Hitchcocks Forum

Hi guys ------------ Just a general "Trawl" amongst us to find out the different cleaning fluids, agents etc that's popular ----might be helpful to the beginners as well. To get the bulk of the bike looking clean after a ride I have a hand-spray bottle which has GUNK in it.... followed by a rinse with the hose pipe. In the workshop the carbs get a purpose-made Carb-cleaner spray, but the heavy-duty wash bin has a 50-50 Paraffin/Diesel mix along with various scrubbing brushes etc. Hand-hygiene is via Swarfega (if I can afford it) OR one of those hand pump dispensers filled with a much-diluted detergent---followed up with a light barrier cream (Nice !!!)

Ah the smell of gunk on a hot engine, Cant be beaten that is unless it has a drop of castrol R in the tank as well...... Gunk is still the best for removing the thick crud around the gearbox final drive area prior to maintenance. Tried to buy some the other day from local motor factors store and they dont stock it any longer...? Get it on line suppose. gwilly

Another vote for Gunk. I use "Green Gunk" -- not sure if it's any kinder to the environment, but it seems to do the job. I bought my last can from Halfords. WD40 or GT85 for the really oily, greasy bits. Muc-off, S-Doc, etc etc, which claim you can just spray it on and wash of the dirt are really not up to the job on my bike and a waste of money. Petrol or paraffin for parts, or maybe WD40 if a spray is more convenient. Brake/carb cleaner if a grease-free result is necessary.

I'm starting to think that the best way to clean a bike isn't with any cleaner and water, but with clean rags well charged with WD40. Gets everything clean, and leaves a bit of a protective coating too.

Hi Alan. Yep Gunk is pretty good but it seems to be a slightly different formula to the old stuff (aren't all chemical products nowadays!) and is not quiet as effective. The price is very high too, make sure you don't leave it on paint too long as it takes away the gloss!... In a local farm shop recently, all they had was Jizer, so I bought that instead. It doesn't have the lovely smell of Gunk but isn't far short on performance...but it is quite a bit cheaper though. I use Phosphoric Acid for cleaning rusty items and alloy cleaning and Iso-propyl Alcohol (Propanol)for cleaning carb items and electrical stuff the like. Incidently, this is the same stuff that used to be sold as a stylus cleaner back in the days of vinyl records, about £5 for about 10cc but now for the same figure you can now get a whopping 1 litre...which would make the same volume at the 10cc price cost more than a thousand quid what with inflation since that time.

I agree with the point on isopropanol.

The cheapest place I have found to buy it, believe it or not, is Amazon. 5 litres for £22 - that seems to last me a long time.

I use it for electricals etc, but also for anything greasy or oily.

Link here - I think this complies with the rules here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ISOPROPANOL-Iso ... 607&sr=8-7

Having acetone around is also always a good thing - just don't let it pool on an epoxy based paint.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-Acetone ... d_sim_ce_1

Right from my first decent bike (BSA 250 Starfire) I've always employed the same cleaning method. It's cheap and cheerful but has always worked for me for over 40 years. Firstly using a soft paint brush and some paraffin in a tray wash the engine and grearbox, followed by the oily crud around the rear chain area. If oil mist has encroached upon any other (non electrical) areas they can receive the same treatment. Next loosen the dirt from everywhere else with plain cold water from either a LOW pressure hose, or a water filled squeegy bottle. Then wash the whole bike with a soft sponge using washing up liquid and hot water, - as long as the water is hot enough this will wash away all the paraffin and crud. Then rinse the bike in cold water, and dry off with a wash leather. Finally when dry polish the paint and chrome with Mr Sheen, and the alloy with Solvol Autosol (the only expensive bit!). Some people have thrown up their hands in horror at using washing up liquid on the basis that it contains salt, but even if it does (and I'm sure about it) it gets immediately washed away anyway. And on the Solvol Autosol front someone once said that Toothpaste works ok, but I've never tried it. Cheers guys.

For general degreasing, if it's heavy and messy then a good soaking with WD and an old paintbrush can't be beat, (5L tub and squirty bottle, dirt cheap compared to spray tins), followed by a quick scrub with Gunk to get rid of the WD residue.
Car shampoo and warm water for general washy stuff, Chamois leather, (real), then Autoglym resin polish, easy to use, brilliant shine.
I use IPA to thin my Tamiya acrylic paints and clean my airbrush, never thought about using it to clean anything bike related, hmmm, good price there too for the 99.9% stuff, I pay about a tenner for a litre off ebay just now, :-O
........As for Muc off, It's useless, no better than a warm water and soap wash, barely touches the greasy stuff, I'd heard people rave about it, and bought 2 5L containers with the last pair of tyres I got as it was on offer, I wish I hadn't bothered, (anyone want to buy 1 and 3/4 5L tubs of muc off BTW?)............

For hand stuff, I wear nitrile / latex gloves, spending years as a mechanic taught me these are well worthwhile, I might get through about 4-5 pairs a mechanic-ing session depending on what i'm doing but a quick wash with liquid soap after and no nasty embedded ingrained grease thats impossible to shift. Prolonged exposure to old engine oil and grease and road crud will knacker the skin on your hands.

I hope that this helps even though not eco friendly for cleaning off the really heavy greasey oily stuff,I have tried petrol with a small amount of oil mixed in apply with a small paint brush ,it shifts the really sticky stuff and after the petrol evapourates a quick rub with a dry cloth seems to work,WARNING DO NOT USE THIS METHOD IN A CONFINED SPACE ,ENSURE LOTS OF VENTILATION,I am not trying to get grannies sucking eggs but don't under estimate how far petrol vapour travels.