Cleaning Tips
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6th Gear
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 12
Likes: 1
From: Illinois
Cleaning Tips
What have you found to be the best cleaner to use on your bike, wheels and tires, engine besides harleys brand cleaners. Also what is the best to use on black vance and hines exhaust covers.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
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Like you mentioned, after using Dawn to wash bike, you should apply some type of wax since Dawn strips all the wax off the bike.
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 181
Likes: 39
From: Delaware
Indeed. Most all detailing blogs that I recall reading say that dish soap should NOT be used on a regular basis and then only used in specific use scenarios. From Meguires himself:
And wax is not a substitute for the polymer coatings referred to.
To the OP, i think simple is better than relying on whiz-bang products. Hose the bike down to remove abrasive grit that will lead to swirl marks, wash down with any reputable auto soap and CLEAN mitt or sponge, then air dry with leaf blower to help prevent water spots (yes, I refuse to pay for some dedicated filtered air blower). Any good spray detailer after that or a twice a year waxing with a good cleaner wax. YMMV. Good luck!
Edit: no ideas for the VH black items, interested to hear what others use.
From Twelve car cleaning myths On the CNN web site, Barry Mequiar says....
"Any dishwashing detergent is meant to remove everything from the surface," he says. "That will include stripping the polymers of the paint surface and the last thing you want the paint finish to be is squeaky clean."
Meguiar likens the effect of dishwashing detergent to what it does to someone's hands. "Too much detergent will dry the skin. On the surface of a car, the same thing occurs; dishwashing detergent actually accelerates the oxidation process when you use it on a regular basis."
"Any dishwashing detergent is meant to remove everything from the surface," he says. "That will include stripping the polymers of the paint surface and the last thing you want the paint finish to be is squeaky clean."
Meguiar likens the effect of dishwashing detergent to what it does to someone's hands. "Too much detergent will dry the skin. On the surface of a car, the same thing occurs; dishwashing detergent actually accelerates the oxidation process when you use it on a regular basis."
To the OP, i think simple is better than relying on whiz-bang products. Hose the bike down to remove abrasive grit that will lead to swirl marks, wash down with any reputable auto soap and CLEAN mitt or sponge, then air dry with leaf blower to help prevent water spots (yes, I refuse to pay for some dedicated filtered air blower). Any good spray detailer after that or a twice a year waxing with a good cleaner wax. YMMV. Good luck!
Edit: no ideas for the VH black items, interested to hear what others use.
Last edited by DelRider; Jul 29, 2017 at 07:42 AM.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 3,425
Likes: 1,418
From: pensacola fl
Indeed. Most all detailing blogs that I recall reading say that dish soap should NOT be used on a regular basis and then only used in specific use scenarios. From Meguires himself:
And wax is not a substitute for the polymer coatings referred to.
To the OP, i think simple is better than relying on whiz-bang products. Hose the bike down to remove abrasive grit that will lead to swirl marks, wash down with any reputable auto soap and CLEAN mitt or sponge, then air dry with leaf blower to help prevent water spots (yes, I refuse to pay for some dedicated filtered air blower). Any good spray detailer after that or a twice a year waxing with a good cleaner wax. YMMV. Good luck!
Edit: no ideas for the VH black items, interested to hear what others use.
And wax is not a substitute for the polymer coatings referred to.
To the OP, i think simple is better than relying on whiz-bang products. Hose the bike down to remove abrasive grit that will lead to swirl marks, wash down with any reputable auto soap and CLEAN mitt or sponge, then air dry with leaf blower to help prevent water spots (yes, I refuse to pay for some dedicated filtered air blower). Any good spray detailer after that or a twice a year waxing with a good cleaner wax. YMMV. Good luck!
Edit: no ideas for the VH black items, interested to hear what others use.
This! leave the dawn soap for dishes, don't use it on bikes or cars.
If you have a somewhat fresh coat of wax on the bike dawn will not strip it. What dawn does is leave residue behind that inhibits water beading from the wax
Use proper washing techniques, 2 bucket method if using a hose. 90% of the time I use Optimum No Rinse wash, no hose. I also use Backfire waterless wash for a quicker wash.
I detail cars as a sid gig and I don't use wax anymore. Use a sealant, last longer and it doesn't attract dust like wax.
Wax=Dust magnet
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 3,425
Likes: 1,418
From: pensacola fl
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Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 200
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From: Peabody Ma
Cleaner
This stuff is great. You can use it on glass, plastic, rubber, chrome and paint.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Spir...ner+%26+polish
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Spir...ner+%26+polish
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2015
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Likes: 1,418
From: pensacola fl
Here is my experience with bike spirits.
My bike is coated with 22PLE I'm going to say upfront. SO, if your bike isn't coated your results could/would be different.
I was on a over night trip and hit a lot of bugs on the ride that night. Woke up the next morning, walked out to clean the bike and my friend said try the bike spirits he had. I had waterless wash in the saddlebag but I like to try different detailing stuff so I read the directions and did the fairing. What a absolute greasy streaky **** show that was. I wiped that crap off the fairing as fast as I could and sprayed the waterless wash on right away. Never again! Terrible!
It might work great on other stuff but if you have a ceramic or quartz based coating on your bike stay away from that stuff.
Ill stick with 22PLE and a waterless wash. Waterless wash is way way cheaper than bike spirits.My buddy did half his fairing with bike spirits and half with the waterless wash I had. He asked if I would leave the WW for him and I did. He is done with the bike spirits
My bike is coated with 22PLE I'm going to say upfront. SO, if your bike isn't coated your results could/would be different.
I was on a over night trip and hit a lot of bugs on the ride that night. Woke up the next morning, walked out to clean the bike and my friend said try the bike spirits he had. I had waterless wash in the saddlebag but I like to try different detailing stuff so I read the directions and did the fairing. What a absolute greasy streaky **** show that was. I wiped that crap off the fairing as fast as I could and sprayed the waterless wash on right away. Never again! Terrible!
It might work great on other stuff but if you have a ceramic or quartz based coating on your bike stay away from that stuff.
Ill stick with 22PLE and a waterless wash. Waterless wash is way way cheaper than bike spirits.My buddy did half his fairing with bike spirits and half with the waterless wash I had. He asked if I would leave the WW for him and I did. He is done with the bike spirits