Secrets to cleaning up wheels?

[Das Borgen]

lots of at least halfway decent recommendations here but if I may suggest using

Sonax Wheel Cleaner....I haven't found a better wheel cleaner

http://www.detailedimage.com/SONAX-M49/Wheel-Cleaner-Full-Effect-P525/500-ml-S1/

hjere's a great guide on using it

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/27621-review-sonax-full-effect-wheel-cleaner.html

then coat your wheels with Poorboy World's Wheel Sealant (awesome wheel wax)

http://www.detailedimage.com/Poorboys-World-M1/Wheel-Sealant-P40/8-oz-S1/

[scottie.harris]

on chrome anything i use acetone to clean them up, just DONT TOUCH PAINT.

[Gump]

I use a mag wheel cleaner from advance auto. Spray and wait. Then kithcen Brillo pad on the tough spots. They are aluminum wheels with kinda coarse inner and smooth out finish deal.

[mello dude]

Same here. Takes the grease and residue from the chains spin-off and white lithium right off.

However. My VTX is getting some mother lovin issues on the wheels on it. They are machined/clear coated... whatever Honda tried to do and they are a pain in the ass. I can get the lips to shine but that is it. I am thinking some flat black powder on them is going to look nice... Plus there will be no more polishing on them.

I had the same finish on the Valkyrie and hated the damn stuff. I ended up paying somebody to polish the things and its worked out ok. I do a quick clean with Honda/Original polish and hit it with Meguiars tech wax, and if I am ambitous, go over it with Meguiars Mag/Aluminum polish first.

[lightbulb]

This is a lot less complicated than what people are making it out to be.

I wouldn't expect any degreaser to work well for your application. Grease has a tendency to be slippery, and I'd expect brakecrud to made out of non-slippery things.

You say that you have water spots on your wheels. Mind you, this will likely be noticed by no other human on the planet but you. Ever. It's part of the HD culture though, so don't sweat it. My suggestion is to use a minimal amount of cleaner that is designed to remove the hardwatercrud that causes the water spots. A dab of CLR or LimeAway ought to do the trick. I'm not a chemical engineer, but I'd immediately rinse and dry any spot of my precious that the CLR touched.

Brakedust is a separate issue. It wipes away easily until it pits. Some people have mentioned wheel wax. Because wheel wax is... wax, it has a tendency to soften when exposed to heat, like the type of heat that something bolted to a brake rotor might experience. I think it's reasonable to expect molten wax on a wheel to catch crap like brake dust, so I would just forgo wax and let the hard clearcoat on the wheels do what it's supposed to do - provide a clear and hard protective barrier.

[Das Borgen]

This is a lot less complicated than what people are making it out to be.

I wouldn't expect any degreaser to work well for your application. Grease has a tendency to be slippery, and I'd expect brakecrud to made out of non-slippery things.

You say that you have water spots on your wheels. Mind you, this will likely be noticed by no other human on the planet but you. Ever. It's part of the HD culture though, so don't sweat it. My suggestion is to use a minimal amount of cleaner that is designed to remove the hardwatercrud that causes the water spots. A dab of CLR or LimeAway ought to do the trick. I'm not a chemical engineer, but I'd immediately rinse and dry any spot of my precious that the CLR touched.

Brakedust is a separate issue. It wipes away easily until it pits. Some people have mentioned wheel wax. Because wheel wax is... wax, it has a tendency to soften when exposed to heat, like the type of heat that something bolted to a brake rotor might experience. I think it's reasonable to expect molten wax on a wheel to catch crap like brake dust, so I would just forgo wax and let the hard clearcoat on the wheels do what it's supposed to do - provide a clear and hard protective barrier.

I must respectfully diagree there..... you are right about wax in general but wheel wax is not like other waxes... Poorboy World's Wheel Sealant I linked to is made to protect up to 500 degrees F. That is why you use wheel wax on wheels and not simple wax....It is a product worth every penny. It also makes subsequent cleaning a breeze. Simply wash with water and soap. No hardcore wheel cleaners needed

PS: Sonax Wheel Cleaner is ph-neutral as they claim but they say not to let it dry on your wheels. Process is spray, wait 1-2 minutes, then scrub and rinse.... DO NOT let it dry up....that stuff is worlds better than any other wheel cleaner I've tried (simple green, meguiars, etc etc).......it smells just as terrible as it works well (P.U.!!)