Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test

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Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test
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Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test

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Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test

Generations of exploited women have had to prostitute themselves in chauvinistic bikewash campaigns. Pooh! But the days of foaming wash water on bare skin are coming to an end, thank God. Thanks to the chemical industry and their dry cleaners. MOTORRAD tests nine rescuers.

Klaus Herder

10/11/2012

The first attempts to free the oppressed bikewash women from their yoke began a good 20 years ago. Pretty much every supplier of car cleaners made one or even several attempts in the following decades to make cleaning without water more palatable to German car and motorcycle drivers. But almost all attempts had one thing in common: they failed more or less miserably. No matter how flowery it might be, it could be said how the corresponding miracle cure infiltrates the dirt, envelops it and passes it on to textile aids completely scratch-free – Otto normal vehicle carer remained skeptical, was afraid of scratches and continued to rely on car shampoo, sponge and above all a lot Water. Germany was a land of water, so the chemical freaks could do what they wanted.

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But the white coats stubbornly stuck to the topic, technically nothing could be said against the dry cleaners. The feared scratches were much more likely due to user errors. Anyone who did not intend to look at their vehicle paintwork under the microscope after every cleaning operation could hardly go wrong with dry cleaners years ago if they were used properly – and chemical progress does not stop.

But in addition to purely technical arguments and the more stringent regulations in terms of “vehicle washing on private property”, the changed motorcycle usage behavior is now also playing into the hands of the cleaner providers: Completely dirty kilometer-eater machines are now the very big exception when it comes to motorcycle cleaning. A large part of the biker community is only motorcycle owners and rarely motorcyclists. As a result, on the day of cleaning, it’s no longer about scratching the inch-thick layers of chain grease off the wheels and frames or peeling half the insect population of a medium-sized district off the paneling. A bit of street dust here, a few corpses of mosquitoes there, a few raindrops, even fewer tar stains – it is usually not much more that disturbs the well-kept overall picture after a Sunday afternoon round of the house.

So it is very often about the quick dressing-up action in between. And this is exactly where the products presented and tested here should do a good job. “Classics” such as Magic Wonder from Caramba and Bike Polish from Castrol can be found in the test field. These product oldies are proven and popular with motorcycle professionals, for example dealers who want to keep their test drive machines in shape, or with the photo machines of the MOTORRAD editorial team. In addition, there are the house brands of Polo and Detlev Louis and the well-known, but often difficult to procure Motorex Clean & Polish from Switzerland.

Six spray cans and a pump spray bottle (Motul), which is welcome from the user’s point of view, came together. MOTORRAD supplemented the test field somewhat unconventionally with cleaning cloths. In contrast to the can and bottle fillers, their providers do not explicitly promise a protective function, but since the formulations of the agents used to soak the wipes should not differ so dramatically from the products to be sprayed on, MOTORRAD simply let the wipes run along in the test. And that with – in the truest sense of the word – satisfactory results.

In terms of cleaning, however, all the agents to be sprayed on were able to do a little better in the end result. If you take a closer look at the cans (spray head, batch labeling, etc.) and then also look at the very similar results in terms of cleaning performance, you can come to the conclusion that the number of fillers is likely to be significantly lower than the number of test participants. Whatever the case: The really big surprises did not materialize in this test, which gives the motorcyclist the certainty that, while not being able to buy outstanding, but at least properly functioning products. And to do a good job with it – put an end to the bikewash terror!


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Caramba motorcycle paint care.

Providers: Caramba Chemie, 47032 Duisburg, Tel. 02 03/77 86 01, www.caramba.de
Price: 8.49 / 9.95 euros (RRP / paid at Polo, Leinfelden); RRP corresponds to 3.40 euros per 100 ml
Filling quantity: 250 ml

Use: medium-wide spray jet; satisfactory dosage; moderate adhesion, runs off easily; smears after polishing, requires a lot of cloths.

Fertility: satisfactory to good, can be used sparingly; The spray jet, filling pressure (a little too high) and adhesion make dosing a little more difficult.

Effect: good to very good cleaning performance (9 out of 10); satisfactory beading behavior (7 out of 10).

Conclusion: Solid (cleaning) performance, small application weaknesses and the not optimal protective effect leave room for improvement; relative expensive.

MOTORRAD verdict: good


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Caramba Magic Wonder.

Providers: Caramba Chemie, 47032 Duisburg, Tel. 02 03/77 86 01, www.caramba.de
Price: 8.99 / 6.99 euros (RRP / paid to Detlev Louis, Stuttgart); RRP
corresponds to 3.00 euros per 100 ml, ATTENTION: discontinued items / remaining stock
Filling quantity: 300 ml

Use: medium-wide spray jet; good dosage; very good adhesion; smears after polishing, requires a relatively large amount of cloths.

Fertility: slightly better than the in-house competition – the slightly lower filling pressure makes dosing easier; can be used sparingly.

Effect: very good cleaning performance (10 out of 10); satisfactory beading behavior (7 out of 10).

Conclusion: Great cleaning experience, but the protective effect is a little more – maybe with the successor product, this is a discontinued item.

MOTORRAD verdict: good


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Castrol Bike Polish.

Providers: Deutsche Castrol, 22761 Hamburg, Tel. 0 40/35 94 01, www.castrol.de
Price: 9.50 / 9.50 euros (RRP / paid to Detlev Louis, Stuttgart); RRP corresponds to 3.17 euros per 100 ml
Filling quantity: 300 ml

Use: wide spray jet, satisfactory dosage; poor adhesion; easy to polish off; incomprehensible: application note is missing.

Fertility: relatively high losses when applied to sloping surfaces, but can (theoretically) be used quite sparingly.

Effect: very good cleaning performance (10 out of 10); sufficient beading behavior (5 out of 10).

Conclusion: very strong when it comes to cleaning, rather moderate when it comes to protection. And there is also light and shadow in the application. As a quick cleaner, it is worth buying.

MOTORRAD judgment: satisfactory


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Motorex Clean & Polish.

Providers: Bucher, 4901 Langenthal / Switzerland, Tel. 00 41/6 29 19 75 75, www.motorex.com
Price: 19.95 / 17.90 euros (RRP / paid to Sommer, Lochgau); RRP corresponds to 3.99 euros per 100 ml
Filling quantity: 500 ml

Use: extremely wide spray jet, practically impossible to use in a targeted manner, the foam flies everywhere; good adhesion; Does not smear when polishing, easy to polish out.

Fertility: can (theoretically) be used quite sparingly, but the indisputable dosability is contrary to this.

Effect: good to very good cleaning performance (9 out of 10); sufficient beading behavior (5 out of 10).

Conclusion: Difficult to obtain, difficult to use – but convincing cleaning performance. Protection? Much more is possible; quite steep price.

MOTORRAD verdict: satisfactory


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Motul Wash & Wax.

Providers: Motul Germany, 51149 Cologne, Tel. 0 22 03/1 70 00, www.motul.de
Price: 13.20 / 13.99 euros (RRP / paid to Hein Gericke, Stuttgart); RRP corresponds to 3.30 euros per 100 ml
Filling quantity: 400 ml

Use: concentrated spray jet, but very foggy; good dosage possible with pump sprayer; satisfactory adhesion; does not smear, easy to polish off; very strong orange scent.

Fertility: can be used sparingly, but the job is difficult to see, and you may use up unnecessarily much.

Effect: satisfactory cleaning performance (7 out of 10); satisfactory beading behavior (7 out of 10).

Conclusion: good application (pump spray bottle), average cleaning performance and protective effect, but no special offer – off to the inconspicuous middle field.

MOTORRAD verdict: satisfactory


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Polo Bikecare Clean-Wax.

Providers: Polo, 41363 Juchen, Tel. 0 21 65/8 44 03 00, www.polo-motorrad.de
Price: 6.95 / 6.95 euros (RRP / paid at Polo, Leinfelden); RRP corresponds to 2.32 euros per 100 ml
Filling quantity: 300 ml

Use: medium-wide spray jet; good dosage; very good adhesion; smears after polishing, requires a relatively large amount of cloths.

Fertility: can be used sparingly; the practical filling pressure ensures effective work.

Effect: very good cleaning performance (10 out of 10); sufficient beading behavior (5 out of 10).

Conclusion: In many details (except protection), the Polo house brand is suspiciously similar to the Caramba products and also the Louis own brand – and is cheap.

MOTORRAD verdict: good


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Procycle polishing wax.

Providers: Detlev Louis, 21035 Hamburg, Tel. 0 40/73 41 93 60, www.louis.de
Price: 6.99 / 6.99 euros (RRP / paid to Detlev Louis, Stuttgart); RRP corresponds to EUR 2.33 per 100 ml
Filling quantity: 300 ml

Use: medium-wide spray jet; good dosage; very good adhesion; smears after polishing, requires a relatively large amount of cloths.

Fertility: can be used sparingly; the practical filling pressure ensures effective work.

Effect: good to very good cleaning performance (9.5 out of 10); barely satisfactory beading behavior (6 out of 10).

Conclusion: The recipe should possibly not differ significantly from the other products rated “good” and the price is very attractive.

MOTORRAD verdict: good


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Sonax Professional universal cleaning wipes.

Sonax Professional universal cleaning wipes

Provider: Sonax, 86633 Neuburg / Donau, Tel. 0 84 31/5 30, www.sonax.com
Price: 63.07 / 33.60 euros (RRP / paid at Martika Autoteile, Backnang); RRP corresponds to EUR 0.79 per cloth
Filling quantity: 80 pieces (approx. 30 x 29 cm)

Application: simple, the product can be used very specifically – which is in the nature of the (cloth) thing; very easy.

Yield: satisfactory to good; the towels are significantly larger and more robust than the Armor All towels .

Effect: sufficient cleaning performance (5 out of 10); sufficient beading behavior (5 out of 10).

Conclusion: Official cloth size and worth considering for the cleaning quickie. However, the cloths cannot match the cleaning performance of the spray.

MOTORRAD verdict: satisfactory


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


mps photo studio

Armor All Insects & tar.

Armor All Insects & tar

Provider: Intertec, 76829 Landau, Tel. 0 63 41/28 40, www.armorall.de
Price: 6.79 / 6.50 euros (RRP / paid at Martika Autoteile, Backnang); RRP corresponds to 0.27 euros per cloth
Filling quantity: 25 pieces (approx. 19 x 19 cm)

Application: simple, the product can be used very specifically – which is in the nature of the (cloth) thing; Polishing may be unnecessary, otherwise easy.

Yield: Satisfactory, but the relatively small cloths are saturated very quickly if they are heavily soiled.

Effect: just barely satisfactory cleaning performance (6 out of 10); moderate beading behavior (3 out of 10).

Conclusion: Absolutely okay for quick, convenient and selective cleaning in between; In terms of protection, however, it is not a real alternative to sprays.

MOTORRAD verdict: satisfactory

This is how MOTORRAD tests


Nine motorcycle cleaners in the product test


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Frank Ritscher at the whiteness measuring device.

Labor Party

Chemistry and motorcycle – there can only be one test address for MOTORRAD: the Alfred Karcher GmbH laboratory & Co. KG in Winnenden. The Swabian cleaning equipment professionals led by laboratory manager Frank Ritscher (long-time motorcyclist, currently BMW R 1200 GS) supported MOTORRAD with advice and action – and with meaningful laboratory tests. The cleaners that MOTORRAD bought in stores in September 2012 first had to show their cleaning performance on white painted metal sheets prepared with nasty test dirt. For this purpose, a fleece loaded with a test weight (1.278 kg) was pulled over the soiled area and then treated with cleaner according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

The two cleaning cloths had to go directly onto the sheet. The cleaning performance was then determined using a whiteness measuring device. The measured values ​​were translated into an internal score (0 to 10). 0 to 10 points were also awarded in the assessment of the water-repellent behavior, which allows statements to be made about the sealing quality (i.e. the protective effect). For this purpose, an inclined, glossy white painted bonnet was treated with the cleaners, then flooded with water from a high-pressure cleaner and a hose with normal water pressure, and then the beading behavior was assessed visually.

An overall rating was determined from cleaning performance and beading behavior, for which a maximum of 60 points could be awarded in the final evaluation under the heading “Effect”. In the application test, the first thing was to be able to make statements about the spray pattern, the dosability and the adhesion of the cleaner. But that’s not all: The testers processed the cleaners according to the manufacturer’s specifications and were thus able to make statements about the effort and time required for polishing and polishing and about the cleaner consumption.

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