Cleaning Your Motorbike

Do not be phased by others stressing that your bike needs to be in showroom condition – that’s not accurate. Australia's Biosecurity Inspection is all about ensuring that there is NO DIRT or ORGANIC MATERIAL (or grease). A motorbike can look showroom condition but still fail biosecurity inspection with seeds in the radiator fins or grass in the skid plate. If you think that you’re going to ride the TET then give your bike a quick rinse before shipping to Australia you’re definitely going to have a problem. Instead, please use the cleaning facilities near our depots where you can get the job done easily with helping hands for little cost.

Quick summary of how Australia biosecurity works:

• Management of biosecurity risks in Australia underwent major reform when the Quarantine Act 1908 was replaced by the Biosecurity Act 2015.

• The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) administers and enforces the Act.

• Approved arrangements, previously Quarantine Approved Premises (QAP), are voluntary arrangements entered into with DAFF that allow operators to manage biosecurity risks in accordance with DAFF’s requirements. An operator with an approved arrangement can use their own sites, facilities, equipment, people, etc.

Sadly, over the years DAFF have created a culture in the International Freight Forwarding (IFF) industry whereby agents believe there is no point cleaning a used vehicle … and that you might as well let it fail inspection and pay for the clean + reinspect. DO NOT ADOPT THIS ATTITUDE. Nobody can clean your bike better than you can, and keep in mind that there are are plenty of good Biosecurity Inspectors who actually inspect the bikes and WILL PASS them if there is no dirt or organic material (or grease).

The following cleaning guide is for worst-case scenario, which TET riders should follow. We recommend a ‘bulk and trim’ approach. If a bike has only been on sealed roads then you could scale it back, but you still must be able to INSPECT the different areas on your bike to ensure no dirt or organic material. For example, maybe you don’t need to remove the front wheel to be able to clean thoroughly, but depending on the bike you likely need to remove the front fender to clean under there properly.

• SETUP bike in cleaning bay at washdown facility.

• FIRST PASS ‘BULK’ CLEAN. This will remove the majority (and maybe even all) of dirt and organic material from your motorbike. The rest of the process is ‘TRIM’.    

• REMOVE front wheel and fender. Give to helping hands to clean.

• REMOVE radiator guards, windscreen, headlight guard, side covers, tank bag platform, bash/skid plate, front sprocket cover, rear chain guard and any other mud guards. Give those parts to helping hands to clean.

• ‘TRIM’ CLEAN bike, including:

  • Nooks and crannies around fuel tank, engine and gearbox

  • Radiator/s (ensure no seeds, bugs, etc are caught in the fins)

  • Areas behind front fairing and side covers, including air intakes if there

  • Underside of bike    

  • Internal compartments, including under seat

• REATTACH front wheel (use a waterproof grease on axles when reattaching wheels)

• REMOVE rear wheel. Give to helping hands to clean.

• ‘TRIM’ CLEAN bike rear wheel area, including:

  • all mud guards

  • swing arm

  • brake carrier

  • rear suspension area

  • exhaust, including gaps to heat shields    

  • clean and lube chain

• REATTACH rear wheel

• FINAL INSPECTION

• REATTACH everything

We recommend that you view the clean and decontamination of your bike before shipping to Australia as something you need to do regardless of biosecurity rules – you don’t want dirt and organic material caking to your bike. If we want a good life out of our bikes we need to give them a proper clean and TLC once in a while. So just plan the clean in to your schedule at the end of your journey immediately before delivery to the depot for shipping to Australia. 😊