Couple of questions about the spoked wheels on the EX

[the Ferret]

All spoke wheels need watching. Spoke flex at different rates in certain sections of the wheel and each spoke is expected to carry the same weight and stress, so when some flex and get looser, they are not carrying their fair share of the weight or stress. The loose ones need to be tightened to keep the wheel true. Much smaller deal on a street bike than on a dirt bike due to the nature of the terrain they have to deal with. Most mechanics have no clue to art of checking spokes and truing a wheel, most never having dealt with it. You find the loose ones by sound, tapping each spoke ..tink, tink, thunk ( there's your loose one that needs tightening) and a tightening twist with a spoke wrench is required to tighten it back up until it tinks again. However on most street bikes, it's highly unlikely that any spokes will stretch or come loose in a number of years, unless you hit pot holes or run into curbs etc hard enough to flex the wheel.

Oh and I'm the wrong guy to ask about cleaning.