Cleaning Tires

[JC]

With so many newbies here on the board I thought this might be a good topic for discussion, but this might be a Pandora's box of sorts too, kinda like oil or the darkside.

What do you use, if anything, to keep your tires presentable?

Let me start by saying that I know that putting most anything on motorcycle tires is not recommended, but I know a couple of folks that use Westley's Bleche-Wite on theirs.

A couple of reasons not to are that some of the chemicals that make tires shine also make the rubber slick, which doesn't fare well for turning,  and some of them cause undesirable changes in the tire compound.

I use a good scrub brush with regular car wash soap and elbow grease, but nothing else.

How about You??

[Flat6Valk]

your way is the only safe way I am aware of.

[salty1]

Soap and water if they are real dirty. A wet rag otherwise.

[BonS]

I've used S-100 on everything for decades. Upholstery, windshield, cold engine, paint and tires. Spray on, hose off, for all except I'll use a tire brush from time to time. Love the stuff. Buy it by the gallon every 10 years.

[Gryphon Rider]

Car wash soap & water, applied with a sponge and rinsed with the hose, just like the rest of my bike.

[old2soon]

My brother in law gets some of the cheapest dish detergent i've never heard of. But man oh man it do clean my entire scooter up nice All i know for sure is it's orange and rinses film free with a cold hose. RIDE SAFE.

[BF]

When the bike gets washed, the whole bike including the tires gets washed with Dawn dish soap and warm water.....thats it.

[BonS]

Did 'ya know that Dawn dish soap is an excellent wax remover? Yes, it cleans great but at the expense of stripping everything off: wax, polymers, everything. Auto detailers us it for this purpose.

Barry Meguiar, who heads the business of the same name (Meguiar's) says "Dishwashing detergent is meant to remove everything from the surface. That includes stripping the polymers off the paint surface... The effect is similar to what dishwashing soap does to your hands. Too much will dry the skin. On the surface of a car, the same thing occurs; dishwashing soap actually accelerates the oxidation process when used regularly."

[Canuck]

+1 on the bleach white.  Use it on my truck as well.  Scrub them with a good stiff brush.  The tires also get a wipe of lemon pledge after I clean the windshield.  I have a 1/4 mile gravel drive, so anything on the treads is long gone before I hit the black top.

For washing and waxing both the black bike and black truck (think about that 1/4 mile gravel drive  ) I use turtle wax ICE.  Best stuff I've ever used.

[BF]

Did 'ya know that Dawn dish soap is an excellent wax remover? Yes, it cleans great but at the expense of stripping everything off: wax, polymers, everything. Auto detailers us it for this purpose.

Barry Meguiar, who heads the business of the same name (Meguiar's) says "Dishwashing detergent is meant to remove everything from the surface. That includes stripping the polymers off the paint surface... The effect is similar to what dishwashing soap does to your hands. Too much will dry the skin. On the surface of a car, the same thing occurs; dishwashing soap actually accelerates the oxidation process when used regularly."

I know about the wax.....and the bike gets waxed after it gets washed anyway, but a ploymer stripper?......didn't know that.  I'll have to look that up.  The bike only gets washed about once a year....if that.  It gets wiped down and spot cleaned alot more than it gets washed.