This winter I have torn into my first bike to do apes. A little further than I had originally intended to be honest, pulled rear fender to allow pulling the harness back into backbone, and will be pulling the tank off this week (or weekend) so I can easily re-attach the throttle cables to the frame. Anyway, since I've been crawling over the bike for the last few weeks, I've come to notice just how filthy the engine is. Does anyone have any tips for cleaning it? Wondering if it is a bad idea to use any type of solvent based cleaners? Being that lately the temp here is lucky to break into the 20s, the hose is frozen, and my garage does not have a drain I'd prefer to not use water based products. I figure that since I'll have the thing blown apart, I'd like to clean up as much as I can while I can get into all the hard to reach places.

 

Well since the hose is frozen, have you thought about putting a cheap baking sheet under the engine and then cleaning the engine off with a parts cleaning brush and some mineral spirits? Or am I missing "filthy" as in dirt and not grease/road grime. The engine degreaser that would work in warmer temps is brake cleaner in aerosol cans.

 

WD40, cheap and works like a champ. Spray it on an let it sit for a few minutes. Scrub with a tooth brush if needed. Then take a rag and fold it so it's padded and wipe it down. It will smoke as it burns off for ten minutes or so.

 

Not really greasy, just what looks like 12 years of road grime and whatnot. The undercarriage I plan to take a wire brush to, in order to remove what looks like a lifetime worth of oil change dripping combined with dirt/grime. I was considering brake cleaner or carb cleaner, but wasn't sure if that would be a bad idea. Wasn't sure if it would remove any of paint.

 

Just 2 weeks we pulled my friends primary off, it was greasy oily and very dirty, so we tried brake cleaner in a spray can, that grime just slid right off with no scrubbing, and he has the grey engine and looked like new when done, we just placed an old tin pan under the bike to catch the crap

 

Soap and a pressure washer!

 

I hadn't considered WD40.

Thanks guys for the tips.

 

If it was at least March, I'd do it. But right now, my driveway would turn into a sheet of ice.

 

If its a black engine this stuff is the sh*t... http://www.s100.com/s100_eb.htm

 

I first use a diluted solution of Simple Green (cold bike) let it sit for a couple of minutes; hose off and then finish it with above.