I absolutely love my Ultra. I absolutely hate drying it off, LOL what are you guys using to cut down wash and dry time? I would rather be riding.

 

Check out the detailing forum on here, great tips!
Personally, I use a leaf blower followed by microfiber towels (very absorbent). For me, this combo is 95% effective, meaning there are always some spots to follow up on.

 

Good question!!!

I've owned a bunch of bikes, and I'm a freaking nut case when it comes to keeping them clean. My Ultra is by far the hardest bike I've owned to keep "spotless" so don't feel too bad. There are just too many places for water to drip from on these bikes.

So, here's what I do.

1. Start with the tires first, they are usually the dirtiest and if you wash them last, you will find yourself rinsing area's already clean thus leaving more spots.

2. Lean the bike, (don't wash it on a jack), leaning will help some water come off.

3. Rinse as you go, get as much soap off as possible before it starts to dry with soap still on it. I logically break the bike down into 5 areas as I wash then rinse each one. 1. Tires wash and rinse, 2. front of bike (shield, lights forks, rotars, fairing etc...) wash and rinse,
3. mid right side of bike including seat (I do the right side first since the bike leans on the jiffy stand to the left and I don't want dirty water to run on the left side if I already cleaned it. 4. right rear, rear and left rear including exhaust, 5. mid left side. (I save the left side for last since the bike is leaning in this direction. When done I give a final rinse top to bottom with deionized water and really soad her, you want to replace as much undeionized water as possible with the final rinse water.

Tip on rinsing: When you do rinse, don't "spray" it, use a hose without a sprayer and let the weight of the water right out of the hose flow off the bike. Let Gravity pull the water off. You can't do this for the deionized stuff (at least not with Mr. Clean)

5. Don't wash or dry it in the sun, it will dry too fast not allowing water to drip off thus leaving spots.

6. Get a deionized cleaning system (like Mr. Clean I havent' used CR spotless yet). Even if you use a Deionized system like Mr. Clean on an Ultra, you will find that some of the washing water that wasn't deionized will still drip from hidden locations and leave some spots. However, a systme like this will cut down on spots a lot, but not get rid of all of them by far.

7. I also have a Red Baron dryer that helps a lot. If I use the Mr. Clean and I'm not in a hurry (have a half hour or so to allow it to air dry I won't use the dryer... If I'm in a hurry, I will use the dryer).

8. Even with all of this, I sill need to quickly wipe some of the chrome and paint with a microfiber cloth to get rid of a few spots.

With all of this being said, if the bike is cleaned/polished/protected(wax or sealant) with some good quality stuff and done right
then to wash it/dry it and get rid of any last minute spots can be done easilly enough.

It takes me under 15 minutes to wash it, rinse it with a Mr. clean, the after it's dry (air dry or blower) another 5 minutes to wipe away any spots left over. If I want to add a detail spray to the paint add another 5 minutes. Another 5 or 10 if I'm going to hit the chrome quickly with something like Never Dull. Finally just a few more minutes to just touch up the seat and shield. All in all it looks pretty darn good in under 30 minutes of work. I do start the season off with an 8 hour detailing!

Hope this helps,
Joe

 

Thanks for the info, I washed it last night and used the air compressor to dry it. Big mistake! I have hard water and it left it crusty. So I ended up wiping the whole thing down again. This Mr Clean deal, I have seen it on TV but I am always sceptical of things like that. Is it worth the money? I don't mind doing a little elbow work because I don't think any product will let you just walk away and it be spotless. I do have a leaf blower and have used that on my Viper. Only problem with that is if the driveway has any sand or pebbles on it the blower throughs it everywhere. Should I get the Mr Clean washer?

 

I've had great results using MrClean! Follow the directions to the T. I can't imagine going back to the old way now. Good Luck!

[IMG]local://upfiles/718/71E61A87D0EF43BCB45F1D6194ED7A2B.jpg[/IMG]

 

Thanks, I'm going to get it.

 

Yes the Mr. Clean system does work. Don't use any other soap with it, the key with the Mr. Clean and all "spotless" systems is that they give you deionized water. You can find all kinds of info on-line about this. Like I said, the only issue with the Mr. Clean and the Ultra is that the Mr. Clean uses the deionized water as the final rinse, and there is so many nooks and crannies for the "washing" water to hide that it drips out and what's left behind from "this" water is the calcium (hard water spots etc...) when they dry.

I got my Mr. Clean at a buying club "BJ's" for less than at Wal-mart so the price was right. It's far, FAR better than not using one.

Joe

 

I'll have to get the name of it in a little bit from the garage, but I use a spray and microfiber rag (one to clean and one to polish) and NO WATER! I was skeptical as can be at first, but my brother has a black Sportie and a 100th Anniversary RK, and has used this for over a year w/o a single scratch, swirl mark, or imperfection. You simply spray this on your rag, wipe down the bike, and then polish immediately w/ the other rag. You would not beleive how easy this is, and how well it works on bugs and tar. I love this product and have only used it a couple times. AND ITS SAFE ON EVERYTHING!

I'll get the name today and post it for y'all to check it out if ya want. (and like I said, I highly recommend it cause I know my brother wouldn't use it on the RK unless it was GREAT)

edit.... just saw the reciept laying here, its called BOM Spray Cleaner. Check it out, you won't be upset. (and no, I am in no way affiliated w/ this company or anything of the sort, just like the product)

 

I have seen that work in person. I just can't bring myself to do it though. LOL