Keep Your K Bike Clean

[SHIVA]

From our own web site, under Everything Aftermarket:
MAINTENANCE, DRY WASH:
I have come a long way on this topic. For me bike cleaning used to be a little bit of water and a quick wipe. Later on I discovered quick cleaners such as Honda Pro and Plexus, however they are inferior, specially compared to this method.

It wasn't until my buddy Ken Freiberg turned me on to proper cleaning and maintenance that I learned how to do this right.

The process is called dry wash, which means you do not need to use water on your bike. (Unless the vehicle is severely muddy and is in a bad shape.) They are many brands out there that offer these products. I prefer the Meguiars. They have a very effective 3 step process, a Quick Cleaner and Scratch X remover.

Here is the secret to a dry wash. After using this method, you'll never need to wash your bike with water again. And you'll be amazed as how good your paint and metal pieces will look. The depth of shine created by this method, puts products like Plexus to shame. You will not touch Plexus again, I promise you that.

1- First wash your bike thoroughly with water and soap, wait for it to dry completely. You only need to do this once, so all previous residue of road grime and nonsense on the bike is removed.
2- Use Meguiars Step 1, Paint Cleaner with a dedicated polishing pad and wiping towel.
3- Use Meguiars Step 2, Polish with a dedicated polishing pad and wiping towel.
4- Use Meguiars Step 3, Wax with a dedicated polishing pad and wiping towel.
5- Use wax on pretty much everything including your rims. It will help keep them cleaner and will make for an easier maintenance.
6- Marvel at the depth of the shine. Enjoy it!
7- Later on, when the bike needs to be clean again, all you need to do is apply Meguiars' Quick Cleaner, they way you'd use household cleaners such as Windex. Simply spray and wipe. Never use water again as you maintain the shine and depth of luster on your bike.
8- Every once in a while, as needed, you may want to repeat the Wax, or Polish/Wax steps, otherwise the Quick Cleaner will be able to maintain the depth of shine for a quite a while.
8- Enjoy this free advise, courtesy of Ken Freiberg.
For more info visit: meguiars.com

[Guest]

From our own web site, under Everything Aftermarket:
MAINTENANCE, DRY WASH:
Here is the secret to a dry wash. After using this method, you'll never need to wash your bike with water again. And you'll be amazed as how good your paint and metal pieces will look. The depth of shine created by this method, puts products like Plexus to shame. You will not touch Plexus again, I promise you that.

Thanks for the advice, but is it good for the clear plastic also?

[SHIVA]

Yes, amazingly enough, you can put wax over your windshield and it makes it easier to wipe off the bugs later. One thing I learned from Trainer who is Mr. Detailing, is you should wax all parts to help with longevity of the shine (specially the rims).

If you are very particular about clarity of your windshield, you can use Plexus just for that. As you know Plexus was designed for windshields. Keep us posted if you do try this method. Cheers, S

PS: Train man, wanna chime in on this?

[Beamer]

It would be the grit that I would be concerned about using the dry wash method. Instead of spraying it off, you would be rubbing it in, causing small scratches. Is that an issue or not?

I agree about waxing everything, just not convinced on the dry wash.


Tip!
Whenever I wash my bike, I take the leaf blower out and hit it with 200mph + air to get water/moisture out of all the little cracks and crevices, bolt heads, e.t.c.

[SHIVA]

This is becoming a good topic. I'll wait for the expert to chime in his remarks. Trainer has the cleanest bikes of anyone that I know. If this method would cause even a millimeter of a scratch on his bike, he would have abandoned it long time ago. Every time you wash your bike with soap you wipe away the protective wax. S

[Beamer]

Yea...I hate putting the hose to it too and when I do, I just hit the

bodywork and try to avoid the engine, gauge pods, e.t.c.

[halfast]

Not to sound like a know it all newbie but part of my business is a detailing company, I have been detailing cars,bikes,boats,snowmobiles,airplanes,etc. for 40+ years (had a stool to reach the tops of the cars in the begining) I have seen a few products and methods come and go. I try to dry wash BETWEEN thorough cleanings. For this if it is plastic I use Plexus,awesome stuff,but to get off a suicidal 100mph insect splat it takes too much spraying and wiping and the little body parts will scratch dark plastic so I first dissolve them with a damp chamois cloth then wipe with Plexus. Brake dust on the wheels is another pain. If it just a rides worth I dry wipe with an old terry towel reserved for this only I keep a few and use a clean one each time, for more serious grime (not much of an issue with shaft drive) I use a citrus general purpose cleaner with a wheel brush and WATER, drying after this with a terry towel.IF I apply a tire dressing to the sidewall it is sparingly by hand with no residue left. I find though that I will need an occasional full wet wash, dry, detailing. I find it quicker on some bikes than trying to dust every crack, then blow it dry with some air and polish. On another note In looking at my new R the only area (white aluminum ) that is not a matte finish is the muffler so there will not be much to polish......

[TRAINER]

Dry washing is the way to go for sure.. Washing a bike just takes too darn long to do. If you have a filthy bike that just came in from a 500+ mile ride in the rain with caked on dirt on the pipe and more bugs then you can count then a good wash might be needed but is NOT a must.

The trick is as Shiva pointed out is having a good coat of wax already on the surface. Then once you get bugs and dirt on your bike you use a WATER based - between waxing instant detailer product, like Mothers™ California Gold Showtime Instant Detailer. I keep this with me everywhere I go. I use it to get bugs off my visor, front of bike, everywhere.

For my brakes I use a spray brake cleaner that instantly disovles brake dust on contact. For the windscreen, when looking like it needs some help, I use 3M plastic cleaner and polish. One gets rid of fine scratches (like compound for your windscreen) and then other polishes it after. I would then put a coat of wax on, just to lock and load in the shine.

I have been using this method for over 15 years now and I never damaged the paint on any of my bikes or cars. People often compliment me on how nice my bikes and cars look.

So, if you're nervous and still think you're going to be damaging your paint, then spend more time then you need detailing your bike, wash away my brother - - - - I'll be the one riding past your house with the cleanest bike on the block!

[El Barto]

I know this is not the way a purist would do it , but I have started using the Mr Clean car wash products. It states it is fine for clear coats and there is no drying.

I find myself doing this more often because I can wash it quickly (no bucket), hit it with the water sheet rinse, let it sit while I put the hose away then roll it in the garage.

Although I find at first it looks like it wont work when you look at it the next day you know it did. No more screwing around trying to dry all the gauges, mirrors, and those inaccessable regions of the windscreen.

I find its a must for all the chrome on the R1200C.

[spalding12]

dry washing is the safest for any bike (don't tell the harley guys this, however)

but, for the stubborn bugs and grime
only 1 thing works for me and is safe at the same time

a towel wet with scalding hot water
nothing cleans better than hot water
just don't burn your hands
then....
you don't get water everywhere

works like a charm every time

try it

greg

[Che]

As we here in NSW Australia are in the midst of a 5 year drought with no significant rainfall there are water usage bans in existance This means no washing of vehicles etc by hose only from a bucket and then we are expected to recycle this by washing our vehicles on the grass lawn. Dry wash huh? This sounds great but I hope that they don't bring that in for people as I enjoy my showers albeit time limited

[Guest]

In re-reading the owner's manual last night, I noticed that BMW recommends their line of bike care products for cleaning. I'm assuming that it's just marketing hype, and that the Meguiars trio or Honda Polish or Plexus will do as good or better of a job than the BMW labelled stuff - any experience?

[TRAINER]

Their stuff sucks... LOL

Plexus sucks.. LOL

Mothers, Meguiars and Eagle One rocks.. There are many other brands out there - I'm partial to these.. IMO

[SHIVA]

I am with Train Man on this, read my original post above. BMW stuff is not bad. But if Trainer says they suck, he would know, because he cleans his bike while he is riding it. No joke. Once after I took his super-gixxer for a spin, I unknowingly stopped the bike over a bit of water, which caused splashes under the rear fender. You should have seen the look on his face. This guy knows about clean and has had the dozen super-clean bikes and cars to prove.

Plexus is Airplane windshield cleaner. Honda pro is for those who don't know what they are doing. S

[ttmb]

Meguiars is advertising a new wax product - has anyone tried it yet? I think I'll get it (whatever it is). Can't remember the name; either the ad is ineffective, or my brain is failing - probably the latter. Need to do some serious cleaning. Heck, I bought an automotive lift to keep the bottom side of the Z06 clean! (Well, maybe some other reaons too.) But, I'm not up to Trainer's standards, apparently!

[Guest]

Can anyone suggest a simple way to clean the front wheel? It gets very dirty very quickly, and unlike the rear wheel which will free-wheel when the bike is on the center-stand, the front wheel is still on the ground. The brake calipers, disc, and fender combine to make cleaning the 10-2 positions on the wheel very difficult, if not impossible for larger handed folks. If the front were off the ground, then hand-spinning it while cleaning would do the trick just fine.

Is there a way to put the bike up on the center stand so that both the front and the rear wheels are off the ground (or even just the front, since the rear can be made to freewheel easily enough on a level surface). I was considering putting a 1-inch thick wooden slab under the bike, then deploying the center stand on to it, but I didn't know if that would be safe.

I also didn't know if putting a jack under the bike is possible, since the belly-pan cutout exposes the exhaust headers and I don't know if they are sturdy enough to support the force of a jack, even if there was a load-distribution board in between.

Thanks.

[K12]

If the front were off the ground, then hand-spinning it while cleaning would do the trick just fine.

I'm using a front stand (in addition to the center stand) for cleaning. Two pictures (not mine, but I'm using the same brand):





A brush normally used for dishwashing helps me to get the front wheel clean.

Manfred

[SHIVA]

I saw your post late last night and didn't get a chance to reply. If you go to Auto Supply shops, they sell car washing brushes. Get the ones that are not too wide, actually narrow is better. A quick and great way of cleaning the from rim.

In addition to the pic posted above, there is also a special roller that you place under your front rim.

S

[Guest]

If the front were off the ground, then hand-spinning it while cleaning would do the trick just fine.

I'm using a front stand (in addition to the center stand) for cleaning. Two pictures (not mine, but I'm using the same brand):

A brush normally used for dishwashing helps me to get the front wheel clean.

Manfred

Manfred--

That stand looks great. How much did it cost and where can I get it? (BMW, I assume). The other question I have is whethere there is a significant risk of damaging ABS components when you deploy the stand.

Thanks.

[K12]

How much did it cost and where can I get it? (BMW, I assume).

No, it's not BMW . The brand is Kern-Stabi (www.kern-stabi.de) and the stand consists of 2 parts (ground stand and adapter). The price is EUR 85. Maybe you ask them via email if their stand is available in the US, too.

To answer your question about the risk of damaging ABS components I just went out to the garage to check this. There *is* a slight risk of damaging the sensor cable. Until yet, I didn't think about this possibility (thanks for asking!). So I will take care every time I use the stand. If you like, I can take a close-up photo (will last til Saturday however).

Manfred

[Guest]

Thanks Manfred, but a picture won't be necessary. I just wanted to make sure that every time I deploy the stand that I'm not at danger of breaking the $1000 abs system! But it sounds like with just a little caution that it won't be a problem!

Shiva/Trainer--

Getting back to cleaning products, I stopped by AutoZone today, and picked up Meguiar's Step 1, 2, & 3 "Deep Crystal System," Paint Cleaner (step 1), Polish (step 2), and Carnuba Wax (Step 3), (I have the Quick Detailer Mist already) as well as 4 microfibre polishing pads (one extra for Plexus on the clear sections) and 3 microfibre towels. The total cost was only $27, and the bottles are big enough that they should last for a dozen or more full treatments of the bike. That price also includes and Eagle One tire sidewal treatment sponge. I wanted the sponge in order to minimize the risk of getting really slick tire dressing on the treads by accident. The Quick Detail would have only cost another $3.

Bottom line, the entire cost to create a full cleaning setup for the K12S runs about $35 with all cleaners, pads, towels, etc... (initial wet-wash not withstanding), and that's enough to treat the bike every weekend for a year, probably, since all the instructions say to use "sparing."

I'm going to do the 600 mile "run-in" service at some point this week, so before then I'm going to do a wet wash followed by the full Meguiar's 3-step treatment. I'll post back, possible with some before/after pics.

Questions to Trainer/Shiva:

1) What do you use for the matte-black plastic belly-pan fairing? I was considering using the Armor All spray protectant for non-gloss surfaces, but I'm not really crazy about their stuff and the residue it leaves behind, the fading, etc... I don't want to have a glossy finish on it, but I want it to look clean and have the deep black appearance over time instead of faded as will surely happen if left untreated (like the black plastic bumpers you see on some SUV's).

2) Meguairs had a few Wax products, including one called #7 "Showcar Shine/Polish"" or something like that, and something called #24 I think it was, named "Hi-Yellow Wax Polish," which claimed to be top of the line Brazillian yellow carnuba or some-such (forgive me if I got the name and #'s wrong). Are these replacements for Step #3, or are they used in addition, or are they not to be used with Steps 1 & 2, etc... I'm just curious why they would offer another product besides Step #3, and why there are two separate ones, etc... They seemed to be more serious in the sense that application required more caution, was limited to a few different types of surfaces, etc...

3) Was Meguiar's product that you mentioned for the 3-step process the "Deep Crystal System," or another set of Meguiar's products? The bottles only mention painted surfaces, and don't reference plastic in particular. (Are the K-S's plastics molded that color, or painted that color?)

Thanks for all the advice. Sorry for the long post, but I like to make sure that I take advantage of the cleanliness of new vehicles to prevent dirt build-up, etc.., so I like to figure out what's best for each vehicle.

[SHIVA]

Hi, To make the simple black plastic pieces shine, make sure you polish/wax over them too and later on clean them with the quick detailer. Don't bother with the fancy stuff, the 1,2,3 and the quick detailer is good enough really. Good luck to you and keep us posted. S

[TRAINER]

Use this on your belly pan : http://www.superiorcarcare.net/forblacbumtr.html it will keep it looking like new...
Then forget ablut Plexus and use this on your windscreen: http://www.superiorcarcare.net/mg1017k.html
this will keep it looking like new too..
And SHiva's right, keep it simple with the 3 steps. I have found that these companies are always changing what's an already great product. You can also make yourslef nuts reading the backs of every bottle! LOL
As a side tip.. I always keep a small bottle of the detailers mist with me under the seat for quick road side detailing when on the road. Great for your helmet and nose of your bike - bugs-b-gone!

have fun!

[Guest]

Use this on your belly pan : http://www.superiorcarcare.net/forblacbumtr.html it will keep it looking like new...
Then forget ablut Plexus and use this on your windscreen: http://www.superiorcarcare.net/mg1017k.html
this will keep it looking like new too..
And SHiva's right, keep it simple with the 3 steps. I have found that these companies are always changing what's an already great product. You can also make yourslef nuts reading the backs of every bottle! LOL
As a side tip.. I always keep a small bottle of the detailers mist with me under the seat for quick road side detailing when on the road. Great for your helmet and nose of your bike - bugs-b-gone!

have fun!

Thanks for the tip!

Once I've got all of this stuff organized, I'll post a comprehensive list with pics at the bottom of this thread for other newbies like myself - maybe Shiva will make it Sticky then.

[MarkA]

I spent last night polishing my grey KS with Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax and was really pleased with the results. The depth of gloss is outstanding, it is very easy to rub off the wax (it doesn't clog up the polishing cloth like some of the carnuba based products or leave a white dust behind), it smells nice too, and being a polymer wax I believe it will last longer than other natural waxes.

As I have had bad experience in the past, with waxes leaving a residue on black plastic bits, I went to the extreme of removing all the body panels and waxing them off the bike so that I wouldn't get overwipe on the plastic - actually quite a simple job, with the exception of the mirrors, which I left on and waxed carefully around and the BMW roundels, which need to be unscrewed from the back. It also allowed me to clean the bike behind the panels (anal retentivness coming to the fore here... ). In the unlikely event that you follow my lead here, note that some of the fairing screws are of a different length, depending on their position.

Based on the outstanding results I obtained, and on the feedback here, I have just ordered Meguiar's NXT Gen Quick Detail to keep it looking good between waxes, as well as their NXT Gen Tech Protect to protect the belly pan and other black plastic. Have a look at www.Meguiars.com for details.