.That was when Revelle was makin models,so the quality was VERY intense and accurate
There is no more Revelle? How sad. I had hours of fun making all kinds of models when I was young.
I do a water bath after a long ride or if I do any wet road riding. Between water baths, i use the black and pink spray can of "Original Bike Spirits" (or whatever they are calling it at the time).
I'm not particular about the soap i use. I've used Blue Coral and Meguires. They do the same thing. Heard that Dawn dish soap will remove a coat of wax completely so careful with that if you use it.
I use any old rag to wipe grease and wash the swing arm and undertail or engine if it needs it. All shiny and painted surfaces are touched only by microfiber cloths to wash and buff dry. Micro fiber cloth for cleaning with bike spirits too.
My 08 finish looks better than new. This is because I have polished with ICE Liquid Claybar very thoroughly during the winter. I remove the fairings and rub them out by hand with a microfiber cloth and the ICE LC. This takes down the surface enough to smooth out any swirls that developed over the riding season. With a great deal of patients, this will even soften over or even eliminate a minor scratch. I can see that the slight bumpyness of the factory paint has been polished completely smooth like a mirror on the largest, flattest areas of fairing that I have rubbed over.
I've used the ICE LC as described four times now and still have not removed clearcoat anywhere AFAICT. Might be a good idea to Rattle can clear coat the farings in a year or two just to safeguard (then back to square one with the ultra smooth surface , however).
The ICE Liquid Claybar works great on windscreens which I have found to swirl up much more readily than any other part of the bike.
After the ICE LC is washed away completely, I use ICE paste polish. It is applied just the same way as wax. I use a microfiber for buffing the paste polish and that eliminates any trace of swirl that resulted from the rubout. I never see any tiny swirl marks again. They are so fine, the polish fills them in permanently. I apply the ICE Paste Polish about every two months during the riding season.
Remember a couple of us etched the lenses on our multi func and speedo/tach with accidental brake fluid leakage from reservoir cups?? The ICE Liquid Claybar and paste polishis what I used to restore that FU... That polished the spots back to a high gloss and you would never know it was ever damaged.
Other than that, I just do my best to keep the bike out of the sun. I have used a cover on the bike when left outside at work and I keep her in the garage when at home.
For the wheels, i have used Black Magic Titaneum Wheel Cleaner. Very strong soap. I use it straight spraying it on a wet cloth. I don't muck up my microfibers for the wheels since they are not high gloss. I just use a cotton rag. Rinse the wheels thoroughly after the wash. I even wash the rotors and calipers but I rinse them thoroughly to eliminate slipperyness.
Liquid Glass works very well to remove those stubborn water spots from mirrors. I wash my mirror glasses with LG every time I wash or polish.
* Last updated by: Rook on 10/15/2011 @ 10:23 PM *
'08 MIDNIGHT SAPPHIRE BLUE Now Deceased