How do you wash your Downtown 300i and a question on signal sensor

[Seanny]

Hello fellow Downtown 300i owners, how do you guys wash your bikes? Is it okay to take off the seat and storage bucket and use a garden hose to blast water directly into the engine and the inside surroundings of the frame/body? I see quite some spider webs there with 2-3 dead spiders there and I wanted to clean that up. But then I thought, hey the battery is there, as well as a lot of electronic parts and wires like the rectifier. Is that safe to do so? Will that cause rusting in the long run? I guess I'll need to invest a blow dryer to dry the bike after I wash it then? After spending a lot of time diagnostic electrical problems with the Downtown 300i I'm just hesitant to even ride in the rain and wash the bike in fear of getting more rusty electrical parts.

I was watching a youtube video on a guy washing his SV650 with autoglym motorcycle cleaner and motorcycle shampoo. Are there any cleaning products you would recommend for washing your Downtown?

Also a side question, just went to a mechanic again to do some regular maintenance work, and he noticed my left brake lever doesn't trigger the rear brake light to turn on. It has been like that since I bought the bike and I have been looking to fix it but have no idea what part to buy. He said it's usually just a $5-10 part but because it's a Kymco he has no idea where to get one. Do you guys know what part he is talking about?

Thanks

[CROSSBOLT]

I wash the outer body work with Murphy oil soap and the engine with spray Gunk degreaser(not the foamy stuff). I do use a pressure washer spray to hose off the engine but it is only a 1500 psi washer and I don't get the tip too close to any component. All that stuff is virtually waterproof so if it screws up getting wet, it needed replacing any way. The brake swithes are different, L and R and available on ebay cheap. Many posts on here about those things. What year is tour DT?

[Seanny]

I wash the outer body work with Murphy oil soap and the engine with spray Gunk degreaser(not the foamy stuff). I do use a pressure washer spray to hose off the engine but it is only a 1500 psi washer and I don't get the tip too close to any component. All that stuff is virtually waterproof so if it screws up getting wet, it needed replacing any way. The brake swithes are different, L and R and available on ebay cheap. Many posts on here about those things. What year is tour DT?

2011
Is this a good example for the light switch? https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Front-Brake-Light-Switch-Kymco-Downtown-300-i-2011-2012/152316451647?hash=item2376c49b3f:g:ffsAAOSwXeJYKG1A&vxp=mtr

Not sure why I see a lot of sellers from the UK, but non from the US or Taiwan, where the Downtown 300is were imported from.

[mousejunks]

After a good rinse I wash mine with Turtle Wax car wash on the outside and engine degreaser on the engine parts. I never leave it on for more than a minute and hose it off gently.  The windshield gets a bit of extra cleaning with a chamois to prevent water spots.

[mousejunks]

For the brake light switch it may be solved by spraying the contacts and mechanism with contact cleaner. However they are expected to burn out because they are on a 15 amp circuit but probably able to handle less than 5 amps continuous.

[john grinsel]

Washing bikes/scooters, I use Gunk on engine parts/shinny metal part/rear wheel---rinse with water----dry bike off by riding it- - Body on scooter I use car wash soap----after recent 2700 mile trip with three days of that riding in the rain used DAWN on body and exposed parts to get rid of grease/oil/road spatter-----then Lemon Pledge on body.

Not a fan of pressure washing.

[stuo]

If you replace the brake light with an LED bulb you will not burn the brake switches because the LED draws much less current. This is a common problem with the DT. Also you may be able to fix your switch by using a knife blade to pop it open, then burnish the contacts with 400 grit, then spray with contact cleaner to remove any grit. This solved my problem.

[mousejunks]

If you replace the brake light with an LED bulb you will not burn the brake switches because the LED draws much less current. This is a common problem with the DT. Also you may be able to fix your switch by using a knife blade to pop it open, then burnish the contacts with 400 grit, then spray with contact cleaner to remove any grit. This solved my problem.

I can confirm this. The brake light switches are weak by design and the contacts burn out or get dirty. Cleaning the switch internals will make it work again. I've had switch issues but never had to replace a switch because of this.

The trick is to apply both brake levers at the same time. They are wired in parallel to each other on the same circuit, so this way the current is shared over 2 switches and the current flow is halved to each one, reducing wear.