cleaning chrome items such as exhaust that get hot??

[dannylightning]

i usually wax the hell out of any thing chrome. if i wax the pipes when they are cold and wipe it all off. will the little bit of wax coating the pipes burn and make my pipes look lousy. if so what do you use the shine those pipes up when they get dirty.

im a strong believer that you should thoroughly clean your ride at least once a week. and im a stong beleiver that wax works wonders on chrome. for example my buddy had a chrome car muffler and it was coroded pretty bad. i waxed that thing for him and with every cote of wax it took a little of the crap off the muffler. after about the 10th coat of wax it had a brilliant shine and the thing looked brand new again. plus it makes every thing nice and slippery, a lot easier to polish when trying to get finger prints and such off the chrome.

but if the wax is a big no no ill get something else to clean them.

[Sarris]

Real Chrome Polish. Not wax for paint.

[alanmcorcoran]

I have a related question... Is there such a thing as a "car wash" for motorcycles? I am not as into keeping mine shiny, but every once in a while I feel like getting it cleaned. Not that interested in doing it myself though... And there is the issue of all that hot, hot chrome if you ride it somewhere.

[dhgeyer]

I clean my bikes every couple of months or so whether they need it or not. :jawdrop:

We have a power washer, which I find helps a lot. You just have to be careful about using a lot of pressure around certain areas, like electricals, carbs, fuel injectors, radiators. A little common sense goes a long way.

[dannylightning]

i think a pressure washer is a bad idea, as mentioned above electrical carbs and such, seems to me it would be easy to get a lot of water in a place you dont want it. just a garden hose on a light mist type setting is all i would want to use. and washing the bike hot is not exactly a good idea. probably not likely but hot metal sprayed with cold weather can crack and you don't want that to happen.

[dhgeyer]

Water hitting hot pipes won't hurt anything. If you do any riding in the rain (motorcycles are designed to do that), water hits hot pipes every time you ride through a puddle after the rain, or the beginning of a downpour. Smells funny for a little while.

You can do damage to a bike with a power washer. On the other hand, I've been using one for years and never hurt a thing. Like I said, a little judgment about which nozzle to use where. And they do save a lot of work. I'd rather be riding.

[Dupo]

This is all i use on my entire bike. I can clean & wax in about 10 minutes....

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=50 ... UC_53-0608

[Dupo]

This is all i use on my entire bike. I can clean & wax in about 10 minutes....

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=50 ... UC_53-0608

[alanmcorcoran]

Thanks Dupo... course my bike is a lot bigger than yours, might take a lot longer . Actually, no one has answered my original question - are there places or people that will shine it all up for you? I'm lazy -- it takes every ounce of ambition I have just to put gas in the thing (which I gotta do far too often.) I got leather hard luggage, there's probably something I should be putting on those too to keep them from drying out and cracking. Maybe at the dealer?

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Sarris

Real Chrome Polish. Not wax for paint.

:plus1:

And since I'm a firm believer in washing/cleaning a bike twice a year......whether it needs it or not, I will stop there. :whistle: