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[49445CVO]

While cleaning up my bike I found several areas where there are small scratches as well as swirl marks.  I know that I am looking for things but man I can't believe this for the price we pay.  I bout some McGuire's Swirl stuff and scratch X stuff too.  I started the year off cleaning the bike with Glare and then found all these trouble spots.  I want to make her look good and sad to say I am not very happy with this paint.  Also what are people using to help prevent water spots.  Where we live we have hard water and I seem to get water spots no matter what I do.

Open for suggestions,

Topper

[sadunbar]

While cleaning up my bike I found several areas where there are small scratches as well as swirl marks.  I know that I am looking for things but man I can't believe this for the price we pay.  I bout some McGuire's Swirl stuff and scratch X stuff too.  I started the year off cleaning the bike with Glare and then found all these trouble spots.  I want to make her look good and sad to say I am not very happy with this paint.  Also what are people using to help prevent water spots.  Where we live we have hard water and I seem to get water spots no matter what I do.

Open for suggestions,

Topper

Hook up an outside faucet to a water softner!!  (We have hard water also...)   

[49445CVO]

Hook up an outside faucet to a water softner!!  (We have hard water also...)   


Like one you would by at a water store or Sears or is there a different item to look at.  What about the Mr. Clean system or the car wash soap that states it sheets away the water?

[HarleyRider2004]

Hook up an outside faucet to a water softner!!  (We have hard water also...)   


Like one you would by at a water store or Sears or is there a different item to look at.  What about the Mr. Clean system or the car wash soap that states it sheets away the water?

I have a water treatment system from Sharp Water as well as a sediment filter hooked up.  I bought mine from Sharp Water.  I think culligan has them as well as sears and such.  The Mr. Clean thing is junk IMHO.  I do relize that we are talking about apples and oranges but I have used it and was less than impressed. 

Here is another idea you can try.  After washing and rinsing your bike.  Take a gallon of distilled water and mix about half and half with meguirs quick detailer spray.  Use the spray bottle to spray your bike down well after you have rinsed the bike.  It seems to helps when drying the bike off.  Then I use the remaining spray for quick clean ups after rides. 

[grc]

Detergents with special wetting agents will help.  The wetting agents reduce the surface tension that produces those beads of water that dry and become water spots.  When you rinse, don't use a spray nozzle, just flood water across the surface in a solid stream to help promote the sheeting action.

Doing a final rinse with deionized water, which is what the car washes use for the so-called "Spot Free Rinse", and then blowing the bike dry to eliminate the drips and blow back from hidden and trapped water on the first ride, will produce a much better result.  Be prepared to still do a little touchup with a microfiber towel and detail spray, since there are no 100% methods I've seen yet.

The Mr. Clean filter does produce a small volume of deionized water, and I do use one since I'm too cheap to spring for the big bucks to buy and install a commercial grade system.  The filters don't last very long and tend to be very expensive for what you get, and I wouldn't have bothered with it if my wife hadn't bought it for me as a present.  In other words, it's better than nothing but don't expect miracles.

Jerry

[49445CVO]

Thanks guys...I think I will start with the using the shop vac as a blower thing to see if that will help then I will try the distilled water.

[LarryB]

Thanks guys...I think I will start with the using the shop vac as a blower thing to see if that will help then I will try the distilled water.

put some kind of filter on the Vac outlet to prevent small particles from hitting the bike. Couple nylons works, if you can find them, do any women still wear them.
The Mr clean system works good for bikes as it doesn't take all that much water, I can get 5-7 washings out of a filter.

[49445CVO]

HMMMMM.  The Mr. Clean system is around 20.00? Then the refills.  Might not be a bad thing to try too.

[HarleyRider2004]

HMMMMM.  The Mr. Clean system is around 20.00? Then the refills.  Might not be a bad thing to try too.

I was given a MR. Clean system as a gift last Christmas.  I used it twice and tossed it in the trash.  IMHO it is junk.  Might work OK on bikes but for cars you can't even rinse the soap off the car that well.  For my bike when it needs a good wash I wash it and then spray with the distilled water and spray mix that I mentioned and that works great for me...

[TIF2]

I have a CR Spotless system and it works great:



I use it in conjunction with an 1800psi electric pressure washer in order to limit the flow to 2.5 gpm.
I still blow dry everything, but this prevents spotting in case I miss an area.

Link is here: http://crspotless.com/

I bought mine through Costco for less than $400 if I remember right.

TIF2

[LarryB]

that looks good, need to shop the price a bit

[Air-Cooled]

The CR spotless system seems to be a lot of money for what it does. If you go to their website and calculate how many total gallons you can get from their best system (the $400 system) in a high mineral area (where I live it, TDS=400), it comes out to less than 200 gallons. Even using a pressure washer at 2.5 gpm for one minute, you will only get 80 rinses out of this system...coming out to $2.50 per rinse! Plus, it also takes up a fair bit of space.

I use the Mr. Clean system and get a minimum of four rinses per cartridge. At $8 per cartridge that's $2 per rinse, and it takes up hardly any room.