dirtydog said:
So, when you're talking about 'non caustic' cleaners, I'm guessing you mean stuff like 'Muc off' which is bio degradable?
I did try Muc off once. It's ok but it can leave strange white deposits if it's not thoroughly rinsed off.
The best stuff IMO is BMW wheel cleaner. I've said this before but here goes again;
it's designed to be safe on expensive BMW car wheels, it's not caustic like an alli cleaner (it's more a detergent than an acid). I use it on everything except tank, beak etc. but it is safe on those areas too.
The wheel brush set is expensive, the cleaner comes in 4 litre refills and costs less than Muc-off. The wheel brush set lasts forever but a set of B&Q soft paintbrushes are just as good for a bike. If you want someting that you just spray-on then rinse off you'll be disappointed, you do need to at least agitate the dirt, salt and brake dust before it will rinse away.
Looking for some support from Clive here, I don't know if he recalls it but he once asked me how I kept the calipers so clean. It's the wheel BMW cleaner! Just hose the bike down, spray it on, work a little with a brush and rinse off. (I only do one area at a time, moving on and repeating the process).
The basis though has to be polish. Early winter and in the Spring I polish the whole bike and I mean the whole bike, wheels, spokes, hubs, engine covers, engine bars, swing-arm, gearbox, panniers, frames etc. etc.
I've tried all sorts of polishes over the years, the best are Zymol cleaner wax (great on soft paints and perspex) Mer (great on all types of surface but doesn't last) and BMW liquid polish (again great on all surfaces including glass by the way, lasts well and doesn't turn black plastic grey). The last two can be applied when the bike is still wet so no chamois-ing and doesn't drag or streak if the surface isn't dry.
Mer can be added to the water used for washing the bike/car. When it dries it leaves a film of polish that you just buff off (good on UPC windows and frames too!) The BMW shampoo stuff that I mentioned before does the same but doesn't need to be buffed off after, it's a good addition to the existing polish but I wouldn't rely on it alone for protection. Oh and you need to use quite a lot for the best effect.
Why use so many BMW products? How many times have you bought something and read the instruction "test on a small area first?" The stuff BMW sell for their products is tested on them. They don't need to warn you that it might do any harm because it won't. You may also be surprised to find that most of their stuff is actually cheaper than the equivalent stuff from Halfrauds etc.
None of the above will repair any corrosion but none of the bikes I've owned have suffered in the way others describe. It's not a huge investment in time or effort and it's always repaid me when it comes to selling or p-exing. The other plus is that you notice anything damaged, broken or failing sooner than you would if you cover it with 'Mother's recipe' and leave it for months!
Sh*t high.........
Clean.....
!
