Clean the engine

So what does everyone here do to clean the engine ans the rest of the body from all that oily black residue? So far I have heard the WD40 is good. But it only seems like a touch up type job. Im talking about soaking the engine with a foamy soap and then spraying it with a hose, or is this damaging??

I've degreased my engine w/ foamy engine brite. Spary it all over the motor, everywhere you want to get clean, let it soak for a few minutes and rinse off with a gentle stream of water. Then go for a ride to blow out the rest of the water stuck in crevices (or use compressed air). Make sure to clean your motor only when it's cold and remember to lube your chain after. Also take care when riding after becuause, more than likely, you'll have gotten your brakes and tires wet so they'll need time to dry. I've had no ill effect yet.

Is that damaging to the electrical system at all?

I've been using Simple Green for years. Spray it on as heavily as you like. Lifts the majority of stuff right off and only some really heavy stuff may require some scrubbing. I'm a professional detailer and use it on car engines and everything. Knock on wood I've never had any type of electrical problem of any sort. Also, can't tell any performance difference between normal and automotive Simple Green. Used both extensively. I even use it daily as a tire cleaner.

I spray on WD40, then scrub every bit of it with a toothbrush (hey, there has to be some work involved, right?). Then spray with wheel cleaner, Simple green, whatever, and hose it off. i.e., solvent (WD40) to remove the grease, then detergent and water to remove the greasy solvent.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ageispolis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is that damaging to the electrical system at all?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not in my experience. But this is why you want to use a gentle stream of water and to avoid drenching electrical components.

awesome, Ill give some of those a try. Here's a question though. When I look through the pictures, isee some clean bikes. Just wondering, how often do you clean them? Because it seem slike I would probably have to clean it every week to look that way.

Not that often if you don't ride in the rain, and don't have any oil leaks! I find that only the wheels (brake and road dust) and front fairings (kamikaze bugs) really get dirty fast.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ageispolis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">awesome, Ill give some of those a try. Here's a question though. When I look through the pictures, isee some clean bikes. Just wondering, how often do you clean them? Because it seem slike I would probably have to clean it every week to look that way.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Everytime I change the oil; gotta pull the fairings anyway, so you might as well do it all in one swoop.

Well I am getting the body painted this week, so everything is off the bike including the tank. After I change my engine cover, brake master cylinder, emissions can, and oil, I get cracking on cleaning up the engine.

This is an unrelated question, but since I have the tank, and fairings off, and Im going to be fixing a lot of things allready, What kind of maintenece would probably be good to do on my bike? I have 9k.

S100, or Griots Garage Engine Degreaser...

I've also used PB blaster for a few really tough areas...

the trick is to not let that stuff soak too long....as it doesn't take long for it to work....and I've found that it all works 10x better than that foamy stuff


just my $.02 worth!