The dealer sold me a bottle of this S100 "wash and wax" in one for touching up the bike (cleaning it, if you mistook my meaning). Now I have a pile of chrome and a nice paint job to worry about I'm concerned about cleaning products, especially living on the coast. 

There have been a stack of threads on this subject but has anyone gotten onto anything new and improved for washing, shining and protecting? The original Mr Sheen is pretty oily so I'm thinking it might leave a bit of a protective film, though obviously not on the hot bits.

Until it gets it's first scratch I'll be paranoid about keeping this new ride in top condition so all advice appreciated. I have a HD breathable cover on the Iron, which will now move to the Fatty.

Thanks fellas.

An old bloke I knew only washed his car in water with kero in it. It always looked like it just rolled of the showroom floor. Be careful of Mr Sheen near your brakes,it makes the Oh So slippery.

Soap and water only. All polish is abrasive

I like the mothers range of polish on the chrome and so far the s100 seems to be workin a treat on the paint

FYI Kerosene is actually an abrasive...the old fitter machinists on here will know this. I use Mr Sheen on everything and never had an issue with paint. It keeps the engine cases & chrome looking good and its cheap!

Methlated spirits for chrome is all you need

Mr sheen all the way for polishing. S100 only for the cleaning (all purpose wash) and engine bright for the engine block.

After saying that......i find mothers chrome polish excellent but mothers alloy polish crap, autosol ( geez i think thats what its called ) is fantastic specially for dull alloy, these days i just use ct-18 on everything and finish off with mr sheen on the blingy bits for protection.

 Back after the bike's first taste of rain. Wiped with off a new chamois and then Mr Sheened. Looks sensational.

Taffy..........no matter what you do the salt will be your problem.........my suggestion here is........I live further inland so am more than happy to look after it in my garage....!!!!!......just leave me the keys..(for emergencies of course).........

You better keep a close eye on your bike ...

Crikey! On second thoughts it can stay dirty. Thanks Dicko.

Lived 12 years on the esplanade , used to give mine a wash then spray the whole thing with wd40 , was told it would stop the rust , after 9 years i told my mate he's a wanker that his advice was useless , rust was starting to show up , he said bollocks, your bikes in the open , on the sea front , and the rust your talking about is where your stupid dog pisses on the wheels , he reckoned his advice had saved me thousands cos without it , rust would off been worse , so i owe him a carton, Mmmm Not sure still trying to work it out .

But never the less , now i've got a newer bike i care more about, i water down CT18 spray it on and leave it overnight , it will loosen most bugs and grime , quick wash , and for the polish , which i hate doing almost has much has i hate washing , i've tried the lot , maguires , mothers , autosol , everthing , so i'm in future gonna do what the experts do , I'm gonna do what the dealers do cos there bikes ALWAYS look shinier than mine ,

I'm gonna buy myself a shitload of Mr Sheen , and give the missis 50 bucks to show me how good she is at polishing .

I got a couple of bottles of cleaning stuff with my new bike and I tried the "Harley gloss" today and it was great. Easy spray on and wipe off.

 

My experience over the years is to avoid degreaser as it may cause issues with the engine paint. It can also dry out gaskets & seals.

When the bike is really dirty: I do is put Mr Sheen on the bugs etc & leave it for a couple of hours, then wash the bike with Armorall car wash. I then dry the bike with a shamwow (works great thanks mother in law).  Once dry for the paint chrome & alloy, seat & plastics, cables etc I use Bike Shine. For the Engine & crinkled black I use S100 engine spray which makes the crinkled black look like new.

When the bike is clean (in between details):  For alloy I use Autosol gold then finish it off with Autosol silver. For chrome I use Mr Sheen & then  finish it off with Autosol silver. Paint etc gets good old Mr Sheen.

And for the serious detail:  Mothers 1,2,3 for Paint (& lambs wool buff for final buff.  Autosol Gold & Silver for alloy (2 step) & Autosol gold for chrome. Bike Shine for cables plastics, seat etc (cross between Mr Sheen & Armorall). The crinkle black get's S100 engine detail spray.