How to Wash an eBike

So you probably just bought your ebike and took it out for a few rides and you’re just starting to wonder “How should I clean this?” Which makes sense as you’d be pretty careful cleaning any electronic device. Luckily, cleaning an eBike isn’t too different from washing any other bicycle.

So the big question is “Can I get my eBike wet?” Well, it’s kind of complicated. Most eBikes are said to be waterproof but many different manufacturers define waterproof differently. To be safe, we should every eBike as “water resistant” meaning, you can get the eBike wet, but don’t go overboard if you don’t have to.
Washing The Bike

Remove The Battery

First thing you’re going to want to do is remove the battery. The battery gets in the way of cleaning the bike as a whole and running the risk of the battery getting damaged just isn’t worth it so this is step one.

Cover Any Questionable Areas

Cover any electric part of your bike that might be affected if directly hit with water. Open cables, where the battery connects, and any buttons are a good place to start. Levels of water resistance are different with each eBike so we’d say to wrap these parts up with a dry cloth or something similar to avoid direct water contact.

Rinse

Now that that’s done, cleaning your eBike is a lot like a regular bicycle so we’re going to start with a light rinse. We recommend just using a low pressure hose to rinse off most loose dirt and grime.

Apply Bicycle Cleaner

After about a minute or whenever you feel like you’ve gotten your entire eBike you can start applying a bike cleaner to your eBike. Any bike specific cleaner should be fine and you can just spray most of your bike, avoiding any of the vital electric parts.

Brush

After you feel like you’ve sprayed everything you need, you can start brushing your eBike. We suggest you get yourself a bicycle specific brush cleaning kit to avoid scratches and to get those tough areas but any regular cleaning brush will do.

Rinse Again

After you feel like you’ve scrubbed all areas you can with your brush it’s time for a second rinse. This is to get off any excess bike cleaner and dirt off your ebike. Once done, you can start drying.

Dry

To start, just shake off most of the excess water from the bike for a few seconds. Afterwards, take a dry cloth and you can just start wiping it down till completely dry.

Silicone Spray Finish

Afterwards, to get a nice shine, take a silicone spray and dry cloth and apply it to most of your bike, avoiding your brakes. This gives a more nice, shiny, coating to your eBike.

Battery

Next, the battery. To clean the battery, you can just take a damp cloth and start wiping down. The battery’s shell should be very water resistant so don’t worry too much about getting it wet. Afterwards, take a contact cleaner to the terminals of the battery and bike just to get rid of any excess dust or water.

Degrease and Lube Your Chain

Finally, once your bike is almost entirely clean, you can degrease and lube your chain and you’re good to go. Give your eBike a light test ride just to make sure everything is functioning as it should before taking it on a real trip.