I use mist and wipe lemon pledge and some micro fibers.

 

once a year i clean mine with whatever soap i have and a water hose.

 

I take it to the self serve car wash and hose it down and use the soap there. Then I wax it with the wax there and rinse it with the spot free rinse. I microfiber the fenders, tank and the seat.

 

Since my bike is new, I have not had to do a lot yet, only 4000 miles on it.
But the bugs and dust build up, and I wet a soft cloth in a bucket with a very little soap in it, and wipe things down to get the bugs and dust off, then wax.

I don't like spraying water as it gets into things and takes a long time to dry.

For people with rims and spokes, water gets inside the rims and can sit for a long time, rusting things from the inside out.
I had bikes with very bad rust inside the rims.

If you do actually spray wash the bike, be sure to ride it an hour to dry it (somewhat) off, washing and parking it is sure to cause problems.

Yes, bikes are supposed to get wet, but I don't add to the problem if I can avoid it.

I have a friend who has a 2004 1200 and has never washed it.
35,000 miles and nothing but oil changes....

Brett

 

Obviously if any old car wash soap was ok for the flat paint, they wouldn't have recommended dish soap instead. If the manual takes the time to tell you to use dish soap, then that's what you should use, or windex, or pledge as other's have said. Just sayin!

Also, "never dull" works great on chrome parts.

 

I appreciate all the comments. Thank you!

 

Soap n water,,got three different size/shape soft brushes for the nooks n cranny's
when done washin a quick micro fiber towel dry then,,,
I Start the bike and let It "Warm Up" while I Blow dry it with the leaf blower.
Then Park it.
Start to finish,,, 45 minutes or so..

Steel wool Is good for the lower forks,,
A shinny nearly new U.S. Nickle will scrape the tar and boot goo off chrome pipes,,dry and no mess,,
Chrome Is harder than Nickle,,will not scratch so scrape away with Gusto.

BTW after every ride I wet micro fiber the bugs off,,some of their body acids will eat paint.

 

I like using mother nature's rain in between washes, but use dishsoap when I wash. I also have a spray can by original bike spirits, it's a spray cleaner and polish which is nice for some quick touch ups if I want it nice and don't have alot of time.