New motorcycle, what to use?

[jmart24]

I have a naked bike, which obviously has a seat, painted plastic, matte metal, shiny painted wheels, and a chrome exhaust pipe. I'm concerned about rusting around screws, especially in hard to reach places.
I washed the motorcycle for the first time, before putting it away for winter. I used a little bit of car wash soap with two buckets and wash mitts. I've looked at motorcycle-specific products but the plastic products state that they're for clear plastic, like the windshield. I found some matte cleaners and protectors but do I really need to use separate products on each part of the bike?
I am also having a difficult time finding a good wheel cleaner and polish. None of the product reviews are positive for any of the ones I've seen.
Has anybody found any good products for a motorcycle like this?

 

[tosh]

I have generally used Dr Wack products on my bike; you may have them as Sdoc100 or P21s in the US.

All completely safe and used by hand. Their total gel cleaner is awesome.

 

[MarkD51]

Welcome to the forum.

Not sure what difference all the different conventional protection products made will do in regards to rust on screws-etc? would think most of such things would be stainless steel, no?

Using conventional wipe on and wipe off waxes and sealants I'd guess would really be a pain to use, trying to remove caked residues from all the little nooks and crannies.

If it were me, I would maybe try WOWA (wipe on walk away) sealants such as Optima Opti-Seal, or Ultima Paint Guard Plus (UPGP)

They're both very good, both very easy to use, won't leave residues, either should offer a good 3 months of solid protection. And neither will stain plastics.

 

[MarkD51]

With a bike, one thing that might be of great help would be an air compressor with a blower nozzle, that after washing, this will help remove water in the hard to reach areas.

First dry with microfiber towels, the small Griots PFM drying towel would be a good choice for absorbing water, blow dry, then again come behind with the towel and again wipe dry.

For fairings if the bike has one, there are products from meguiars, but also another very good product is NOVUS. All three grades of NOVUS will help maintain and polish clear plastics, #1 is just a maintainer-protectant, reduces static, #2 and #3 more aggressive for removing sleeks-scratches. (NOVUS is not sold here)

The 2 products I mention in my earlier post will be fine on any-all plastics without causing harm.

Areas where you might want to be careful with any protectants are seats, foot pegs, and bar grips for the obvious reasons of becoming very slippery.

 

[Sinbad]

I have a naked bike, which obviously has a seat, painted plastic, matte metal, shiny painted wheels, and a chrome exhaust pipe. I'm concerned about rusting around screws, especially in hard to reach places.
I washed the motorcycle for the first time, before putting it away for winter. I used a little bit of car wash soap with two buckets and wash mitts. I've looked at motorcycle-specific products but the plastic products state that they're for clear plastic, like the windshield. I found some matte cleaners and protectors but do I really need to use separate products on each part of the bike?
I am also having a difficult time finding a good wheel cleaner and polish. None of the product reviews are positive for any of the ones I've seen.
Has anybody found any good products for a motorcycle like this?

Hello Jmart,

I too have a naked bike, but mine is matte black. I need to use specific products for the bike. Unless your bike has matte paint or finish, you should be able to use auto wash products for all of the bike. Most of the screws should either be stainless or coated in some way. The best way to get good information for your bike is to go to a forum for your bike. Those are the people who will recommend what they use and will tell you what not to use. Good luck with your search and have fun.