Does anybody has a good tip to clean the rear wheel of a bagger. Even if I remove the saddle bags it is hard to clean with a result that I have some little pitting. Does anybody remove the rear wheel just for cleaning/ polishing?

Also my engine cooling fins have a little pitting. Which cleaner can remove this?

 

I us S100 to clean almost everything. If you have pitting your sol. Maybe polishing them would help!

 

Never remove it to clean. Just clean the wheels good when you wash it. If pitting has started, it may be too late to get rid of it, but as Jrsess said... polish it.

 

A good water soluble cleaner/degreaser,brush and sponge will work.Some of those spray wheel cleaners are kind of harsh.
Removing the wheel would be a PITA.A lift will make the job a lot easier.

 

I just remove the saddle bags. Put my ride up on my (scissor type) bike lift just enough to get the rear tire off the ground and can rotate it by hand. I then get two buckets one with soapy water and the other with warm water to rinse. I then take a squat on my favorite adjustable shop stool and with a sponge I wash one side of the wheel at a time rotating the wheel by hand as I go along. Then go to the other side and do the side. You then take the rinse bucket and hand rinse the wheel. Move to the front and do the same! Takes me about 30 minutes.

 

A friend of mine purchased a Mag Wheel cleaner from Meguiar's at a car show. Tried it on his 89 FLHS wheels and it worked as advertised. I could not believe how well it worked and he didn't even scrub them. He did a second application and scrubbed them and they looked like new. We tried it on his brothers' Fatboy and got the same results.
The cleaner had no adverse effect on the tires, brakes or any other finish in the area.
The FLHS wheels are painted (black) also and the cleaner brought out the shine.

I don't know how it would work on the engine fins but if you tried it, I would make sure the engine is cold.

 

Dito on the mequires wheel cleaner. I use it along with a mit that you can put your hand in. This makes for easier work. I have, on wheels that are dull, wet sanded the aluminum, followed with some aluminum polish using a power ball. You can make em shine like new If you have enough time, patience, and beer.

 

Like Lars, I am a big fan of the S100 cleaner, available at most HD stores. Despite its terrific cleaning power, it seems really gentle to the finish of painted parts.

 

When I first got my RKC, the rear was pretty messy. The power ball and aluminum polish did the trick. I think power ball and any cleaner will work.

I try to wash the wheels about every 1000 miles when I see a them starting to get dirty, mostly from brake dust. Most of the time the bike isn't dirty enough to be wash. But, I take the bike to the car wash and just wash the tires and wheel on low power with soap, then I scrub the wheels and spokes with a spoke brush I got a Walmart. That only takes me two minutes, really. Then rinse. Takes more time to ride to the car wash than it does to clean the wheels.

One other thing, Get the Kyndall Zpads for the brakes and you will decrease the brake dust by 80%. They are great brakes in their right, but they are worth the $45 a disk just for the dust problem.

Beary

 

Say DRPLASTIC do you have hairline cracks in any of your lower left cooling fins where they were molded together, they would be in the center of the cooling fin all in the exact same place in a straight line up or down the jug starting at the Diamond cut design leading inward ? Some may have a bead like apperance where they were seald and not smothed down flat and clean like the top section of the jug.

Thanks for your time and answer.
08 EGS Crimson Red Sunglow.