What's the deal on washing a Harley?
I've had club members say "keep it dry and it won't rust" and I've had them say "you need to give it a good bath weekly".
I tend to use S100 clean and wax spray and it stays pretty nice, but I can't imagine not ever taking a hose to it.
Being my Sportster is the 1200R I was more concernerd with how the blacked out engine would react to water and soap spotting.
It also seems that simply wiping it down, even with the S100,is putting fine scratches in the chrome but considering how soft Harleys chrome is I don't see anything eliminating that.
What's your advise?

 

Water ain't gonna hurt it. Wash the damn thing. Hasn't hurt my bike a bit. I use Pig Spit on the black engine after washing and drying it and it looks great.
I don't know why some people think getting a bike wet is gonna make it melt or some crap. The thing is made of metal not cupcakes.

 

This is my often repeated post. $1.25 and 4 minutes at the do it yourself car wash and your bike will look showroom new. Keep the high pressure wand away from instruments and axles. Dry with a clean towel and away you go.

 

obviously yor mates are fair weather riders. Yeah wash your bike. Use a proper car/bike wash shampoo ( thats what they are called here in the UK) and then rinse it off with cold water. Dont be temopted to use the stuff the OL use for her pots and pans as thta has salt in it.
If your not washing the bike before using the creams and stuff like s100 all your doing is rubing the fine grit and carp that has settled on your bike intot eh paint and chrome which is where all your fine scratches are coming from. If you have never done it was and t-cut your paint work to get rid fo the scrathces then use a high quailty wax to seal the paint work again. Wax the bike a few times folowing the directions they use on of the amour coats over the wax. This way any light dust scratches happen to the layer of wax not your paint and laquer. If you are really worried about corosion on areas you cant easily get to use a product called ACF-50. Not only does it help restore already corodid alloy and an like it alos stays on and protects agasnt more. Real good under tanks and engines but keep away from brakes.

 

Wow some of you guys really take this stuff seriously.I just wash mine with regular car washing soap and dry with a towel, hell I'll even use dish soap if that's what's handy.But (see picture) I don't have much shiny stuff left to worry about scratching.Oh and by the way the bikes two years old and I haven't seen a spec of rust yet, keeping it in a garage will do that for ya.

 

At the risk of sounding like a scientist here goes:

That water is the single reason why things rust is a myth. Corrosion takes on many forms but it usually involves some sort of catalitic conversion.
Your bike will get wet. If you ride at all you will pick up moisture. An early morning ride on a dewy morning can completely soak your bike.

Corrosion, the deterioration caused by chemical reaction with the environment.
Corrosion can occur from dissimilar metal contact as well as from having a dirty bike. The dirt acts as an agent to start the electrolitic action. It also helps trap themoisture to allow the process to continue for longer periods.

The bottom line is that it takes several parts to make corrosion happen. One of the parts "water" is most often blamed for the process when in fact just dampness on an improperly cleaned bike is more apt to start the corrosion process and keep it working for longer periods.
Dissimilar metal electrolytic action does not even need water to start the corrosion process. All you need is two different types of metal to start the transfer of electrons. (ever wonder why your battery terminals have that white/green gunk all over them?)

Hope this helps.

 

that's so freakin funny[sm=exactly.gif][sm=funnypostabove.gif]

 

Na just 30 years of riding in all weathers in the UK, but thought seeing as the guy asked if he should wash it and only seems to use one thing to clean hisw whole bike some hints might help. I have done the rat look in the past and there is a good chance the dyna might be gong black again just dont want people thinking I went for a poor mans streetbob by buying an old evo and painint in matt black, already had to change tack on the headlights when I saw the ealry shots of the FB as I had a pair of head lights ready to go on

 

Ribracker and Hotrocker are spot on for UK weather. Even if you ride on dry days in the winter here, go out to the unheated garage and the bike will be soaked just from sitting in the damp air. It was like that nearly all winter. I rode in salty conditions once, couldn't wash the bike for about a week, and the salt and dampness just did a real number on the non-chrome metals. Lesson learned for me, that's for sure!

 

As mentioned before always rinse your bike down to get most of the dirt off first.
Use microfiber towels. Paper will scratch. If you are worried about water you could buy
a motorcycle drier. Use a good wax like Meguiars Gold Class. A clean bike is a fast bike.