If you ride a lot, you will be cleaning, also

Cycle Care makes wonderful products for all motorcycle needs - from bike washes, chrome and mag wheel cleaners; motor, tire and wheel cleaners; windshield and face shield treatments, leather and vinyl conditioners, and more. I have used, and have been delighted, with all of them.

It's the only brand of products I use now. All Cycle Care products were designed specifically for motorcycles, not adapted from car products. So no harsh chemicals are used in any of its products, such as ammonia, alcohol or petroleum distillates (like lighter fluid), which can be especially harmful to clear plastics like windshields and face shields and clear-coat paints.

Cycle Care products use resins that offer the same shine and wet sheen qualities as silicones, but they are UV protective and non-water soluble, so they last much longer. And those resins are safe for any surface of every motorcycle. So if you're using Cycle Care's wash or quick shine products and they get on the leather, vinyl, plastic, rubber or Plexiglas, it won't harm anything.

Two products I'm highlighting are the NEWMAG cleaner and the Formula 33 Spray & Wipe Bug Remover.

The NEWMAG cleaner lets you spray it onto your wheels, let it sit a few minutes, and then rinse off all the grime, brake dust and yuk that adheres to magnesium wheels. It is just that easy. REALLY! No scrubbing necessary. And if your wheels are extra grimy, you may need to apply again to certain spots, but that will take care of it. Wheels look like new. It also works on chrome.

The Formula 33 Spray & Wipe Bug Remover is the best product I've ever used to clean bug goo off my windshield, helmets and face shields, gas tank, fork tubes, etc. Again, just spray it on, wait two minutes and wipe it off. It leaves your shields clean, clear and feeling smooth as glass. I've used Rain-X on my car's glass for decades, but one use on my bike's windshield years ago ruined it. With the Formula 33, I've never had a problem with any plastic shield or screen. And again, don't worry about overspray; it's safe on any surface.

All Cycle Care products are competitively priced and come in various sizes. To order and get more information, and to see the full range of Cycle Care Products, go to www.cyclecare.com. You can buy any of its products with total confidence.

Brush Hero

Cleaning and detailing a motorcycle is an arduous job. There are so many little nooks and crannies you must get in to clean. But the Brush Hero is a very welcome aid to make the job so much easier.

You simply hook it up to your garden hose, turn on the water and the water pressure will cause the scrubbing brush to spin around and get into those hard-to-reach places, removing dirt and grime.

It doesn't spin like a power drill, because you'd get soaked using it if it did. But it spins fast enough to get the job done. It comes with two brush heads that snap into and out of the unit - one hard bristle for chrome, spoke wheels and hard engine surfaces, and a soft brush for more sensitive areas, such as the bodywork. And it works great!

You can get into the cooling fins and other tight areas around the engine that normally take a lot of time and patience to reach. Get underneath the exhaust pipes, and up around the triple trees, with ease.

They also sell the SoapStar, a device the allows you to fill a reservoir with your favorite liquid motorcycle or car soap, and spray the suds onto the bike, through different nozzles on the unit - from a fine mist to a full directed hard spray. Then turn off the suds mode and rinse with clean water.

As its website shows you, there are hundreds of uses for the Brush Hero, from cars to boats, lawn furniture, barbecue grills, muddy boots, bicycles, garage doors, etc.

The Brush Hero sells for $34.95 and the SoapStar sells for $24.99. They have other reasonably priced accessories and replacement brushes for all types of cleaning chores.

For details and to order, visit www.brushhero.com or call (888) 550-4376.

Utopia Pro 3.0 TENS unit

So I'm strolling the aisles of the Chicago International Motorcycle Show last February when a nice lady corrals me to sit down and try out her Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation unit, otherwise known as TENS.

TENS units send different patterns of electronic pulses to your muscles through the electrode pads. The pulses make the muscle contract and relax repeatedly. The contracting and relaxing of your muscles produces pain relief. It can really help with stiff and sore muscles.

My chiropractor uses a machine that is the size of a toaster oven, and that works well. So I was totally skeptical that a unit smaller than a pack of cigarettes would do anything more than vibrate like an electric toothbrush. But as soon as she placed the two electrodes on my shoulders by my neck, and turned it on, I was amazed how powerful it was.

There are 12 different pulse patterns from which to choose, and you adjust the intensity of each type of pulse from 1 to 20. I use power level 4. Crank it up to 20 and you'll feel like you've been stung with a Taser. Bottom line is, it's as powerful as you'd ever want (or can endure).

Just place the electrodes on your skin in the area that is sore - neck, shoulders, lower back - and turn on the unit. As you test the different pulse patterns, you'll find four or five you like, and you can switch back and forth, and adjust the intensity as you please. The manufacturer recommends 20-minute sessions, which the controller tracks for you.

Oftentimes, long rides leave my neck, shoulders and lower back muscles sore and it feels like my muscles are tied up in knots. This little unit works remarkably well to ease the pain and loosen up my muscles. Sometimes I wait a few hours and do it again if I'm really hurting, and this TENS unit does the trick. I used to have to spend $60 for a massage to get relief.

I got the top-of-the-line Utopia Pro 3.0 unit, which retails for $209.99. They have a unit for $160, and another for $180, which have fewer options and settings. But the Pro 3.0 unit allows for a second set of electrodes, so you can have two on your shoulders and two on your lower back at the same time.

The unit holds a charge for dozens of 20-minute sessions, and recharges in about an hour. It comes with the charger and two electrodes, which last a long time, too. With proper care they're designed to last six months. I haven't needed to order new ones yet. It fits easily in a jacket pocket or tank bag, so you can easily take it with you on overnight trips.

I heartily recommend this Utopia product for muscular spasms, and aches and pains. It works great and is easy to use. I'm really glad Susan forced me to try it.

Go to UtopiaGear.com or call (888) 237-4997.