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Oct 1, 2010 Bikesport News review the Mobi V-17 portable washer

By David MillerPlug and play. These words are usually enough to strike fear into the heart of anyone but the most optimistic of god-bothering types. Usually, plug and play usually involves plug, scratch head, read instructions, plug again, look at sky for help, plug again, lose temper, give up.In fact, pretty much all things that are plug and play simply aren't, and most are infuriating enough to make St Francis of Assisi kick babies.And so it was some trepidation I approached the Mobiwasher V17 portable power washer. OK, so it doesn't say plug and play on the tin but that's what they mean. Charge it (or plug it into a fag lighter), fill it with water and wash stuff. Hmmm.We will get one thing out of the way now. This little gadget isn't powerful enough to get your motocross bike clean after a big mud session but then again, big Karchers struggle to do that easily so instead of trying to make the V17 do something it wasn't meant to do (like getting a mechanic to think), we thought we would have a go at something it is meant to do.Fast forward, or backwards depending on when you are in time, to Silverstone British Superbikes. It's wet, windy and generally miserable. My partner in grime is none other than HM Plant Honda's Josh Brookes whose little Zoomer paddock bike is covered in general crap after scooting from his RV to the pit garages and back for three days.Fortunately, Josh isn't one of those riders that suffers from CDO (which is like OCD but in alphabetical order like it bloody well should be) but his Zoomer was looking a slightly-second hand. So, I filled the V17 with water from one of Silverstone's myriad taps, plugged it into the RV's fag lighter, switched it on and Robert was indeed your mother's brother. It worked.The V17 managed to get rid of the accumulated dirt, bits of squashed chip, some dog poo (although Christ only knows where that came from) and various other things the Zoomer had accumulated. Pleasantly surprised was an understatement.So, the Mobiwasher V17 is plug and play, and it does work well. It is an ideal thing for de-mucking your race or track bike if you've been out in a wet session, or your paddock bike if you happen to move in those circles. The 17-litre tank lasted for ages, it's on wheels so you can, erm, wheel it about and it has its own re-chargeable battery so you don't have to actually plug it in to anything.