Just wondered what the trend-setters were using to clean their Arctic silk paint? It's not quite as straight forward as looking after passé gloss red
I just wash mine with soapy water, I use fairy liquid neat on the under tray where chain lube gets flicked up. Then dry it with a cloth. For a bit more after care I actually use pledge furniture spray its slightly waxy and gives it a protective coating
Matt paint cleaner is available and has been mentioned on this forum before. A quick search might reveal the original post.
I've got some Angel Wax stuff coming because I'm worried that my current shampoo and quick detailer will cause the paint to gloss. I don't know how much of it is a scam and how much is true but until it's proven I think I'll use the products designed for the paint I have...
Regular polishes and cleaners will gloss the paint finish. Even the wash n wax shampoos can turn it satin... There are several polishes/protectants available now. Take a look at some of the car detailing forums or online suppliers. I use a Scholl product for finishing customers bikes that works well enough. Golden rule is don't rub with a cloth or sponge if you don't have to. Soak the dirt, use product to clean and rinse off. Let it air dry or use an air line or blower. The less you actually touch the surface, the less chance you've got of polishing it..
Sounds like you can't really ride it that much then otherwise you'll get it dirty and need to clean it again! Haha. I'm going to stick VentureShield on it so that should hopefully help a bit.
Venture shield is a bitch to clean. I had a matte black 848 Evo for over 2 years never bought a special cleaning product and did most of the above that a poster said you shouldn't do ie it had a cloth run over it every other weekend. I used halfords shampoo or fairy liquid dry it with a cloth then pledge to buff it slightly. It never turned gloss. The reason I bike is gloss is because of the paint used and the laquer used.
Mate we are talking about looking after our paint work on our bikes I wouldn't give anyone a bum steer our machines are precious to us. And no I am not kidding. I will and have already done exactly the same on my 1199s stealth and she hasn't turned gloss and looks nice and clean. Fairy liquid is designed to cut through grease and I have actually found it to do a better job than designed products and 5x the cost
No worries, I only ask because I've always been told that Fairy is terrible for use on paints because of the degreasing agents and added salt and things like that... :Bored: Don't know to be honest, but just in case I think that I'll be sticking with the matte specific shampoos for the time being - just in case. There is a part of me that thinks it's pretty shit if you can't wash the bike fairly normally without messing up the paint but then I guess that people do lots of things to cars and bikes that make them completely impractical for everyday use...
Nanolex MATTE Paint Kit | Nanolex Car Care & Detailing Products Ok you don't need all of these but just thought I post it up
Like I say, I just got shampoo and quick detailer for keeping it fairly clean and stuff. I'm not bothering with wax because I can give it a spray down after rides if needed...
Liquid detergents contain salt and that in itself can be harmful to paint and if if gets on other parts of the bike it could do damage if the detergent water gets into crevices and does not dry out. I think everyone knows how poor the paint on engine cases are for example, and especially on the more modern water based finished ones. Use a product designed for the job, it's better to be safe.
A matte finish bike, well you know what they say, you can't polish a turd. :Hilarious: Seriously I love the flat white, but am such a knob with cleaning I'd wreck it. I suppose if it does get too shiney you can always go over it with some wire wool.
Well none of my ducati's have ever rotted and that's how I have cleaned them so I'll stick to a tried and tested method
I use a wax free car shampoo and then use a microfibre cloth and either WD40 wax and polish which I find doesn't leave a shine or MER If I can be bothered which I find leaves a pleasing streak free finish
Not that old bollox again. I've been hearing this for the last maybe 5 years and it's utter trash dreamt up no doubt by a company that makes car care products. I've been using washing up liquid for 4 decades and never had any kind of problem on car or bike. It's utter tosh.
Have been a concours d'elegance participant and later a judge in my time, have yet to see a car damaged by washing up liquid! Have however seen a good few clean ones because of it. On matte finishes a good clear glass spray cleaner works well, for stubborn tar spots isopropyl alcohol is superb and will evaporate off.
