I have a 2004 RoadGlide with an added lower fairing. After a good washing of the bike, I noticed the inside of the lower fairing loses its original black lustrous look.....gets kind of a mottled grey appearance. I tried everything to bring it back.......all the usual waxes, polishes, etc. No luck.

Then I found another use for WD40. Yup! Just spray it liberally and wipe it on with a little cloth......presto-chango.....black luster is restored. Been doing this for quite awhile....no deleterious effects. don't know why I didn't think of passing it along earlier.

 

Hey, thanks for the tip!

 

I use silcone lubricant. It lasts longer than WD. Zook

 

I found Pig Spit does the job very well, and lasts a few washings. I spray it on a rag and buff it in. No resadue and doesn't collect dust.

 

I use HD Spray Polish.

 

Just giving you flak; good that you take pride in your ride. My o4 RG is the first bike I've ever really washed; and 3 times in 2 years at that. It sometimes looks like those offroad jeeps with the mud on them. Just a few weeks after I got it, I endured flying gravel on a countryside trip that pockmarked a couple of spots on the front fairing, so I don't worry about it any more. I hand washed my old FXRT, and do the same with the r/g. I find it's a pain in the *** to wipe down with all the excess crap on it, and now when I do clean it, I remove the hard bags, and seat etc., and spend time sitting on my *** doing every nook and cranny. Once I custom paint it down the road, I know I will be taking much better care of it. I will try that wd-40 tip though. There was this stuff I used for the side panel window trim on mustangs that worked ok; can't remember the name at the moment, but it worked really well inside my FXRT bags, in the lowers, and also on inside of the fairing, which were all that same plastic. I saw a bike recently where the guy sprayed a speckled paint inside the lowers...it was a black with a gold fleck in it. His bike was gold with black trim...looked good. To complicate things, I'm thinking of a way to mount spotlights through the lowers by the footboards because other than the forks, there's not too many places on a R/G with lowers to mount anything substantial without a big bracket sticking out infront. Also, if you're using a cloth with which you were wiping the bike, you'll get wax or whatever you're using , on your finish, which will dull it, especially if it's one of those polymer types.

 

I'm not all that ****-retentive about the bike. I just happened to have a big azz can of WD40 and gave it a try. But I DO like a clean ride. Will take it to the car wash after a long ride in the rain to get the prewash stuff and the power wash soap going. Rinse it off and use the no-spot rinse....ride home and leaf blower it, then wipe it down with the chamois.
Wax it two or three times a year. I had a Road King....I think it was a '02....Black with Hallcraft 80 spokers with wide whites. The freakin' whitewall on the rear made me crazy when it got dirty, and what a pain! After that bike, I swore off wide whites.....forever. At home I use BikeBrite......pretty good stuff, but ya gotta be quick on the hose before it dries.
Remember...a clean bike is a happy bike!

 

I just bought a set of lowers for my Roadie,how hot are they after you installed them? I had a set set of elephant ears I used when it rains and couldn't belive how hot they were, hoping the factory lowers arent as hot. Got any pics with them installed yet?

Gilbo

 

Heres a pic of mine with lowers. Get some highway pegs. If you legs get hot put um on the pegs, no prob. Zook

[IMG]local://upfiles/13976/0FBDAECCCA104826AE747D88E20CA042.jpg[/IMG]

 

Looks nice

Zook