When I clean my bike I use a wide assortment of supplies.  These items are bought for my bike and are not used for anything else other than for the cleaning of my bike.

- Water bucket
- Clean Wash cloth
- Large scrub brush
- Small scrub brush
- Leather Chamois
- Soft, clean towel
- Simple Green® Cleaner
- Mother's California Gold® Wash and Wax
- Rain Dance® Wax

Add to this list a garden hose and a spray nozzle.  The cleaning agents listed there are my choice. There are others on the market that will work just as well.  The Simple Green® is a biodegradable grease cleaner.  Spray it on, let it sit for a few minutes and then wash it off.  I find that it's really good for scrubbing the wheels and all of the dirty engine parts.  The Wash and Wax is the soap I pour into my wash water.  It has wax in the soap solution and makes for a good shine without waxing after wash.  As much as I like polishing my bike, I am lazy at times and don't want to spend 3 hours shining my bike everytime I get a few water spots on it.  I'd rather be out riding.  The Rain Dance® Wax, made by Armor All® is a really good wax and I swear by it!  It shines up very nice!

I always wash the painted surfaces first.  This way you'll minimize the damage caused by the wash cloth.  No matter what you use to clean your bike, you will cause scratching.  The only thing we can do it try to minimize it until finally, you have a buffing job.  Always use a clean wash cloth.  This means running it through the washing machine, not just rinsing it out with the garden hose.  You don't want any grit on your cloth.  This will scratch your paint job.  If you're like me, you'll want to keep your expensive paint job looking like new for as long as you can.

The scrub brushes I use are made from natural fibers only!  Never use metal scrub brushes.  Even hard plastic brushes can scratch some finishes.  There are soft bristle brushes available in the car care section of most automotive supply stores.  The large brush I use for scrubbing just about everything with chrome, the engine, the wheels and the fenders.  I don't touch the paint with that though.  The small brush is used for getting into the small places where the large brush can't reach.

When rinsing all of the soap off your bike be sure to use a low pressure, or don't use a spray nozzle at all.  High pressure water can drive grit into bearings and grease out of them.  When I use my spray nozzle, I use it lightly.  It's mainly there as a means to turn off the water when I'm not using it, to conserve water.

The Leather Chamois is used to dry your bike.  It's an expensive piece of material but it works like a champ!  If you have the resources, you can use a leaf blower to blow the water from your bike.  When your bike is good and dry, go over it with the clean towel to buff the wax that was included in the wash soap.  You are now ready to apply the final step, the wax.

Always apply the wax away from direct sunlight.  The hot sun dries out the wax very quickly and it will require a lot of buffing to make a good looking finish.  Be sure to use a clean, damp cloth to apply the wax.  You don't need to goop the wax on, just a light haze is all that is required for a good shine.  Be sure to do small sections before moving on to other parts of the bike.  I like to start at the top and work my way down.  I wax the shiny parts of the controls, then buff.  I wax the tank, then buff, I wax the fenders, then buff.  Finally I wax each side of the engine and then buff.  Buff the entire bike again with your clean towel to make sure you get any spot you may have missed.  Nothing looks more unprofessional than a small spot of wax that wasn't buffed off.

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