As the owner of a fairly new machine I was searching and wondering what can be done to keep the plastic body panels looking like new for as long as possible. What have you folks done to keep your atv/utv plastic looking like new? I have read some crazy stuff on various forums so...what have you done that really works?

 

take a hose to it after every ride seems to work just fine for me

 

Keep them waxed, but it'll really depend on the trail system...I've trashed new plastics on day 1 as we used to blaze our on trials

 

A buddy uses tire shine on his machine. Looks better than new several years later.

 

I've never really worried about how much the plastic shines. I've only owned one new quad in my life and I only kept it about a year. Every other quad was several years old by the time I got it so the plastic was already faded. I don't want to trash it of course but if it loses its luster, I really don't care that much. Now if I were to buy a new machine, it might be a different story but I just don't see that happening. I think I have heard of using something like turtle wax. Some waxes actually make it hard for mud and dirt to stick, making washing it off easier. That's actually quite useful even if you have an older machine that isn't so pretty anymore. Even if you don't care what it looks like, getting the mud to just fall off when washing would be nice.

 

While it is not a big deal keeping the plastic looking good I would like to keep it looking nice for a while. After spending all that hard earned money I would hate to see it just fade away and look crappy. Don't mind a few scratches as I then know it has been used and all the fun I had putting them scratches on there, but the shine makes the machine look better. Just thought others might have some proven methods of making the shine last.

 

Maxima SC1 works very good after a wash and it also makes the mud fall off a lot easier the next time around. It basically adds a silicon clear coat to the plastics and even protects from minor scratches. I recommend it

 

I'm actually more interested in it making mud not stick. Anything that makes it harder for mud to stick is a plus. If I can more easily clean mud off after a ride, its worth trying. Mud just seems to cake in places that are tedious to get it out of.

 

After I fully clean a bike, I spray it (SC1) just about everywhere other than on electronics or directly on the engine, then after 30sec to 1min, I buff it in and wipe off whatever excess. It's silicon based so it doesn't hurt gaskets, bushings or cv boots and the mud really does fall off a lot easier the next time you get it dirty.

 

I use a product called Mop and Glow, gives a great shine.