Cleaning/polishing the exhaust

[Mighty Mouse]

Hey to each his own. It's your bike you do as you please and it's no ones business whether you clean your bike or not. I clean/wax my bike after every ride if I cover a lot of ground that day and if it's a few miles I just wipe it down. I just enjoy the 'me' time with my music and a few beers in the garage. It clears the cobwebs and for some weird reason I feel satisfied after it's complete. Now a new car gets waxed once a year.

 

[maurice]

Or just adopt my motto which is best summed up as " I bought my bike to ride, not to shine". Wifey says I'm not 'bike worthy' because of it..but what the hell does she know!

I used to think this way until a guy I rode with years ago had a honda st 1300, 175k miles and looked brand new! I wanted my next bike to be kept like that. To each his own.

 

[Dr.D]

I rode with a guy and his wife on a group ride who had the dirtiest Harley I had ever seen. They admitted the never washed it. A few months later I saw them again and they said the did clean the bike and it promptly broke down. He said it will never get cleaned again.

 

[maurice]

I rode with a guy and his wife on a group ride who had the dirtiest Harley I had ever seen. They admitted the never washed it. A few months later I saw them again and they said the did clean the bike and it promptly broke down. He said it will never get cleaned again.

Obviously a very smart guy.

 

[JR402]

Penny and WD-40 worked well, just takes a little bit of scraping with the penny.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I rode with a guy and his wife on a group ride who had the dirtiest Harley I had ever seen. They admitted the never washed it. A few months later I saw them again and they said the did clean the bike and it promptly broke down. He said it will never get cleaned again.

That's because dirt was the only thing holding the Harley together.

 

[zenbiker]

If you choose not to clean your bike, so be it and who cares. If you do chose to clean it...our input, based on experience can be helpful!
One of the major themes I'm noticing here is that some are equating cleaning the hydroformed satin finished SS headers with chrome headers. BIG MISTAKE!
These satin finished headers are a PIA because any abrasive will buff out that finish and change the look of them..
Easy Off oven cleaner is the best for burnt on sh*t with no abrasives.
Apply, wait 24 hours..WAIT!! and use a moist sponge to remove.
Do it again if not completely removed.
60 years experience here!

 

[DHarvey]

I used to think this way until a guy I rode with years ago had a honda st 1300, 175k miles and looked brand new! I wanted my next bike to be kept like that. To each his own.

does he hire out?