Hi guys me again,

 

collected my bike today, Shame as it was chucking it down so didn't do too many miles.

given it a good look over and am in awe of the amount of chrome to care for.  Just wondering what products you guys recommend for cleaning / polishing especially the chrome.

i have the acf50 ready to hand,

'also where is a well priced place to get me some essential saddlebags, essential as in finish the look of the bike lol

thanks

phil

This is my regime, I dare say others do it differently

Bikes on centre stand.

Hose the bike all overto try to wash off loose shite etc

Spray a section at a time with Muc-off, or something similar. Try to get into all the hard to get at areas. Dont let it dry on the bike. Agitate it with soft brushes to loosen of the road crap. Pay attention to the rear shock

Hose that section all off. Repeat for another section of the bike, until the whole bike is washed.

Compressor on, and blow off all of the water from the bike

Once dry, wipe over with clean dry cloths.

Bin liners over the wheels and brakes

Acf50 the bike, I do paintwork/chrome, the lot, including switches/under the mudguards etc

Lube the chain, if its got one

Check all electrics work

On the first run after apllying Acf50, any excess will smoke off, so dont worry about grey smoke too much

Time wise, takes me around 6 to 8 hours. I dont mind, I find it relaxing, and it helps me keep em well maintained

I only do each bike a couple of times during winter

 

I use a 2 stroke leaf blower to dry my bike

Thanks for the tips, any better items for chrome cleaning than others as well as polish for the paintwork I'm thinking super resin polish

Hi Phil, if the chrome is in good nick, with little or no scratching, then you don't need to polish it. A good car shampoo will keep it clean. My best tip is to get one of those ultra-fine microfibre cloths designed for window cleaning. The results are amazing. Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/GBPro-Premier-Microfibre-Window-cleaning/dp/B005BCMXMU

If there is a bit of scratching you might want to try good ol' Autosol. Use it sparingly mind.

 

 

Oh yes, saddlebags:  http://www.westendmotorsports.com/luggage-c-1843.html

 

They're in the States but mostly work out cheaper even with import duties. Alternatively try:

 http://www.customcruisers.com/Custom2005/customshop2005/index.html

 or http://www.metriccruisers.co.uk/

 

Thanks for the info, I'll have a good read.  

17 hours ago, drewpy said:

I use a 2 stroke leaf blower to dry my bike

Never thought of that drewps, just found a new use for one of mine, thanks for the tip.

18 hours ago, Toutsuite said:

If there is a bit of scratching you might want to try good ol' Autosol. Use it sparingly mind.

 

Out of curiosity, why use it sparingly? Can it end up causing damage is used too much? (I have no chrome so I have no idea)

33 minutes ago, Malleus said:

Out of curiosity, why use it sparingly? Can it end up causing damage is used too much? (I have no chrome so I have no idea)

its very aggressive, that's why I use Peeks Polish. this can be used everywhere

Just ordered the trio detailing kit from the Zeppelin range, probably spent far too much money.  Has anyone tried ordering from celticafes.co.uk they seem incredibly well priced including saddlebags, almost seems too good to be true, might ask this Q at the bar

I used muc-off miracle shine on mine for chrome.

If you use a leaf blower to dry it, make sure it's empty - I didn't and had to rewash the bloody thing 

13 hours ago, clarke said:

I used muc-off miracle shine on mine for chrome.

If you use a leaf blower to dry it, make sure it's empty - I didn't and had to rewash the bloody thing 

how can you fill a leaf blower?

does it suck too? (Foams, stay down)

 

Garden Vacs can suck as well as blow....

Yup, it has a bag to collect leaves... 1. Make sure you remove bag. 2. Run the leaf blower away from the bike to clear it. Or just use an air compressor like I do now.

mines just a dedicated blower, also used in scouts to make a personal hovercraft