we always knock off the heavy crud with hose and sometimes use mitt and soap, but hiding the scratches is tough. we ride thru heavily treed rainforest and lots of low branches, fallen trees, deep gravelly/rocky ruts where you get pitched sideways and scrape along the rut. It's absolutely impossible to not scratch the crap outta your unit where we ride. The overfenders help a little. my overfenders are starting to tear in a few spots. but if anyone has a magic solution for hiding the plastic scratches, would love to hear. Also, I was disappointed by how quickly my alum rims tarnished, and we soap/wash those after the ride.

 

wow nosliw, I'd eat off your machine. I got out riding almost evryday or every other I just hose mine down. And wash it maybe once a week, but it not as shiny as his.

 

I work at a bike shop...we use S-100..it peels anything of anything and looks really good afterwards. Then we polish the bike...amazing.

 

lemon pledge

 

sorry for the late reply.
honda400rider please tell me about s-100 what is it and what do you use it on>. What do you polish with(compound)? No one got any ideas on kepping the engine clean, i want mud not to stick so it wont turn light brown.
thanks Tynes

 

Check your yellow pages for janitorial supply or chemical cleaner companys. There is one in Greenville called Socar. You tell them what you are doing and they sell you the correct product. They have an aluminum cleaner thats made for non clear coated aluminum that you spray on your engine and let it soak 30 seconds and hose off. Looks just like new again. No more stain and still has the original shine or luster that came on the machine. Its safe for polished wheels as well. A whole lot better than what you buy at the local parts stores. I havent ask them about a cleaner for the plastic yet. I have used the aluminum cleaner on my custom stroker street bike and it brought the luster back out like new on the revtech engine. I was truely amazed!

 

i use s-100 as well occasionally. works pretty good. i get it at the dealership, and ive seen it at Gandermountain. dont get the aerosal can get the squirt bottle, just spray on and hose of. for mud and such i rinse and scrub with a sponge, but i had black mud stains on motor and diff sprayed with s-100 a couple of times and it came of good. i also tend to use STP son of a gun on the fenders when im done drying looks all nice and shiny[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

just used pledge on the yellow plastic, gave it a deep rich shine that does not feel really oily to the touch. it is also really easy to apply.

 

Do the math. 4 hours of riding + muddy conditions = 12 hours cleaning. My math's not very good, but it's close.

I use a small electric power washer as well, because it's cheaper and enviro friendly. Then I switch over to a hose and bucket before one more quick rinse with the powerwasher. Before and in between each wash I douse everything in simple green. I use rags and sponges.

After drying everything I go to the cleaners and polish. Mothers Alum. polish for shiny stuff like the pipe, bumper, bars, nerfs, axle. Anything polished. Switch to Eagle One for all the other metal parts like sidecases, carbs, radiator. Then grab the WD-40 for the frame and all the moving parts, shocks, springs, pivot joints, painted surfaces. Then I use my special mixture of various cleaners and coaters for both sides of the fenders and tires to keep the mud from sticking. Quad always looks ready for the dealer floor.

I once heard somebody uses a leaf blower to dry their quad, but I've never tried it.

 

guess you could flip the hose on the shop vac and use blow hole for that matter. cheaper than buying a leaf blower.