to Wax or not to Wax

[DownSouth99]

I am new to biking and have a noob question concerning fairing care. My imaginary bike, soon to be delivered I hope has been sitting for some while.
Could anyone please help me with product suggestions for fairing. Regular wax, boat wax, etc. I've looked some for posts related to this and have not found anything.
I did order a shop manual and owners manual - suppose I should read them.

[92xjunker]

I used a spray on, rinse off type wax. Every 6 months or so.

[RoBill]

I use furniture polish (Pledge, Behold, etc.). I have been using this type polish on my boat for years and Niue on my bike. Wipes on/off easily and makes bug removal very easy. I use it on the painted area of my helmet too. For the headlight, wind screen, and helmet visor I use Rain X windshield washer fluid. Again, wipes on/off easily.

[DownSouth99]

Thanks for your reply.

[ZukiFred]

+1 on the furniture polish.

[elsueco]

I've never heard of furniture polish, but why the heck not!

DownSouth, I wouldn't worry at all about what kind of wax to use; any kind of auto or boat wax will be just fine for these bikes. If we were talking about a nice, shiny Ducati I'd be a bit more careful. But not with a Kat.

You might want to consider getting an orbital polisher and using some rubbing compound on the plastics before you wax them. If they're looking a bit dull rubbing compound could help revive them.

I don't see a need for Rain-X on the headlight or windshield, personally. I think I'll give it a shot on the visor just for the heck of it, but as I recall, it's not recommended for plastics.

[DownSouth99]

Noob

The reason for the weird question is that when I think of wax I think of slippery. When I think (guess I suppose,due to lack of prior knowledge) of bikes I think of not wanting to slide around. The bike i'm hoping to obtain looks like it could use a little shine.

[Kreylyn]

The reason for the weird question is that when I think of wax I think of slippery. When I think (guess I suppose,due to lack of prior knowledge) of bikes I think of not wanting to slide around. The bike i'm hoping to obtain looks like it could use a little shine.

Yeah, never put anything on your seat or tires.


Krey

[zuma]

My wife says it's painful, but beats sha...oh, never mind.

[elsueco]

Yeah, never put anything on your seat or tires.


Krey

Yeah, about that... Armor All makes my seat look brand new, but it is pretty slick for the first day or two! It makes body steering a whole lot easier.

[wfrpalm]

You might want to use a 2 step cleaner and wax or there are some that are combined but if just use a carnuba wax or polish you are waxing over the dirt that that just washing will not remove.

[katinvermont]

Yeah, about that... Armor All makes my seat look brand new, but it is pretty slick for the first day or two! It makes body steering a whole lot easier.

Yeah, I was going to mention that ... I only did the Armor All on the seat once.

I pretty much don't use it anymore. I had some sidewalls crack and the shop said it was due to Armor All. Their suggestion was use it frequently, or better yet, not at all.

[expvet]

I purchased and applied this wax last mid summer and it is everything they say it is. Easy to apply and remove, nice gloss and has lasted through many washes and a brutal winter on my car and still looks just applied on my bike after a season of riding and storage time. Still beads like new and dirt just washes right off. I only applied one coat. I got it from the place on this link but I would think you can get it from a lot of other places too.

http://www.autogeek.net/collinite-insulator-wax-845.html

[Mrclean81]

Collinite is great wax. I've had it last 6-8 months on daily drivers. A garage kept and well maintained bike could easily see a year out of it. That wax was actually developed to protect electrical transformers, which is why its called insulator wax.
Something to keep in mind when waxing or detailing in general, is its 90% prep and 10% product. If you want to get the most out of it, you need to insure the surface is ready first. Pick up a clay bar kit and clay every surface before applying wax. You could also compound/polish with something like the Griots 3 inch polisher as well if you really wanted to take it to another level. I would recommend a clay treatment for sure though because it will leave your paint silky smooth, and will greatly increase the bonding ability of the wax, which will in turn increase the longevity of it.

[expvet]

Would polishing compounds be safe on the plastic fairings? I have never done so becuse I don't want to find out the hard way.