How to clean your bike

[Mr Bean]

Putting shiny slippery stuff anywhere on your tyres is not a wise decision

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk

Yeah thanks, I'm aware of that. Hence why I asked what I CAN use?

[ReCon]

What can I use to shine up the walls of the tyres?

Dunno if you mean 'shine' or clean the dust or crap build up off?

I use Isopropyl alcohol as sparingly as possible on an old rag. Brings the wall up really black! Try not to use shit loads of it as I am not sure of the long term effect on the rubber. [haven't had any issues myself touch wood!]
Alternatively Jif , but it's really labour intensive.

As a bike cleaner , the good old Mr Sheen is gold. Use an old t-shirt , clean the bike and wait 5 mins. Polish it off with the old shirt , then wait 30 mins. Use a really old SOFT t-shirt and polish it again. Comes up really neat.
If you want to be really picky , give it a buff again the next day as it glows!

[Woodsyau]

Great video series!
I didn't know about checking to see if metals have a clear coat or not.

[shan]

Or
2011 Bikini wash photos uploaded
SzyCo's Album: 2011 Bikini wash

Also rain is a fav of mine

Cheers for the links however, I might just clean my bike this year after that insperation.

[Veefore]

What can I use to shine up the walls of the tyres?

If you just want shine then any of the tyre treatments will do. make sure you wipe it down really well afterwards to remove the chance of it flinging out on to the tread. The best thing though is a medium hard scrubbing brush and some HOT soapy water. Tyres usually come up like new and there is no risk of getting something slippery all over the tread.

[Twinkles]

I find Meguires Quick Detailer works pretty well for cleaning fairings and such as long as you dont let the bike get too dirt. I generally have a bottle of it sitting in the shed, then before a ride get the trusty microfibre cloth out, spray a bit on the clotch and then just give it all a wipe over. Given its a decent microfibre cloth, you can apply a reasonable amount of force without hurting the paint (to remove those hard to get bug splatters/tar etc). Keeps it looking fairly clean, just dont get it on anything that you dont want to be slippery, as it leaves a sort of wax coating on afterwords.

[Redtail]

Came across a good cleaning trick from one of the guys at work - rides a nice shiny limited edition tractor (i.e. HD) After the hose off - get the leaf blower out of the shed and dry it off !

Yep can hear all the laughs and the thoughts of - thats brilliant - and YES IT WORKS - not even a dried out watermark

[PANK]

Thanks soo much man.

Helped me out.

[Phildo]

Came across a good cleaning trick from one of the guys at work - rides a nice shiny limited edition tractor (i.e. HD) After the hose off - get the leaf blower out of the shed and dry it off !

Yep can hear all the laughs and the thoughts of - thats brilliant - and YES IT WORKS - not even a dried out watermark

Leaf blower is also effective for:
- getting all the bits of hair out of your head after a haircut.
- cleaning the dust out of computers.
- getting cat out from under car/furniture.
- removing crumbs from bed.
- drying pretty much anything. You can put the dishes away much quicker after washing them.

[possum]

If you're serious about keeping your bike clean, you should never really have to use water.. unless it gets seriously dirty. Try a waterless wash, Meguiar's does an amazing job..

+1 for the leaf blower for when my brother does a silent but violent fart.

[cbr77]

What can I use to shine up the walls of the tyres?

yeah wouldn't recommend putting anything there unless your selling it, can make for a slippery ride

[Phero]

+1 for the leaf blower also. Thoughts on Inox? I recon its awesome.