Metal cleaner

As much as i love my shiny engine casings and of course the ton of chrome i don't like keeping it shiny, especially the engine casings as the chrome shines up pretty easy.

I notice a myriad of metal cleaners on the market.. butwhat do you guys use apart from Solvol Autosol and lots of elbow grease to shine up your metal and slow the tainting (if possible)?

I use simple green as a general purpose degreaser/cleaner. Avoid using the Castrol Purple cleaner, as it will attack Aluminum, pitting it.

When I give my bike a bath, I use a low pressure rinse to blow off any road film & dirt if possible, followed by a bucket of warm water with a 1/4 cup of simple green stirred throughly.

A soft sponge is used to scrub any dirty areas, but make sure the sponge is clean, as a dirty one can scratch the paint.

Tougher greased areas get a wipe down with paint thinner & then the simple green wash, followed by a complete rinse. If you have shop air, now's the time to blow off any standing water before it starts to spot. A shop vac can be used, just use the exhaust from it as a low pressure blower.

A clean, wet chamois will take care of any remaining water areas. If you plan on applying any wax or paint sealant, do it when the bikes paint is cool, otherwise the wax/sealant will be hard to remove.

I'm using Turtle wax on my bike's paint for protection, seems to hold up pretty well. To remove the wax buildup around the tank and side cover emblems, I've found a dead soft toothbrush to be just the thing to carefully remove the wax residue.

I have no chrome on my bike, just Black paint on the engine & frame along with the Firecracker Red for the tank,tail,mini fairing, and side covers.

I use dupont spray wax with teflon it dosen't matter if the paint is hot and dosen't leave a residue on sticker lines and is allaround a much easer product to use than turtle wax .

Be careful on the type of wax you use on your shined up cases (aluminum). Silicone based waxes will actually dull the shine that your had work accomplished. Best to use a something like a beeswax based type wax. I have seen metal cleaning products that already have beeswax formulated in the product. Thereby, extending the acquired shine. I haven't used any wax on my polished pieces yet (forks, engine case, rear brake drum, etc...) but I just have been hitting them with mother's aluminum polish ever so often before they dull without any elbow grease involved. Hasn't been that much of a bother yet. But then again, has been sitting a lot lately.

Ya I would NOT use the wax I said earlyer for anything but painted surfaces. I use NEVER DULL for my polished surfaces and spokes.etc..... seems to work great it got my rusty spokes looking prety nice.

Mother's aluminum and mag wheel polish for all my polished surfaces..

Well guy's, I hate to say it but Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish is shit if you have a nice finish to start with. I can say this with a fair amount of authority as I have been in the metal polishing business (for myself) since 1992. The Mother's mentioned above is very abrasive. Mother's "Billet" is MUCH kinder to your polished alloy. I've used Meguires "All Metal Polish" a lot in the past, and it's great stuff. I also keep a tub of "Blue Magic" handy for me own bikes.
As to waxes and such for alloy? A total waste of time, but it makes folks "feel" like they did something worthwhile.

For washing your polished goodies, just hose it off first and then I use regular Car Wash. Dry it off pronto. I use "Viva" paper towels because they're SUPER soft.

Chris

MOTHERS cleaner/polish does it 4 me.

Here are my favorites. They work great on aluminum alloy and also on stainless. Below them is are a few pics taking a regular stainless bolt with raised lettering down to a polished finish.

Nice Ed

As good as your bike looks , I think I will listen

650ed wrote: Here are my favorites. They work great on aluminum alloy and also on stainless. Below them is are a few pics taking a regular stainless bolt with raised lettering down to a polished finish.

WOW!
i never thought of using a stone like that..