be polished with a soft cloth afterwards. This is also the time to clean out front sprocket area. A small paint brush and som kerosene works nicely for this—fresh lube after.
No strong cleaners/detergents/degreasers, NO power washers, no chain waxes and no Armor-All.
Ride, repeat as needed.

I use a garden hose and one of those garden hose-end sprayers filled with car-wash soap. That'll melt away a lot of dirt. Just dial in the desired amount of suds. Then (every so often) I'll take a wash mitt to it and then give it the "once over". An occasional detail will will help to detect any issues before they become problems (i.e. loose fasteners)



The chain gets lubed every few hundred miles with something in an aerosol can with the words "chain lube" on the label. . When it gets really cruddy, it gets sprayed down with WD-40 and left to soak overnight. A good wipe-down the next morning with an old thread-bare terricloth towel usually does the trick.

1) once a year
2) never/ every 1000 km
3) nothing / S100
4)

Bucket,Meguiars car wash,micro fiber towel when dirty.Finish with Bike spirits wipe down.
Wet towel on windshield, mirrors, front of bike,after almost every ride to keep bugs off.
Clean chain with wd40 and rag, lube with gear oil every 2 tanks of gas.

1) How often do you wash your bike? When ever it rains while riding.

2) How often do you clean and lube your chain? Clean, never. Lube when stopping for the night or end of ride.

3) What do you use to clean it/to lube it? I lube with DuPont Chain Saver.

4) If you have tried the cleaner "Bike Brite," how well did it work? Never used it.