| Author | Message | ||
     Oldog |
What do you use ? products and or methods we had some nice weather yesterday and I washed the bugs and gross dirt off of the bikes yesterday the rear wheel is black! ( 08 ) I want to get it cleaned up.. | ||
| Bishopjb1124 |
Wesley's bleach white. Available at advance auto. It works great. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
A different exhaust. | ||
| Spectrum |
Armor All Wheel Cleaner. Dissolves the gunk quickly and the only one that I have found that doesn't say not to use on powder coated surfaces. | ||
| Foxy_1 |
I use muc-off products,they do a special wheel cleaner,but i find their normal bike wash works just as well on the wheels,you can see mine if you look at the buell photo thread,someone commented on how clean they look. check out their site. http://www.muc-off.com/motorcycle/ | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
I use gasoline--gets chain-lube off nicely--then rinse thoroughly and towel dry. Of course there is no chain lube on our 1125s, and with a non-stock exhaust, my rear wheel doesn't seem especially prone to gunking up. | ||
| Timebandit |
Stay away from Westley's Bleeche-White unless you're cleaning a whitewall tire. I'm not a guy who cleans his car tires often -- maybe once in a year. I grew up in the days when every car had whitewall tires, and everyone used Westley's. So I bought gallon bottle of Westley's Bleeche-White thinking it would be a good cleaner for my tires. What a disaster. Although the stuff is great for whitewalls, I think the bleaching compound is really dangerous to use on regular blackwall tires. Every time I've used it to clean a blackwall car tire, the sidewall of the tire has oxidized to the point that it was cracking all over and needed to be replaced. On the same day I applied the stuff to 3 different cars with new tires on them. I only used it once. Within a year, all 3 cars had the sidewalls so badly cracked/oxidized that the tires needed to be replaced. That Bleeche-White stuff is really bad for non-whitewall tire compounds. I wouldn't let it near the rear tire on my bike. (Message edited by timebandit on February 16, 2012) | ||
| No_rice |
wow, im not sure what your doing with that westley's, but ive been using that stuff since 08 on my 1125's and havent had any problems. all i would say is dont leave it on for more then a minute or to then rinse it off. unless it is very very bad it wont require scrubbing. if it is, then a light scrub and rinse off. and when i say rinse i mean drown for awhile to make sure there is none left to hang out on the rim surface... | ||
| Bishopjb1124 |
I have been using Westleys for about 20 years now and have never experienced the cracking sidewalls. But with every product, peoples opinions will vary. My parents own a used car lot and have used Westleys just as long and never had issues. LIke I said I use it on my bikes tires and have never had an issue. | ||
| Timebandit |
"Peoples opinions will vary." I grew up using the stuff. All my life. No, I'm not imagining it. And I'm not trolling with this story because I hate the product. I've used for maybe 40 years, and I always liked it. But I stopped using it when it caused ozone-type cracking of the rubber. Having 3 sets of tires all fail due to cracks wasn't my imagination. And it wasn't a coincidence. I don't think improper application was the problem. When I would use it, I'd just spray westley's on one tire, go to the next and spray it on, go to the next, and then the next. Then I'd walk around the car giving each tire a quick circular wipe down with a brush, and then make a loop around the car with a hose. The damage that bleach causes to rubber is well established. Bleach is just bad for tires, period. It's fine for the whitewall insert, but bad for the rubber. The damage takes about a year to show up, and looks like ozone cracking on an old tire. I'm not surprised that you wouldn't recognize the problem on a used car lot, where inventory hopefully doesn't sit around that long. I was able to recognize the problem because I have a number of cars that are garage queens -- the kind of cars that get taken down to be polished, and then get parked back on the lift. Just for reference, the tire types were two sets of Michelin X tires and the OEM Firestone Steel-Tex radials on a Suburban. I got the Michelins replaced under warranty. Regardless of whether or not it's good for rubber, you might not want to put it on your wheels. The label carries a specific warning against using it in that application: "WARNING: Avoid contact with MAGNESIUM or ALUMINUM WHEELS and PAINTED AND GLASS SURFACES. May cause permanent damage." Be careful. (Message edited by timebandit on February 16, 2012) | ||
| Ponti1 |
I use the Westley's to clean my rear rim on my '08, and was one of the first here to try it I believe. Have had good success, and have not had any damage to wheels or other components over the years of use. Timebandit, I believe what you have experienced, and have read the same caution regarding the product not contacting certain surfaces. I think the saving grace for me is ~9K miles per year...Tires just don't last long enough for any permanent damage to appear. On the other hand, I tried using "Purple Power" from the auto parts store recently on my truck wheels when I had run out of Westley's...Only had it in contact with the rims for maybe 30 seconds, but it left a cloudy haze behind that will likely be there forever. As was said, be careful with any product you choose to use. | ||
| Musclecargod |
I used the eagle one A2Z wheel cleaner, some old stuff I had laying around. That stuff is terrific. It took off two years of gunk/crud/brake dust in no time flat. Spray on then rinse off. | ||
| Avalaugh |
Just look under your kitchen sink, pull out the oven cleaner you've never used. Quick, easy, dirt cheap. Been using it for years on my bikes without a problem. | ||
| Avc8130 |
 enough said ac |
