What is the best product to get your filthy pig to look new again?
What if you could use a cheap household cleaner to bring back the like-new appearance?
Find out about using the famous furniture polish product on your DR650.
The issue
Motorcycle products can work well but can be expensive and sometimes sold as a combo with multiple types to apply
Even though some would say that a bushpig must be dirty, let's face it, a good clean once in while makes your bike look nice again and is better for the mechanic anyway.
So after you have removed the worst of it, like mud with a garden hose, you may have noticed many parts will still look dirty with a thin deposit or traces of dirt on them.
Even if you do one step further and give your pig the full bath treatment with a bucket of soapy hot water, brush, sponge, and a lot of elbow grease, you will still some of those traces staying.
Especially the plastic parts are hard to get looking new again. You know, all the little nooks and crannies around the airbox, around the frame, crankcase, and so on!
The solution
Use a cheap copycat of Lemon Pledge instead
Lemon Pledge is the branded stuff but you can find a much cheaper product under various names in dollar and big box stores for a few bucks.
NOTE: This "furniture cleaner" is mostly a mix of water, naphtha, and silicones with a hydrocarbon propellant.
The composition is fairly close to automotive rubber conditioning and won't hurt your hoses, seals, plastic and rubber parts, nor the paint finish on metal.
If used properly, meaning once you bike
is free of scratching particles (mud, sand), you shouldn't have any issues.
What is the best way to use it?
While it is not a heavy-duty degreaser to be used on things like the sprocket area shown on the picture above (better use kerosene and a brush for that), it still does a fairly good job at removing smaller greasy spots without being too aggressive for the material underneath.
Like if you want to get over your engine and remove all the little grimy spots, melted tar, and whatnot. Spray directly, wait for a bit, and brush off with a toothbrush or a soft rag.
But the best uses we have found for that product are:
Clean off light dust and leftover traces after a good washdown
Do a quick once over on plastics and frame without water
Details an area of the bike
Details parts you took off the bike during maintenance
Simply use a soft rag and spray on the rag rather than the bike, then scrubbed the surface. It is important to remove mud or other crap first so there's nothing left on the surface that will scratch your finish.
For surfaces where you want shine and the best look like the bodywork, you can also use another dry and clean rag to polish it after first wet pass.
It does wonder on plastic, like those connectors above, cables, bodywork, rubber hose, so they don't attract dirt over time.
NOTE: The silicones in the formula help create a non-stick surface for all the dirt to come on your next ride. It conditions the surfaces for better protection against the elements. Your pig will stay cleaner for much longer and further dirt should come off more easily during the next full bath cleanup.
By now you are probably itching to get riding, so finish that cleanup and ride away with a nice lemon scent!