BannedCR500Riders.com

The squid I bought this bike from let the mud bake on.
This is as good as it gets with detergents.
Anybody have ideas about what to do to get it looking good?

Go to your nearest Dollar Tree and buy a few bottle's of L.A.'s Totally Awesome multi purpose degreaser in the cleaner section, and get a scrub brush, wet the bike down good first cake the cleaner on and scrub the piss out of it Thats the best luck I have had cleaning my bikes, and its only a few bucks for the materials. http://www.lastotallyawesome.com/html/P ... easer.html,

I used mean green on my KDX last weekend and barely had to touch it. But then it wasn't baked on like this CR is.
I'm rebuilding it inside and out and was hoping I could get it to look better.
Damn, I hate magnolia trees.

Awesome works better IMO Its worth a try for $1

I'm going to clean my 74' Kx125 later that I just finished, its got 20+ years of grime on it, I'll be using Awesome with my pressure washer I'll post a before and after shot

I'd be surprised if any kind of cleaner is going to work as good as maybe a blast cabinet.
I've got a topend to put on it and wanted to clean it up first.
I'm going to remove it from the frame to do the topend and clean all those hard to reach places too while it's out.
Once it's clean, it's just a matter of not letting it bake on there.
The trouble is, what kind of media should I use?
What's going to give me that new look or, get it started?

Well sh*t if you're taking the jug off...

Steel wire brush, dishwashing soap, brillow pad, and water.

I've cleaned 3 complete motors, disassembled, of course, by this method. Yes they were all complete rebuilds, so I didn't have to worry about bearings in the case halves.

If the jug is sleeved just be careful to thoroughly dry the jug immediately after cleaning. Worst case scenario is you'll get some slight surface rust down the bore, but you can take it off in seconds with another hone or brillow pad. The parts come out looking great!

I've always been afraid of blasting engine parts. The media always seems to find it's way in the most obscure places.

we use wheel acid for detailing cars and trucks, it will take everything off

Tharrell wrote:I'd be surprised if any kind of cleaner is going to work as good as maybe a blast cabinet.

yep. had baked on mud on mine. millenium blasted it with something during the re-plate, looked better than new. plug the holes and cover the seals then blast it.

What's wheel acid?

The trouble is, what kind of media should I use?
What's going to give me that new look or, get it started?


I used the wire brush 1st, then a green scourer with crc 2.26 while the engine was ripped apart and it came up like new or better.

To clean the rads I used the dishwasher and it worked great!

A few beers and some elbow grease & she will be right.

Went to Wal-Mart yesterday and bought some brushes and a couple of cans of carb cleaner.
The carb cleaner gets in the tight places and blasts built up crud better than any degreaser stuff.
I'm doing a search for elbow grease now!
Serioulsy though, a friend of mine uses a mixture of acid, soap and heat through his pressure washer.
I've never used it and wanted some more opinions.
This engine as well as the other bikes I have will eventually go through a full teardown and I want to make the engines look new or better.
No garage queens here but, I do enjoy a clean bike.
That's part of it, ride it, work on it, look at it.

From the advice of SOLID BRO, I got some aluminum wheel cleaner at the auto store, shot it on and shazam, 90% clean. No scrubbing or scratching. My 90 parts hadn't been washed in years. Make sure to rinse throroughly.

Cylinders always look awesome when they are straight back from millennium, what media do they use?

I bought a gallon of aluminum wheel acid at O'reilly auto parts. This stuff is great if you're careful.
Wear gloves, long sleeve shirt and eye protection.
Here's why.
You'll probably be doing this outside so the wind will be a big factor.
Also, while you're hosing it off you'll get wet for sure.
I hosed the bike really good and used a spray bottle of acid undiluted.
Be sure to have a hose "IN YOUR HAND" to rinse it off right away.
I can't stress that enough, the hose needs to be IN YOUR OTHER HAND, ready to rinse the bike thoroughly.
The acid only needs to stay on there 5-10 seconds at most.
I'm really amazed at how easy it is. I got some on my frame and left it too long, it turned a milky white.
No problem, some aluminum polish took it off.
This is not something I'll do often if ever again on this engine. I always try to wash my bikes as soon as possible after a ride to keep stains from sticking.
If you're looking to get the baked on stains off, this is it.
Back to a nice finish or ready to polish if you want.
After you're done, pour the acid from the spray bottle back in the big container and flush the sprayer extremelly well or it won't be good for anything.

great ignition cover.

hillclimbjim wrote:we use wheel acid for detailing cars and trucks, it will take everything off

What is the brand name of this? I checked a couple local parts stores and came up with nothing.

fastkart wrote:

hillclimbjim wrote:we use wheel acid for detailing cars and trucks, it will take everything off

What is the brand name of this? I checked a couple local parts stores and came up with nothing.

NAPA calls it "Aluminum Wheel Cleaner", but you can get different types from many different companies. In all incarnations I've seen, it's just a weak dilution of Phosphoric Acid. It eats off a very thin layer of aluminum, which gets rid of oxidation along with dirt, grease, and anything else that might be on there.

I went to O'Reilly auto parts and asked about it, it's not on the counter.
I think it was fifteen bucks.

I went to my local O'Reilly's and they said they stopped carrying it because people complained about it screwing up their wheels.

Don't know what else to tell you. I just bought it a few days ago.
Maybe check some other stores or body shops, custom shops.