Make your tires look good!!!

[davecb]

Every now and then I see someone mention about how to make your tires look good. Well, DO NOT use Armorall or anything resembling it, because that can cause major problems when leaning in a curve. Now, back in the OLD DAYS... We didn't have any of the fancy stuff they have now. What we used was 'sugar water'... Just mix a cup of sugar in a quart of warm water, stir ir until it disolves. Then take a rag and soak it with the water, ring it out slightly, and rub the tire with it. Your tire will look better than brand new after it dries. Now, I don't know how many bees it will attract, it depends on where you live....

[eazyduzzit]

I buy the Dunlop "Honey Glazed" tires. No need to add sugar

[RoadKill]

Magauirs (sp) has a product specifically for Motorcyle tires also.

[a1bummer]

DO NOT use Armorall or anything resembling it, because that can cause major problems when leaning in a curve.

 

I found that out the hard way one cool fall day. Now no matter what I use, I don't get it on the tread, only on the sidewalls. I just scrub the entire wheel/tire good with a stiff brush and soapy water. Then do the sidewalls with that fancy stuff.

[dynodon]

I agree that tire dressing is fine as long as you make sure to not get it on the tread. But I have developed a special method that insures decent looking tires and safety..please read on.

 

Wash the wire with a mitt or cloth and soapy water first, I recommend Liquid Ivory. Been washing my cars with it for decades, and I sell detailing supplies for my business, and Liquid Ivory is what I recommend for cars too. Won't hurt paint and unlike most "car wash" products it will get off the junk that vehicles (including motorcycles) collect.

 

Rinse and dry. Use an aluminum polish on the wheels (non-painted parts) and apply regular wax to those when done to protect them. Special "wheel" wax isn't needed.

 

Finally, use a wipe on tire dressing and apply with a damp cloth (water) lightly. then take a clean damp cloth and wipe the tire again.

 

Why wipe the tire again with a damp cloth? Because some tire dressing products will run down the tire if they get wet if they are put on too thick. So wipe the tire to take off any excess. The damp cloth insures that not much will remain on the tire.

 

If you stay away from the tread area you should never have a problem with this method.

[Condor]

Now, back in the OLD DAYS... We didn't have any of the fancy stuff they have now. What we used was 'sugar water'... Just mix a cup of sugar in a quart of warm water, stir ir until it disolves. Then take a rag and soak it with the water, ring it out slightly, and rub the tire with it.

 

I've been around since the good ol' days, and that's the first time I've ever heard of sugar water... Hmmm learn something new every day... Up until now I just been scrubbing the tires with a brush and dish soap suds.

[N3FOL]

Just regular Car Wash soap on this end. I try to stay away from dishwashing liquid, since it will strip away any wax protection on painted surfaces of the bike. For tires, I don't think it is not a problem. Most of the time, I simply focus on keeping my wheels clean and not worry so much on the rubber side wall of my tires.

 

Ride Safe.

[dynodon]

SOME dishwashing soap is worse that others, but the full truth is that plain water will strip wax off a car if you rinse and dry. The reason I recommend Liquid Ivory is that it rinses cleaner, and won't strip off any more wax than about anything else. I have used it for decades, and my wax jobs last for months. Some "car wash" soaps go so far in NOT being a soap that they won't get off the dirt, sand, anti-freeze, axle grease, tranny fluid, engine oil, brake fluid, not to mention bugs and other stuff. Ivory will get most of this pretty easy, and of course it will take off some of the wax, but it won't strip off all of a good wax.

 

Typically DAWN brand is mentioned if you want to really strip off all the wax.

 

But you can use Liquid Ivory without fear of having to re-wax every time, but it WILL get the real junk off your finish better than most any "car wash" product.

 

Oh, and one other thing, don't believe those products that say they can wash and wax at the same time. You can either wash off the dirt, or put on the wax, but these are two diametrically opposed things, and one product can't do both.

[Condor]

SOME dishwashing soap is worse that others,

Typically DAWN brand is mentioned if you want to really strip off all the wax.

 

 

I use Dawn on the tires because it's usually the cheapest dish soap at Sam's Club. I also Lemon Fresh Pledge for the plastic. Probably 2-3 times a year. I know that Carnuba's will last longer, but we're talking a motorcycle here. Takes about 10-15 minutes with Pledge and 2 micro-fiber rags to do the whole thing. Pledge also works great on the windshield....

[a1bummer]

I use Dawn. It doesn't matter if it strips off the wax to me because I always wax it every time I wash it. Give it a good rinse first to get the loose grit off so it doesn't act like sand paper. Then a good scrubbing with everything off that I can get off. Then scrub everything I could get off. Then use armor all on all the vinyl and unpainted black plastic and sidewalls. Then wax all the paint. Then polish the chrome and rims.