Hitchcocks Forum

After I put Bertie back together today I realise just how dirty he was, not wanting to get Bertie wet as there is no way of drying him out I decided to go straight in with the Carplan car wax polish, it did so well I ended up cleaning the whole bike with it (half a bottle later), Bertie now gleams, just need a dry day to ride now. What do you clean your ride with ?

Turtle wax with a damp rag for tank and mudguards. It dries then comes off easily with a dry duster. Solvol for silencer & exhaust, though there's a warning not to use it on bikes. Harsh? So I try not to need it too often on wheel rims. These get a wipe over with a Waxoyl soaked rag before winter, and come up VERY well when it's cleaned off for the summer. Still good after a lot of winter use on my year 2000 solo 500. It's good to do; today while polishing I discovered loose bolts on front wheel clamps. Useful..... ATB, Chris

Yes Chris, I haven't checked bolts yet, should've done it before cleaning but got carried away, one night in the week maybe.

Any non- abrasive car polish. Most modern paint has a clear coat over the paint, so it seldom needs polishing. If you need to hose down the engine, Phenyle is useful for light dirt and grease, also has a nice smell when the engine is hot, seems to attract women.

Autosol and Johnsons wax does a pretty good job.. and chrome cleaner on the shiny bits.

Someone got me some of this "Showroom Shine stuff at Christmas. Supposed to polish cars without washing them first. No good for the car but just the job for just about everywhere on the bikes.

Only use liquid solvol only on the chrome parts. The paste type is too abrasiveit will ruin it eventuallly.
The paste is only really good on the Aluminium parts like the chaincase & engine covers.
Dont wear your finger tips to the bone.LOL.

I find WD40 good for cleaning

As above... Give the bastard some autosol. Really sorts the ally out, even on a Woodsman EFI!

Plus 1, WD40.