Step five: Drying:

This is your chance for a coffee break. Letting the bike drip dry for a few moments won’t hurt. Taking it off the centre/paddock stand and putting it on the side stand will help water drain. But you don’t have long to rest. Get it back on the stand and get the chamois leather out before it goes all streaky. Working from the top – the screen, down to clocks, tank and so on – carefully get the bike as dry as possible.

Now there are a couple of choices. Professionals have access to an airline – if you have a compressor, you may also have one. These are great for blow water out of those hard to reach nooks and crannies. Mirrors have a Tardis-like ability to store about a gallon of water each, it seems. Filler caps too hold a surprising amount. Carefully directing an airline into these sorts of places will prevent drips in the polishing stage. If you can get the use of an airline, use it to blow the brake calipers through as well, as these hold a lot of brake dust.

If you don’t have an airline, some hair you have to take great care not to get them wet. You run the dryers have a cool or cold setting. These also work well, though obviously risk of electrocution or a kicking from the missus.

Failing either of those, you can leave the bike over night to dry out, or simply take a lot of time with the leather to get it totally dried off.