Leaf blower is great! I have a Airforce blaster motorcycle dryer for a while, 4 peak hp, they claim your bike will be dried in minutes, blah blah blah. Yes, it does the job very well but it takes forever, I'd say 20mins for a good job. Anyway, I was washing my bike last night, dry my bike with the dryer as usual. My dad came and ask what I was doing, he gave me his leaf blower and ask me to use it. I dried my bike in less than 5 minutes no kidding, I will be using it from now on, too bad my dryer will be sitting on the shelf for a while.

 

I use an inline water filter on my hose to take out the sediment and chemicals in the water. The microscopic particulates are what cause water droplets on your bike (or car, or boat). Once I did that, I dry with a leaf blower. No spots, no wiping down.

 

Amen to that .....

 

I avoid Armor All products like the plague. Years ago, when I tried some on my car, it would turn the vinyl and rubber parts gray, if you didn't reapply AA weekly. That gets expensive.

That said, Vic nailed it, in very simple terms.

 

I LIKE WHAT BIKERLAW SAID ABOUT CLEANING, BUT, SOMEONE EARLIER SAID TO WASH WITH A SPONGE. I DON'T THINK A SPONGE SHOULD BE USED ON PAINT, CHROME, OR GLASS. USE A GOOD QUALITY WASH MITT. TEST YOUR TERRYCLOTH TOWELS TO BE SURE 100% COTTON. PULL A THREAD AND LIGHT IT WITH A MATCH AND IF IT FLAMES, INDICATES IT IS 100% COTTON. IF IT MELTS TO A BALL, INDICATES A BLEND OF SOME SORT AND SHOULD BE DISCARDED. THE LITTLE TAGS AND EMBRODERY SHOULD BE REMOVED. GOOD QUALITY MIRACLE FIBER CLOTHS ARE HARD TO BEAT. PAPER TOWELS ARE A WOOD PRODUCT AND WILL SCRATCH GLASS OR PLEXIGLAS (r) AND WILL SHOW UP AS VERY FINE SWIRLS. DO ALL USE TWO BUCKETS AND SEPARATE WASH MITTS? ONE FOR PAINT, CHROME, & GLASS. ONE FOR TIRES & STUFF & NEVER GET MIXED. I DON'T LIKE TO USE HOME CLEANING PRODUCTS TO CLEAN VEHICLES. "DISH SOAP" IS FORMULATED TO CUT GREASE AND WILL DO AN OUTSTANDING JOB DOING THE SAME ON THE GREASE LIKE WAX. ONCE THE GREASE SOAP HAS COATED THE CLEANING UTENCILS IT BE HARD TO GET IT FLUSHED OUT OF THE TOOLS. ANOTHER THING THIS ILLNESS HAS ME DOIN' IS TO WASH ALL MIRACLE FIBER AND TERRY CLOTHS WITH THE CAR WASH LIQUID AND NEVER LAUNDRY DETERGENT & NO DRYER SHEETS.

 

I use the armor-all concentrate car wash soap with no problems at all. I think most people use way more soap than actually needed, my bike just gets a little dusty so I use 1 oz to 1 gallon...then the ol leaf blower for a spot and scratch free dry. The post about a dedicated mitt and bucket for the tires and dirty stuff other than chrome and paint is right on! Being a detail shop owner for years...Im kinda a freak about keeping things clean lol.

 

You guys are going to laugh but the best I found was while in the Army while shining my boots, 100% cotton baby diapers, get them at Target or Wally world much cheaper than the microfiber towels and better in my opinion. I use them for drying and polish and waxing. Use the Harley mitt for washing. Any car wash soap, I usually get a gallon of turtle wax car wash at wally world.

 

I wait til the fall to wash... I just wipe down during the summer:-)

 

Modern clear coats are extremely durable, although Harley does seem to use something more towards the low end of the spectrum. Wash it with pretty much any soap and water, it really doesn't matter.

 

any soap designed for vehicle paint is fine,big no on dishwashing soap strips the wax off perfectly. all cotton diapers are pretty good but the microfibers are a bit better imo since that have a little bit of nap on the to hold any bits of grit that happens to get in them away from the paint.