Touring special models question
 

Can anyone tell me if the factory black parts on the special are easier to keep clean or harder then chrome parts? Any special cleaners or precautions needed?

Well any oil leaks or even light seepage will be more noticeable on the black matte finish. The chrome cleans up pretty easy.

I have a '18 Road king special. I bought it not only cause it looks awesome, but the black parts instead of chrome are way easier to take care of. Plus mines in industrial gray denim so all it takes to keep clean is a bath with petroleum free soap when it gets dirty. No hours of polishing chrome. Also the petroleum free soap is only for the denim paint. Gloss bikes can use what ever soap you like.

Love black on bikes. It’s what I ride now. However I’m finding out they are a pain in the ass to keep clean. Every speck of dust shows up. Dirt and scratches just stand out more to me on black than they do on the chrome.

IMO the black parts scratch and chip much easier on top of being harder to keep clean. Black may look great when clean, but it shows every swirl, scratch and chip.

I like the black bits on the bike just fine. Easy to keep clean. I don't think i'd buy Vivid Black again though. As stated above, every single spec of dirt shows up.....

As stated above, Black chrome looks great, but it shows water spots and seems to chip and scratch easier that regular chrome. However, I am still happy with my choice.

Keeping It Clean
 

I have a couple of black bikes and I put a coat of wax on everything on the bike except the engine and it makes it easier to clean when it get dirty. The engine gets S100 engine Brightener.

The gloss black parts on the specials are not black chrome, they are painted. We are talking about air cleaner cover, cow bells/font fork, primary cover etc. TLC is necessary to avoid scratching the paint. Meguiar's Scratch X leaves fine scratches in the paint for example. My cowbells have swirls just from washing. I've used a DA polisher, soft gray Griots 3" polishing pad and Chemical Guys V36 and v38 on these areas successfully, but the bike is turning me into a detailing geek. You get the idea.

Thanks for the advice guys. I thought it was irking to spend hours after every ride polishing the chrome. I am thinking the back would be worse because of the scratching that wouldn’t appear with chrome. Guess that changes my choices a little. Rules out the specials, but opens it up to the standards, the ultras, the limiteds, and the CVO’s. All depends on what options I want to go with now.