Motorcycle Polish & Shining Techniques

Guys, I have described earlier in my article "Bike washing & cleaning techniques" about the general washing & cleaning techniques of bike. Now I will try to describe about the cosmetic polishing techniques.

Cosmetic polish: 

When you wash your bike with soap-water bath, it really needs a cosmetic polish. There are different types of motorcycle polish considering the weather condition. It differs considering summer, winter & rainy season.

Polish for Summer & Winter:

Most of the time in summer & winter season you can polish it with regular polishing kit like liquid wax or cream polish. Before polishing your bike, carefully wipe off the microscopic dust by a clean cotton rag and carefully dust off the cloth every time. The piece of a cotton tea shirt is very nice for this polishing job. You can polish your bike only with liquid wax polish or cream polish. But from my personal experience I really prefer to use both of them simultaneously, as both of them effectively works better on different areas.

Liquid wax polish: 

Liquid wax polish is sold in market in some plastic bottle with a spray head. You can spray the liquid on the surface which you want to wash & polish. It has the feature of little waxing with polishing & shining the glossy & matt surface. From my findings it has a shorter impact on glossy part or sleek painted surface than the cream polish. It works batter on dusky area like plastic console, dim metal surface like engine body, heat sink etc. Whatever, to apply the liquid wax you have use a small piece of silky type cloth to wipe smoothly the sprayed liquid wax.

Also Read: How To Ride In Bad Weather?

First wipe off the microscopic dust by clean soft cotton rag and then spray the liquid wax on the surface. Then soak & wipe off the liquid from the surface with the small piece of silky cloth. In case of little dirty area, softly wipe out the dirt spraying directly the wax. Thus whole polishing part can be wiped by the wet piece of cloth. The silky piece of cloth really does fine for this type of polishing. After wiping whole polishing area leave your bike for 15-30 minutes. And then again wipe & polish the surface with clean soft cotton rag and you will see superb mirror gloss on the surface.

Cream Polish: 

The cream polish is more extensive polish than the liquid wax polish. And it stays polished for long time even under small water fall. For the cream polish you have to be more cautious to remove the microscopic dusts from sleek painted surface as those can scratch on the surface when it polished.

For this type of polishing, after wiping off the dust apply the cream on the painted surface rubbing with finger tip, like applying cream on your face. Cover all over the part with the cream and keep covered the bike at least 30 minutes. It really gives superb shine if you leave it for one hour under a shadowy cool place.

After that time you will find the cream has dried off, the entire oily object soaked by the surface, and only the powder coated over the surface. So now wipe off all the dried powder sediment & simply again wipe the surface with the clean soft cotton rag. After that you will see the superb glow & shine of the polished surface as the entire oily object coated over the surface like a transparent layer.

This layer is really very much shiny and can also cover little scratches. It can protect the applied surface from dust, sunlight and even fog or little rain for long time. You only have to get a dry cleaning (dust-off) for some time to keep the bike clean.

From my practical experience when you care about your bike cosmetic appearance you should use both of the liquid wax & cream polish as those works better on different area as I mentioned earlier.

Polish For Rainy Season: 

This term maybe unusual for somebody. You can say is it possible to keep the bike polished in the dirty rainy season? Yes it is. You can do it. The regular polishing cosmetics wash out in the rainy season due to rain. But there is an old technique to keep your bike polished & also away from rust in high humidity weather. You just have to apply an alternative polish & polishing method for our bikes in the rainy season.

For this job you need 2 tea-spoon of fresh mobile and one liter of little hot water. Put the water and mobile in the spray bottle & shake it forcefully. The mobile will split out with worm water and make little whitish foam inside the bottle. Then pour the mixture all over the bike after washing off the dust & dirt from the surfaces.

Do the job as fast as possible so that the mobile can not condensed again. Keep shaking the bottle before applying the mixture again. After that wipe off the entire oily water from your bike & let it dry. When the surface about to dry, again softly wipe & polish the surface with soft clean & dry cotton rag. You will be really surprised to see the change.

This oil coating polish will not wash out even you ride it in the rain. Just wipe again after coming from rain & let it dry, you will see the shine again. But you have to be cautious that you have to clean the seating area from oil wiping hard so that your pant or clothing can not get dirty. And you also cover the break disks before spaying the mixture so that the disk can't get oily.

This type of polish is not applicable for dusty summer or winter as the oily polish catches the dust fast like magnet. This process is maybe a hassle for some of you. But when you will apply this technique once, you will find that is so easy to apply. I am sure you will joyfully grimace for me. Oh one thing this type of oily polish is really fruitful for the sea side salty weather area.

So riders that's all about my article on "Bike washing & cleaning techniques" & "Motorcycle Polish & Shining Techniques". Hope you have enjoyed it. Don't forget to share your massage considering anything about bike with the bellow commentary box.

Before signing off take a look over my ending points:

• Always use clean & workable gears for washing & polishing job. 
• Try to arrange a complete set for this job which will really keep you out from hassle.
• Wash your tools & gears after ending your job & keep them clean & dry.
• Avoid direct sunlight when washing & polishing your bike.
• Work under shadowy and cool place & if possible work under a shade.
• Never use toilet soap or laundry soap for washing your bike as those keeps sticky sediment on the glossy surface and they deform the color scheme very badly.
• Use solvent like kerosene or petrol only on the mat finished oily part like engine, chain-sprocket, carburetor etc.
• Never use the solvents on the sleek colored parts. Use only shampoo-water for that.
• Don't through water force fully to the engine area & don't use water hosepipe with heavy force of water to remove the stiff dirt.
• Don't use soap-water for carburetor, plug housing & other electrical parts. Use paint brush and with solvent like kerosene or petrol for extreme dust. Cover them with poly bag before soap-water wash so that water can not enter inside.
• Pour water on the stiff dirt & let them soften & wash off them with soft brush.
• Do not rub any dirt attached on the painted surface when it dry, get the dirt wet with water & let it soften, then wipe it off.
• Lubricate each moving part of your bike after each soap-water wash with proper lubricant and wipe off the excess.
• Spraying oily mixture does nice work on the metal body parts during the rainy season and also in salty sea side area.
• Do not go for soap-water wash just on coming from a ride. Let the engine, silencer & other hot surface cold & then go for wash.
• Never through cold water on a hot engine or engine area. It can permanently damage the engine & engine housing.
• Do not use hard or sharp tool to wash any part of your bike.
• Use painting brush or tooth brash for stiff area with solvent like kerosene.
• Before pouring water with mug or hose pipe cover the horn carburetor, air intake whole of air cleaner, spark plug housing, and also the whole of exhaust pipe.
• Never do the liquid wax & cream polishing job under sunlight. You have to do that under a shade. Otherwise there will be some deep mark of the wax or powder.
• Never apply the cream polish on the dull, matt or dusky finished area as it will hard to remove the power from such area.
• Never go for polishing on a dirty or dusty bike. Clean & wash it first and then go for polishing.
• Apply oily polish after covering break drum, disk & clipper assembly to avoid accidental slippery.
• Never use harsh cosmetics or soap for your bike. If you really care about your bike try to use branded gears.
• Ride safely & always use helmet.