I have purchased my first Harley. The bike is new and spotless and i know it is not going to stay that way. I am a nut about keeping a bike clean. What are the secrets to keeping these bikes looking like new. Do most people just use soap and water and blow off the excess water with a leaf blower. Any special cleaning solutions i should be using?

 

When I had my first bike, all that I used was soap and water and rinsed it off with the hose. I used a real soft towel and it worked for me. Nothin fancy, but it worked.

 

I use Blue Coral car wash,it's available at walmart or most any automotive store, it's virtualy spot free.
Maguires wax, and Maguires quick detail between washes, also ,get you some microfiber rags.


Zig

 

I tried the leaf blower and all I could think about was - what if I dropped this thing on my bike? Instead I bought a "metro blaster" its basically a vacuum that works backward as it blows warm air at a high volume! This thing dries my bagger in about 10-15 minutes and it is AWESOME! No water spots. The company advertises in American Iron magazine or PM me and I'll find their number for you.[sm=gears.gif]

 

I am on my 2nd Harley and the new one is a labor of love. I use the S-100 total cycle cleaner when I am giving it a big wash and detail. It has to be cool and not hot as it will dry and make you engine look like crap. The S-100 makes the engine looks like new and spot free. I dry off the bike with my leaf blower, but if you want to spend the money, motorcycle dryers work a bit better than a leaf blower as they will heat the air to about 40-50 degrees above the ambient temp. I don't want to spend the 300 for a blower, so the leaf blower works fine.

I got one of those Mr.Clean Autodry systems and believe it or not, it's great for not getting spots on the bike. You can wash and rince without a bucket and that is awesome to me. Check them out and you will be surprised. Do yourself a favor and get some lint free rags for the detailing and if you are planning on waxing it, get yourself a supply of cloth baby diapers. They are so soft and don't scratch like terry towels can. never-dull works good for the chrome, but any good chrome cleaner is good also. I don't use the liquid chrome cleaners as I don't want to have to toothbrush off all the crevices.

Good luck with your new bike and welcome to the family.



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all good advice

 

Is this the product?
http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrclea...products.shtml

 

The Mr Clean Auto Dry works great. I've had one for about a year now and don't use anything else until I'm going to detail it. I use Harley's wax but there are many good products out there. The Metro Dryer-Air Force system mentioned above sounds great and I've been looking into them also (around $200). You gotta get the water off your bike!



Terry

 

keep it in the den....use a feather brush to dust it off once in a while....it will be like new for years to come!!
Im not really a smart ***, i just couldnt resist on this one. just spent 3 hours pickin off bugs for dinner and using chrome polish!!

 

I understand you should not use windex on the windshield because it will cause scratches. I am presently using soap and water to clean the bugs off of the windshield. What can i use to clean the windshield that will not leave scratches other than soap and water.