I stubbled upon a great way for shining the plastic, get some GUNK heavy duty engine degreaser, and spray that on the plastic, take a light cotton towel and lightly rub it on to the plastic, the stuff comes out as a line of spray so stand back and move quick, then let it sit and dry, it looks nice and shiny. Another good thing to do is get some John Deere spray on wax, good stuff.

 

Powerwash ! works realty good to get everthing off.

 

Don't go near the chain with that Presure washer or you will need a new one every year or less...
They are also really good at removing stickers...

 

I used Simple Green for the first time last weekend and was amazed how well it worked. I sprayed all the heavy mud off with the hose. Then soaked the entire bike down with Simple Green. I thought that I would have to hand wash at least the black textured fender flairs which appeared to be stained. But, after the Simple Green sat for a few minutes the fender flairs, engine, and hard to get at suspension parts all cleaned up with just a spray from the hose. I dried it off, hit the tires and black plastic with Tire foam and used Lemon Pledge on the plastic. It looked good, except for the scratches which I haven't found a way to fix.
A guy who raced microsprints on dirttrack told me to mist the entire quad with baby oil prior to riding, the dirt is supposed to come off easier. He said he always smelled good too!Other guys use WD40 or Pam cooking spray for the same thing.

 

I have seen this question many times. It has many answers. What works well for me is this: Rinse heavy mud off quad, spray entire quad with 409, power wash off. Once dry, coat entire quad (less brakes!) with WD-40. When aluminum dulls, I use Amsoil metal polish(mothers will do). When aluminum dulls past point of no return, I use my polishing wheel on my trusty craftsmen drill and the appropriate buffing compound to bring it back to new. (Those items can be had at sears for $10). Power washing never hurt my chain, but it may force water into your bearings.

Just remember grasshopper....WD-40

 

Plastic Renew will take out the scratches. All you do is buy the kit which has everything you need and follow the directions. Dennis Kirk also carries some other stuff that supposedly takes scratches out althout I havent tried it yet.

 

To make plasic look nice after a mud ride just pressure wash it then use steel wool and then a coating of mop-and-glow. I use a light sand paper and wet sand it before I use the steel wool to take out big scratches. Later.