BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

How to wash a 2015 RT? So many overlapped nooks and crannies.

Are you guys power washing or pretreating or...? How do you clean this thing?

Good soaking from a normal hosepipe, no pressure, followed by wax shampoo using a sponge and a soft small brush for all those crannies. Rinse off again with cold water. Blow dry and chamois off. Occasionally wax. I also carefully paint all fasteners with preservative wax at the start of the winter.
Followed this habit with every BMW I have owned since 1996. Never had any corrosion on any of them.

Good advice that RTman10  Definitely no power washer!!

What do you paint the fasteners with ?

BMW Transparent Wax Part no 81 22 9 400 711.  I've had it a long time so number might have changed.  400ml spray can but I use a very small water colour paint brush to apply. 

RTman10 wrote: Good soaking from a normal hosepipe, no pressure, followed by wax shampoo using a sponge and a soft small brush for all those crannies. Rinse off again with cold water. Blow dry and chamois off. Occasionally wax. I also carefully paint all fasteners with preservative wax at the start of the winter.
Followed this habit with every BMW I have owned since 1996. Never had any corrosion on any of them.

Will you wash mine too?

Do same as RTman10. No power washer. Good old hose. Blow dry works wonders on drying all those hard to reach places. I treat all likely corrodible parts with ACF50 applied by brush. Wheels bodywork and screen use Poorboys Natty's Blue Wax protects and stops dirt sticking. Note this is a wax not a polish so has absolutely no abrasive properties unlike some other waxes. Nothing special really just some effort.

I recently bought some Williams F1 Dry Wash & Wax for the car.  I only used it as a wax having first washed and dried the car.  Ended with an amazing shine so as you do couldn't resist trying it on my mat grey bike.  Bike is still mat but with a slightly odd glow to it.  More importantly nothing now sticks to it.  In a recent 1500 mile trip round Scotland when you would expect a good build up of brake dust on the rims there was next to nothing. 

Well waxed wheels do stay a lot cleaner and when they do get dirty the dirt just washes off so easily. I have found that using the wax on the front of the bike makes getting splatted bugs off easier too. A proper wax has no abrasive properties unlike a polish so is safe to use on plastic. A wax cannot scratch anything its just a protective layer.

great tip on coating the fasteners

I'm no detailing expert, but I rinse off with hose, spray down with S100 in all the nooks and crannies, then wash with a good quality liquid car wash and soft sponge.  Blow dry and then Plexus the screen.