Tomorrow I'll be taking off both wheels and switching out the shock-  I'm looking for some advice on what to use or not to use when cleaning the bike.  I want to get the grease and salt out from the winter but don't want to harm any of the seals or chain...  And is there a good general purpose lube/grease/sealant that is recommended after cleaning moving parts?

Thanks for the advice

I clean wheels and chain as well as the ousides of cars and the crapeting etc with dish washing liquid. It even got the suspension fluid stains out form my trucks carpet... Nothing worked till that point.
Cool.
Srinath.

i like simple green for getting off most gunk and grease. did a really good job last night on my rear sprocket to get rid of all that caked on grease stuff from the chain.  I've used it on bicycle chains with great success, but have never used it on my gs chains because I wasn't sure about how the o rings would like it. I guess it couldn't be any worse than wd40 or pb blaster.

i just don't make it a habit to soak stuff like soft rubber gaskets in it.

jake

Brake cleaner is good on the wheels if they haven't been cleaned in like... ever.

You don't want to get that on your rubber surfaces either.

ASLAM.

I second simple green.

Smells like black licorish(SP?) and de-gunks like nothing else.

But make sure you rinse it off good.  SG is a bit caustic and can dry out rubber and it can etch aluminum of it drys on it.

carb clean the swing arm and shock linkage bearings
and repack with LOTS of wheel bearing grease

I like dish washing liquid too, but find that it strips off polish as well.......not a problem if you are going to wax anyway.

I would use car wash soap, not dishwashing liquid, dishwashing liquid is not made for painted surfaces.  Simple Green is good stuff too.  Whatever you use just make sure you rinse good and you'll be ok.

brake cleaner will eat paint too.

I've Heard that that S100 leaves white spots. And I don't mean like hard water deposits, but white spots!