How do you keep you pride and joy looking good?

[Hartley]

Ive posted elsewhere that im having casing replaced for paint lifting on the engine of my on my less than 2 year old GS.
In that thread are a few people saying they have considerably older bikes with many more miles and no such issues.

I do look after my bikes, theyre never left dirty long. Hosed down with loads of cold water, i use a specfied bike cleaner to get the dirt off then Wash n Wax and dried with a blower and kept in a garage. Ive used all these products for a long time on several bikes and never had an issue.

I dont know if the finish and quality of the paint/ powdercoat or whatever it is on the engine varies but what i do want to do, if i can, is minimize the chances of this happening again.

So, if you have a high mileage older bike with the engine paint still good what do you use to keep it clean and looking good?
Equally, if youve experienced similar issues to me what were you using?

What im hoping is there may be a reocurring item thats either good or bad which helps me and others avoid paint issues.

Thanks in advance.

 

[richardbd]

Jet wash and turtle wax for me. Never use fancy potions - especially Muc-Off, given its reputation.

Quick wipe over the plastics with. miracle cloth and that's it. Never used a bike dryer.

Not had a bike dissolve yet...

 

[BillWright]

I hope you dont mention Muc Off in the dealership. They apparently consider it a no-no and recommend S DOC100.

I use the S Doc, followed by snow foam, then a hose down before wiping with a microfibre cloth.

If I'm feeling keen, I then put it on the abba lift and do the crooks and nannies.

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

Don't ride and keep it in dining room, get wife to dust and polish

 

[Auwyn]

Is this a euphemism?

 

[Barnoe]

Don't ride and keep it in dining room, get wife to dust and polish

I did this once with a sports bike lol

Me and the Mrs was going away on holiday and i didn't have a garage at the time.
no way my pride and joy was being at the side of the house while i was away.

When the wife finished work, she came home to a Honda CBR600 ornament

We had double doors on the back.... i pushed the dining table to one side and rolled the bike in
i did put a sheet on the floor

I have to be honest, i thought it looked amazing in the house.... seriously I'm not kidding.

to be fair the wife said it was safer there and didn't complain too much..... she's a keeper lol

Regards keeping clean....
Wash... rinse and go round with autoglym tar remover (it removes all sorts of specs)
get ride of all marks
Then use a detailing brush and some car shampoo to get in all nooks and crannies.... you may have to lean on your back!
rinse.
Then wash the whole bikes again with a sponge and shampoo.
rinse with cold water
Lean bike far left and then far right.....leave to dry for a while
run engine to hot to get rid of any water
use polish on shiny bits
clean Vinyl and Rubber with your brand of cleaner.
sorted

in October/November
coat with ACF50 and just rinse with cold water to get dirt off (wont come completely clean looking)

Dont forget to clean the box and panniers if not on the bike.
fell for this more than once!!
end up putting dirty boxes on a clean bike... looks ridiculous lol
then when your happy no more salt on roads.... start back at the top

 

[bosnjo]

..... she's a keeper lol

Who? The bike or the wife?

 

[theoneandonly]

i leave it out in the rain ,that cleans it.

 

[Buttertub]

Late october..... acf50 applied with an air compressor making sure everything is covered ( old sheets round the tires ), apply acf50 to all bolts with a small brush. Let it the acf50 do its thing over winter and may re apply mid winter.
I dont bother cleaning at all over winter despite how messy it looks.
Once the salt has gone clean with sdoc100 ready for summer. Maybe a further few washes during summer depending how grubby things get but usually a wipe over with microfibre cloths around the wheels and engine keeps them clean. Then I'll give the engine a good spray and wipe over with wd40 which leaves a thin shiny finish.
I also give the main stand a good wipe over with wd40 on a regular basis and despite a few stone chips theres not a speck of rust.
I do the screen and front end once a week to get the flies off. Just spray water on and lay paper towels for a few minutes and then wipe with a leather.
My gsa looks as good as new, no bubbling, flaking or rust.

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

After cleaning I use this product with a microfiber cloth for a final shine, saw it being used in a Dealers to keep that showroom shine, very good product, Google "Stardust Eclat" to find many sellers, not particularly cheap but little goes a long way and lasts a long time.

 

[Wapping]

Stardust Eclat, expensive

Mr Sheen, cheap

Mr Sheen is used in bike and car showrooms, up and down the land.

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

Stardust Eclat, expensive

Mr Sheen, cheap

Mr Sheen is used in bike and car showrooms, up and down the land.

Spit is cheapest, Except in Reiten Motorrad where Stardust is used and a few other dealers I expect, seems very popular whereas mr sheen doesn't

 

[Flipfly]

Just make sure that your cleaning products are mostly PH neutral.

I had mine ceramic coated by Autobrite Direct with their 5 year ceramic. Quote flipfly and there’s still a deal for fellow GSers.

The ceramic makes cleaning it a breeze, so the need for harsh chemicals is limited to a decent tar remover (Autobrite just the tonic works well).

Wouldn’t let muc off anywhere near my bike!

Sdoc100 is good too.

I use a pre wash, snow foam, shampoo (applied by a snow foam gun), finish with Autobrite magiseal which gives a lovely gloss and helps the next time you clean.

All in it takes about 20 minutes if the bike is really dirty.

 

[Baked Bean]

Snow foam , 5 mins to admire your handy work , quick blast off with the jet washer and fanny's your uncle.

 

[stever1]

Why is muck off so bad ?

 

[DazGS]

I hope you dont mention Muc Off in the dealership. They apparently consider it a no-no and recommend S DOC100.

I use the S Doc, followed by snow foam, then a hose down before wiping with a microfibre cloth.

If I'm feeling keen, I then put it on the abba lift and do the crooks and nannies.

I am curious why is Muc Off so bad, I have previously used it and not seen any issues yet!! Will take a look at S DOC100 though.

 

[MartinK]

A couple of times a year, I get the GS up on the stand ( https://www.sealey.co.uk/product/5637191826/450kg-hydraulic-motorcycle-lift worth it's weight in gold! ) get the panels and bash plate off and give it a deep clean and ACF 50 / XCP, usually after a big trip (like a Euro tour), or when taking wheels off to get new tyres fitted... Probably a 2-hour cleaning regime

The rest of the time, a good wash with car shampoo (currently using Megulars Gold Class) and a Scottoiler ACF 365 as a spray-on/wipe-off cleaner for the bright parts of the engine and subframe (about a 20-30 min wash/clean). I use cheap paint brushes to get in the nooks and crannies. I don't have a dryer, but by using ACF365 as a spray-on wipe-off cleaner I get the damp pretty well out of everything. In addition to make sure I don't put a damp bike in the garage, I leave it under the car port or in the sun to dry a couple of hours before tucking away in the garage

Very, very rarely use pressure washer, only if it's really mucky (more often on my CRF300 after some muddy lanes), and even then make sure I don't use high pressure to drive water into areas you don't want it!

Rarely use degreaser (muc-off stylee) but if I do, I have Rhino Goo, seems a bit less damaging
I do the same with all my bikes, seems to work fine

 

[GSMarky]

Snow Foam
Soap & Water
Muc Off
pet Dryer
Squirts of GT 85 / Bike Shine all over
Rain X on the shield, mirrors & TFT

Muc Off is just fine - been using it since it came out pretty much & don't leave anything alkaline on your bike to dry!

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

Snow Foam
Soap & Water
Muc Off
pet Dryer
Squirts of GT 85 / Bike Shine all over
Rain X on the shield, mirrors & TFT

Muc Off is just fine - been using it since it came out pretty much & don't leave anything alkaline on your bike to dry!

Some quotes gathered from internet, cant all be wrong I guess

No, I disagree, Muc Off is pretty aggressive - it makes paint go flat

I used it once on a carbon frame which turned an alarming misty grey colour.

Muc-off and similar are bloody aggressive - it dulls paint and attacks matt-finish alloy parts

A bit of a school boy error with some Muc Off, net result the wheel rims now have a cloudy finish.

I have the raw alloy ones on my 1100 and they went sort of milky

Don't use Muc Off saw it ruin my mates black anodised stem and bars on his new road bike, turned it a streaky milky white colour in places. Soap and water for me and a liberal spray of ACF-50 which I am really impressed with.

Have a motorbike which has spoked black anodised wheels which have been cleaned with Muc Off since new and the finish has now gone very dull,

I've washed my bike with Muc Off for the first time today. After leaving it to do "its thing" for a few minutes, I came back to find it had left streaks all over the plastics. Not only that but the streaks appear to have faded the plastics!!!

Never tell a bmw dealer you use muc-off to clean your bike, if you ever make a warranty claim bmw will void the claim they insist you don't use this to clean your bike.

I'll not be using Muc-off again!! nasty stuff!

My bike's previous owner washed it regularly with MucOff. The rear subframe has rusted under the paint. Steering strut is a mess and the wire wheels need to be rebuilt due to corrosion. Otherwise it's fine.

Following instructions is no good because Muc Offs effects are cumulative, it may look fine in the short term but regular use even following the instructions will damage your bike in the long term.

 

[grantmac]

for me the following seesm to work OK:

Powerwash heavy crap off
snow foam - I use Bilt Hamber on both cars and bikes. i use a brush to work the snow foam into all the cracks and loosen the road grime
powerwash off
SDC 100 - 30 mins to work its magic
powerwash off
Bruhl Dryer
No H2O as last coat to give it a waxy shine but someone told me Mr Sheen is as good and is almost the same stuff.