I am wondering what you guys use to wash your Bike with. Do you prefer a certain soap/wash to use? Mine is due for a wash after riding from the bugs and stuff on it. My only concern is the windshield and not scratching it.

For light clean up on the paint, chrome, and windshield I use Pledge furniture polish. For heavy cleaning I use soap and water. Nothing fancy. You don't want to use glass cleaner or anything like that on the shield if it is a Yami shield. It has a coating on it that will turn permanently fogged.

Pledge works fine,but, I got a free can of Plexus at a meet a few years ago and carry a small can of that with a thin old baby diaper to keep my shield clean. Another thing that really helps after several hundred miles of good riding is to at least take a soft rag with hot water to the fresh dirt.............it dissolves it so you don't ever have to worry about wanting to rub too hard and risk scratching.

Real dirty and buggy I use S-100. Light stuff like Musky pledge,any
flavor works
Patricia

Here around Atlanta it's illegal to wash your bike or car unless you go to a commercial car wash or one of those stalls with the power washer wand. I'll just keep spraying and wiping with the Pledge till the rains come again.

M7

South Florida's been under a "severe drought" warning since last summer, So, that's when I stopped "washing" my R*...
Instead, I went to the "Dollar Store" and got three spray bottles (The kind they sell for spraying plants...) One is set up with 1:100 mix of "Fabuloso Orange" (Cuts grease and smells great!) I adjust the nozzle for spray or straight stream. The other is water for rinsing and the third is a 50/50 mix of water and Mothers® Reflections® Spray Wax (the cheapskate that I am, makes me want to make it last longer...)
I actually use the Mothers almost daily... We've got a lot of ocean salt spray here and I usually "straight stream" the water and mist with Mothers and do a wipe down...
For towels I went to Sam's and bought their "restaurant towel" package... There's about 35 white cotton terry towels in the package for about $15 and after the first wash they're nice and soft... (But, you have to wash them first!) I use four to five towels at a time.
The only time I really "soak" the bike is when I'm going to do the wheels... Then I wet the wheels, spray them with "Tire Bright", give 'em a scrub and flush the heck out of the calipers for the rinse... (The first time I did my wheels I came out an hour later to find all these drip streaks on the whitewalls... )
As far as the windshield... we've got lots-o-bugs... It's a towel soaked in warm water and laid on the windshield for the time it takes to do the wipe down... Same towels, never rubbed or scrubbed and always a fresh coat of "plastic polish" afterward...

BTW: Daytona Bike week is coming up in March... and so is Florida's "Love Bug" season... I've learned to keep a gallon size Ziploc® baggie in the bags for EVERY time I stop... I usually keep a half dozen wet towels in there.

Here's the deal with Love Bugs... Beside the fact that they stink like "Wet Dog" when you try to wash them off, their innards contain an enzyme that will actually disolve plastic and paint! They swarm twice a year. (March and November) The best way to avoid them (beside not riding in FLA is to get your riding done before 10 AM and after 8 PM... They love heat, vibration (exhaust noise) and exhaust... Oh, and it's been scientifically proven that the "splat coverage" of a Love-bug is directly proportional to the speed of the impact!
And, one last note: that last thing a Love-bug sees when it hits the windshield is NOT it's behind... It's her boyfriend!
(During the "procreation process", it's the female that does the directional flying while the male is dragged around by his... uh, you-know-whats!)

it's the female that does the directional flying while the male is dragged around by his... uh, (you-know-whats!) I have several friends that way

I use the Mr. Clean spray attachment. The one with drying acton. It's a light stream of water and soap. Then I use the spot free setting. It drys spotless and takes only a few minutes. Its easy and fast.

Boy I must be anal I use "Spray and Shine" spray can for daily touch ups. I got it at CycleWorld, and I works great to polish and protect everything. I use it on the windshield, paint and chrome. I take it on long road trips to clean the windshield at gas stops and it seems to just dissolve bug residue. I have also used Pledge with good results. At least twice per month I use a hose to wet the scoot down, I use a gentle stream no real pressure just to wet the surfaces. I then use a mit with Turtle Wax car wash and gently scrub every surface I can get to. I wash small areas and rinse as I go so that nothing dries on the surface. Somtimes I then use my compressor to blow off excess water and then dry with old soft terry cloth towels, but usually just dry it with towels. I use McGuires liquid gold wax 3 to 4 times per year for painted surfaces, and Turtle Wax chrome polish for all the chrome and baby there is a lot of chrome, I use Armor all on the vinyl seat, I know it can be slick, but have found if you wipe it on and let the scoot sit in the sun for a half hour or so after the slickness is not an issue, I use BonAmi non abrasive powder to clean the white walls, and finally I use a spray on Leather cleaner and conditioner, sorry can't remember the name, but think it is a Blue Coral product. My scoot always looks good. I can't stand to go out with a dirty scooter. Even on long road trips I do a touch up every moring to keep her looking her best.
The only advice I give is not to use high pressure waster, or air as it can force water into places you do not want it, like engine cases, key switches and electrical connections. I have never had a problem with a gentle stream to rinse and then dry it all off to a sparkling shine. My scoot is 2 years old and still looks like it rolled out of the show room yesterday, except with a lot more bling

I have a spray bottle with water in it and I wipe her down after every ride after blowing off any grit with an airhose , as Mark7 said we are under restrictions but I have only washed mine 2 times since august 06,and mine is as clean as any bike any where but I do not ride when it rains period ...been caught once probably get drown next time I ride since I just jinxed myself ...Coug

Just had my first ride in the rain on Tuesday. Came out of the polling place and found it coming down.

Glad it was a short ride home, but now I've got waterspots all over that are gonna need my attention. And I just detailed it out last weekend....I guess if I can't ride her, spending time giving her a massage is the next best thing. Hey, that works for bikes AND wives!

M7