Wax, wax, and more wax. Clean the hell out of it before waxing, then keep it as clean as possible for as long as possible. The less time the crud stays in contact with the shiny parts, the less the shiny parts will be subjected to corrosion. If it is straight NaCl salt, rinse with the hose 'til you can't stand up any longer. If it's MgCl, or some other "sticky" de-icer, get the bucket with the hot water and soapy, fluffy, washy-thing. Using the compressor to dry it saves a lot of finger-bendin' time - just try and keep from forcing water into places it shouldn't go (electrical connections, etc.). I don't recommend the pressure washer since it has the tendency to put water where it shouldn't be. The cool part is that washing the bike in winter has two advantages: 1). If you live with hard water, washing the bike in 45 degree weather allows you enough time to get rid of water spots, and 2). There's a whole lot less bugs to get rid of than after a half-hour ride on any August evening.
It's a pain in the ass and I dread it everytime I have to do it. The alternative is to have my Triumph end up looking like something an H-D rider would be caught riding (not a viable option for me).
Come to think of it, that might not be a bad idea - Have an H-D "Whateva-Glide" to use as a thrasher in the winter months and save the nice bike for summers in the sunshine and giving rides to hot chicks in bikinis.
