Degreaser.....

[Disco]

Well getting back after the weekend trip the bike is covered in oil (from the chain) all over the rear shock and swingarm and wel you can imagine ....

Is the first ime I got the bike back from service with oil on the chain and not wax....Dunno why ...

But what I was wondering is it advisable to spray all of the affected area shock ,front sprocket,bellypan with degreaser to clean all the crap off and then wax the chain?Just don't wan't to stuff any seal's or anything with degreaser if it's not advisable......

Cheers Dave.....

[hoffy]

spray a can of supercheap degreaser (orange can) up under there, let it soak for 5 mins then hose out. should clean it up.

[Disco]

spray a can of supercheap degreaser (orange can) up under there, let it soak for 5 mins then hose out. should clean it up.

Should I degrease the chain aswell?

Sorry about the extremely noob questions.....

[hoffy]

spray a can of supercheap degreaser (orange can) up under there, let it soak for 5 mins then hose out. should clean it up.

Should I degrease the chain aswell?

Sorry about the extremely noob questions.....

yes I would, then re lube with proper chain lube. sounds like alot of loose oil on chain.

[Blurr]

yeah no worries with the degreaser. I use it all the time. just relube the chain after.

dont know what it does to stickers tho????

[Gazza]

all is pretty safe with degreaser

but if you have any polished alluminium bits on your bike only use a real dilluted mix of degreaser and make sure you hose the area's down first
if the mix is to strong you will loose your polished finish and it will turn milky.
which i might add is a bitch to polish back to a nice shine.

[hoffy]

true dat shit

[seiko1]

CRC or WD40 gets everything off including Bitumen.
Dissolves Tar like nothing on Earth

[tim]

coincidentally, WD40 is REALLY good at removing double-sided tape i discovered!

[robracer]

Dave please do not use degreaser on your chain! the only cleaner you should use on your chain is Kero, the degreasers mentioned above have solvents that will penetrate past your O rings & could affect the internal lubrication. it is also good on the excess chain lube around your guard etc.

[Saki]

I hear that Kero works good on getting everything off paint also! Plus u can use it on the chain!

[Jonno]

Dave please do not use degreaser on your chain! The only cleaner you should use on your chain is Kero, the degreasers mentioned above have solvents that will penetrate past your O rings & could affect the internal lubrication. It is also good on the excess chain lube around your guard etc.

Yep he is right and sorry for the following long over explanation o’ ring chains are pre-packed with grease in the rollers and don’t need to be re-lubricated for the life of the chain, that’s why the o’rings are there for, to keep the grease in and to keep contaminants out. Was a different story for regular chains before o’ ring chains became mainstream.

Use only KERO as Rob said & a small 1" paint brush never a wire brush, cut out some cardboard for around the back of the chain area protecting the tyre/wheel and frame and the floor, find some old tin baking trays or ice-cream containers to catch the drips underneath. Wipe off any residue. The aim of cleaning the chain, in a purely mechanical sense, is to remove the grit around the o’rings so they don’t wear so quickly.

Also don’t use wd40 or any penetrant for the same reason on your chain as this stuff is designed to penetrate and will break up the grease, if you don’t believe me go to a well known chain manufacturers website and read the faq’s for your self.

When you lube your chain what you are aiming for is to lubricating the o’rings not the rollers or anything else so you don’t need to have a chain glistening with lube and in fact that would attract more dirt than a dry chain. Some solvents can degrade the o’ring material as well and once that happens your chain will quickly become un-serviceable and need replacing.

When applying a good chain lube (wax) aim for the "o"rings both on the outside and underside of the chain as you rotate the wheel many times by hand, wipe off any excess and shine up those gold links if you have them and your good to go

Normally after a ride and my chain is still clean I would give a small quick squirt of lube, same on a long trip.

This method worked well for me on both my 1200cc bikes, I had 35k kms on the original 12R chain and it was still good when I sold it.

It is a tedious and dirty job but worth doing it IMO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-ring_chain


Mr Sheen is the ultimate bike cleaner too BTW and cheap

[Possum]

Dave please do not use degreaser on your chain! the only cleaner you should use on your chain is Kero, the degreasers mentioned above have solvents that will penetrate past your O rings & could affect the internal lubrication. it is also good on the excess chain lube around your guard etc.

I agree.. My 2cents.. I use straight kero on the chain and a mix of kero and truck wash to tackle tar spots on pipes,guards etc....DONT wash the whole bike with the mix and wash it off with a straight soap water mix asap!.. i never have trouble with bringing the shine out and it doesnt effect stickers if you wash it off straight away...
If you keep ontop of it you shouldnt have too many probs..

[IsleofNinja]

all is pretty safe with degreaser

but if you have any polished alluminium bits on your bike only use a real dilluted mix of degreaser and make sure you hose the area's down first
if the mix is to strong you will loose your polished finish and it will turn milky.
which i might add is a bitch to polish back to a nice shine.

Caltex 'QB degreaser' , 'Safe D Grease' etc are fine on polished ally ...

Organic degreasers are generally Citrus (acid) based and tend to be unforgiving on ally and plated surfaces in particular.

as Rob and Jonno etc said DO NOT GET DEGREASER NEAR CHAIN!!!!

It WILL root the O rings and will not become evident straight away ---- down the track when you are far from home and discover a heap of part o-rings hanging out of your chain you will realise why!?

Also avoid getting degreaser around wheel bearings , shock mount bearings and swingarm bearings where possible .

Kero for chain cleaning...

[Gazza]

+1 on the Mr Sheen on the paint Jonno

i like the lemon scent the best.