The Halo Smart Clean is a multi stage process that removes road grime, salt, old waxes and co-polymers from the bike before applying a coating of ACF-50 to protect the bike from corrosion. With the exception of the ACF-50 which was designed originally for use in aerospace applications, all the products used are own brand, designed specifically for use on motorcycles (unlike most products which are adapted from car cleaning products). Plus they are all environmentally safe and biodegradable. This is what they do.
Pre-rinse
The bike was rinsed with a jet wash to remove loose dirt and grime.
Full Degrease
The bike was sprayed with degreasing shampoo in different strengths depending on the area of the bike, agitated with a soft brush and allowed to do its work. There was no scrubbing involved.
High foam traffic film removing shampoo
This is the stage in the process where the camera came out. The bike was covered in a thick foam shampoo which was left on for a few minutes before being washed off with the jet wash. The bike was described to me as ‘naked’. All the dirt and waxes had been removed and the bike was now ready for the ACF-50 to be applied.
Warm air dry
Exactly what it says on the tin. The bike was dried using a warm air blower to remove water from the bike before the ACF-50 application.
Pre spray prep
The bikes wheels and brakes were wrapped in soft cloth to stop ACF-50 getting on them, The bike was then covered over with a soft cloth to hold the ACF-50 in ready for spraying.
High pressure ACF-50 application
ACF-50 was sprayed as fine mist into all areas of the bike. Because it’s applied as a high pressure mist it gets into all the places you couldn’t reach by hand without taking your bike apart.
ACF-50 Hand finish
The bike was uncovered and any areas that need treating but were covered during spraying are coated with ACF-50 by hand. Then any excess ACF-50 is removed. Plastics were treated and buffed to revitalise them.
Hand wax
A polish was used to remove fine scratches where possible before a PTFE wax was applied giving a deep shine and glass like finish.
The bike now looks better than it ever has and is protected from corrosion for up to 12 months. All for under £60, well worth it!
August 2012
So impressed were the others with the job done on my bike that Bob, Chinny and Bonzo decided to have their Blackbird’s treated as well, as you can hopefully see from the pictures they were just as impressed with the results.
Websites
All Year Biker
All Year Bikers on YouTube