i found some stuff at Dollar General that we have been using this stuff cuts grease like its butter. its called Awesome and it works great i dilute it for some areas and use it with only little dilution for heave grease and road grime under the bike and have had no issues key like mentioned before is don't let any cleaner sit on the bike i spray it on let it start to work scrub it some rinse it off good then go agian if needed then rinse the **** out of it and then wash it agian with my regular cleaner.

 

Yea I second that, I don't care if it states its safe to work on a babies a$$ I will not let it sit for 10 min.

 

I found this from another thread about a year back. Use SHOUT clothes cleaner. It's fairly cheap and works wonders.

 

When my bike gets really dirty I use S100 on the complete bike, have never had a problem and it works great. They are mighty proud of the stuff though at over $40.00 a gallon.

 

Whatever you guys do, don't use Castrol Super Clean in the purple bottle on anything. It took the paint clear off the heads of my last bike. Crazy stuff.
It tells you right on the bottle not use on aluminum... stupid mistake.

These days...I use soap and water.

lp

 

What?!?! I've been using Simple Green for years. Do you have anything to backup this statement?

 

My buddy owns a large marine service company and bought an old pontoon boat to use as a service boat. I used to help him out a little in exchange for service on my race boat. It was pretty grimey and he asked me to clean it up before he used it. He handed me a bottle of Super Clean and said that would take anything off. He was right. I walked around the boat spraying it on while his wife followed me rinsing it off. After completing one side, she said "Wow!! I thought this boat was supposed to be blue." Not looking back, I said "It is blue." She laughed and said "No, it is silver." I looked back and every speck of blue paint was gone from the side of the boat.

 

The dollar store "Totally Awesome" thats the name of this stuff. It's a great all purpose cleaner and its $1 a bottle. Or if your in to high dollar stuff, S100 is grear but pricy!

 

+1 Simple green can do serious damage to aluminum over a period of time. Most manufacturers of anything that has significant aluminum construction in their products will steer you clear of it.

There is some stuff called War Horse that is a non-toxic degreaser that works wonders...it's just real hard to find. If I remember right, it's made in Amarillo, TX. I'm down to my last gallon, then I gotta find some more.

 

From another forum:

I myself used it as a general cleaner/degreaser on my bike
> but have discontinued the practice since I came across
> reports that the US Army and Air Force had prohibited its
> use on their aircraft and other equipment. Now you can
> think what you like about the Army and Air Force or even
> the US government in general, but when it comes down to
> taking care of its equipment, they have a pretty good
> record.
>
> The AOPA (Airplane Owners and Operators Association) has
> also come out recommending against its use. Airplanes
> constitue a pretty big investment and they are not cheap
> to repair and maintain. The AOPA is a private group not
> usually given to putting out bad advice to their members.
>
> Aviation-grade aluminum is pretty expensive stuff. The
> paint used in painting aircraft is usually very high
> quality and much more durable than auto paint, and
> probably the paint used to on bicycles. I don't have
> any credentials in metallurgy but I do know that aluminum
> bike frames in particular are touted as being high-grade
> aluminum. Other components are made of aluminum as well,
> like cassettes and handlebars. I also seem to remember
> the words 'aviation grade' used in describing the
> materials used in some bicycle parts.
>
> So between the the US Army, the US Air Force

, and the
> AOPA, I think their advice on this issue is worth
> considering. There are enough other products available
> that do as good or better job than Simple Green that this
> should not be a showstopper for anyone.
>
>
> Below are excerpts of some of the inforamtion available
> on the web:
>
> Aircraft Cleaners
>
> Simple Green and other cleaners that are not listed in the
> Technical Manuals are taboo for a very good reason - they
> hurt the metal used to build the machine.
>
> It has been brought to the attention of the U.S. Army
> Aviation Missile Command (AMCOM) Depot Maintenance
> Engineering Team that numerous units are using the
> commercial product SIMPLE GREEN as an aircraft wash.
> STOP! This product has been through Department of Defense
> (DOD) testing and was determined to be highly corrosive
> on aircraft aluminum and also a catalyst for Hydrogen
> Embrittlement in high strength aircraft alloys.
>
> While a highly effective cleaning agent for floors and
> non-aluminum / non-high strength alloy vehicles this
> product is not approved for aviation usage. If your unit
> has been using SIMPLE GREEN on a regular basis, it is
> recommended that a thorough fresh water wash with the
> approved cleaners per the appropriate airframe maintenance
> manuals be accomplished as soon as practicable. This
> should be followed up with a corrosion inspection /
> treatment and application of approved Corrosion
> Prevention Compounds (CPCs).
>
> Mr. Richard Cardinale, corrosion@amcom-cc.army.mil
> (361)961-4041, DSN 861-4041
>
> http://safety.army.mil/pages/lessons...plegreens.html
> ============================
>
> AOPA advised caution with any cleaner and stated that "No
> cleaner should be left on an aircraft for an extended
> period; any cleaner should be promptly and thoroughly
> rinsed off the airframe with water."
>
> It's Simple -- Don't Use This To Clean Aluminum
>
> A well-known aviation magazine this month published a
> feature article on cleaning one's aircraft and getting
> it ready for spring flying. Only one problem -- a product
> the article recommended as safe for aviation use has been
> proven corrosive to aluminum. The product is Simple Green,
> a popular household cleaning liquid. According to the
> magazine's May issue -- which included a photo of Simple
> Green and other products -- the liquid "does an admirable
> job for a fraction of the cost of the aviation cleaners."
> While that may be true as far as it goes, both the U.S.
> Air Force and the U.S. Army have conducted tests of Simple
> Green and strongly urge that it not be used to clean
> aluminum structures. In one test conducted by the U.S.
> Air Force, results from which were published in 1989,
> aluminum alloy samples were immersed in Simple Green for
> a week then removed, cleaned and weighed. The results
> indicated that the approximately 3.5-gram aluminum alloy
> samples experienced a material loss of about 31 milligrams
> in a diluted solution and a whopping 295 milligram loss
> after spending a week in the undiluted liquid. The Air
> Force report summed it up this way: "We do not recommend
> the use of this product on Air Force equipment containing
> aluminum." Good advice, that.
>

Simple Green is great stuff....I just don't use it anymore, found some better stuff