I’d like to suggest that pressure washers aren’t really a great idea where motorcycles are concerned. Seals and bearings are relatively exposed on a bike compared to an automobile where with a PW you are mostly just cleaning off an outer shell. Personally I have always used the time-honoured bucket and sponge / microfibre mitt with some ‘auto’ shampoo. The dealership isn’t at all concerned about longevity where your beloved machine is concerned, so tend to have at it with quick-fix solutions. It is much easier to loaf around pointing the PW wand than actually bend over a little, or horror-of-horrors get down on one knee, and move your arm around washing the machine. While you are doing so you will also more easily observe any little issues that aren’t apparent from ten feet away.
The brakes on the CE 04 suffer from significant under-use compared to a regular bike. Honestly, the re-gen is so powerful that I generally only use them for about the last 20yds of stopping. Consequently the discs and pads get quite dirty and accumulate greasy material from the road. I would try the above tools and an old toothbrush and pay particular attention to the drilled holes in the discs — all manner of gunk can get lodged in there…
I haven’t tried removing the pads, but if the above fails then a common fix is to apply some copper grease
very sparingly, i.e. just a light smear, to the backs of the pads only! If the pad and caliper are both ‘dry’ at point of contact, metal-to-metal frequency vibrations can set up causing that characteristically annoying squeal.
Here’s an example:
https://www.holtsauto.com/products/cleaners-and-greasers/copper-paste/ There are many different brands out there…
Don’t what ever you do get it on the friction face of the pad,
only the back!
*Edit — also don’t apply the stuff directly to the mounted calliper, like the guy in the second photo used in the above linked product. That’s a recipe for disaster!
