Guest Kakugo Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 OK, silly question #342. For a decade I have being using Castrol Greentec to wash my bikes. Lately it has become not only incredibly expensive, but also very hard to find. Two years ago I bought a whole box and now I am down to the last drops in the last bottle so it's time to look for a replacement. I have a choice of various products from Meguiar's, Scholl and 3M. They are all cheaper than Castrol so price is not an issue. Advice? Thanks. Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 You can never go wrong by using S100. LINKY I've used this as long as I can remember. Link to comment
GRB60 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Any purpose-made car wash product will do a good job. The product choice is not critical. Link to comment
kltk165 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Any purpose-made car wash product will do a good job. The product choice is not critical. +1. Simple Green works quite well too. Link to comment
Guest Kakugo Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Thanks for the replies. Before settling for the Castrol I tried a number of off the shelf solutions but was far from impressed with them. Have tried the S100 metal polish but wasn't exactly satisfied with it. Will look up their car wash though. Link to comment
Rougarou Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 People wash their bikes regularly? Had mine two years and I think I've washed it twice and it's a daily rider. :) When I did wash it, I just some cheap auto wash stuff that I had, nothing fancy. Link to comment
biometrics Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Dawn dishwashing liquid and hot water... lots of suds, and it cuts through grease... I've never had a problem. Rinses well too. Link to comment
BFish Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Any purpose-made car wash product will do a good job. The product choice is not critical. +1. Simple Green works quite well too. ditto and i also have used dish detergent as well. doesn't take much and my hands look beatiful afterwards Link to comment
Huzband Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Dawn dishwashing liquid and hot water... lots of suds, and it cuts through grease... I've never had a problem. Rinses well too. Destroys wax, too. Link to comment
RTJohn Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 My bike gets washed when I ride it in the rain! Otherwise I wipe it down with armor-all or BMW bike cleaner. Seems fine so far. Link to comment
biometrics Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Destroys wax, too. The whole surface of the bike's tupperware is only a few square feet, I don't mind re-waxing if she is squeeky clean... and we are only talking a couple of times a year... no permanent damage to the plastics. Link to comment
BFish Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 use detailer spray a few times a year after "cleaning". honda polish in between that. it only gets really soaped down once a year. rims 2x's a year. Link to comment
na1g Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 For several years and a few bikes I've used S100 for quick washes, and a name-brand car wash liquid for full bucket-sponge baths. If the bike is exceptionally dirty and has gritty grunge, I do a wash with S100 to get the abrasives off first, then a full bucket-sponge wash. Since I don't actually wash her that often I can afford the S100. And I'm trying a bottle of Griot's car wash which is working very well indeed. pete Link to comment
blackyam Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Hi. I've been thinking about trying Turtle ICE wash? Does anyone have any good or bad experiences to share? The reason I've been thinking about trying ICE wash is that I recently switched from using Crystal-Glo to Turtle ICE liquid polish because of the black parts on my R12RT, and I like the ICE liquid polish. TIA. ---John. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Dawn dishwashing liquid and hot water... lots of suds, and it cuts through grease... I've never had a problem. Rinses well too. Destroys wax, too. If the bike is waxed on a regular basis, dirt and bugs don't stick very well, and you don't need a really agressive soap to get it clea. I use regular car-washing soap most times, but eventually the wax gets a little thin, and stuff starts sticking more tenaciously. If I'm going to wax it (usually 2-3 times per season), then I'll wash with Dawn dishwashing soap to strip off everything - grease, wax, bugs, whatever. Link to comment
lkchris Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 My bikes and cars are indeed well waxed and therefor I never need any detergent to clean them. Biggest thing to know about washing bikes/cars when there's lots of dirt is to NEVER wipe them clean--rather brush them clean. Might as well use sandpaper if you're going to rub the suface. Link to comment
notacop Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I'm with RT John. Let it rain. The beauty of have a bike with a dull paint job, the 800ST, is that it as good dirty as clean. One run from Wrightwood to La Canada with ice melt on the roads negates any cleaning I may have done previously. The bike doesn't go any faster or get better mileage clean and who is some fat old geezer on a shiny BMWRT going to impress? Link to comment
lkchris Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The bike doesn't go any faster or get better mileage clean A clean bike is lighter and more aerodynamically slippery. Link to comment
Guest Kakugo Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks again for the replies. I found a few offers for Meguiar's shampoo on eBay and I think I'll take that up. 45€ for a gallon of concentrated detergent is a pretty good price considering a good pre-mixed is no less than 12€ per liter. Also if it can be of any interest I recently started using Menzerna SF4000 polish (also sold as PO106FA). This stuff is simply phenomenal! Link to comment
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