You are about to be bombarded with a plethora of brand names and techniques. But, being a simple guy, I like to keep it simple. I am also OCD about my vehicles, but I am lazy, so I have to be efficient. So here's what I do....
+ When returning from a ride, I go over the bike with a California Duster and that, in itself takes off all the dust.
+ Then I clean, polish and coat the windshield with Plexis. That and going over it with the duster is all I have to do 95% of the time.
Disclaimer: Here in the NW, we are blessed with very few flying insects and Portland has soft water that acts as a cleaner to a degree. On my last all day ride, there were two insect hits on the w/s, plus a few really tiny guys.
+ If the bike is more than dusty, I fill a pail with plain water, toss an old wash cloth into it and place and old towel on the seat. I wet wipe a small area with the semi wrung out washcloth, then dry with the towel.
+ I very rarely need to hose wash, but when I do, First spray S-100 cleaner on the engine and wheels, only - because S-100 requires a lot of rinsing, but cleans without laying a hand on. Even on air cooled bikes, I NEVER touched the engine.
+ I use a leaf blower to dry the bike.
+ To polish, I use any polish - but my fave is S-100 cleaner/polish.
+ To wax, any good wax should do - I'm using Meguire's #26 yellow paste wax.
+ To detail, again, any good spray detailer will give 'er a shine - I like Griot's Garage Best of Show and I do this a lot more than waxing and polishing. I carry a small spray bottle of detailer when on the road, for touch ups at motels.
+ I strongly urge against using pressure washers and furniture polish that's made for wood.
I hope I helped.