Posts
27632
Joined
7/22/2007
Location
St Helens, OR, USA
Edited Date/Time
2/25/2014 9:33pm
I picked up a used 2005 KX 125 project bike that needs a lot ( I mean a lot! ) of help. The first thing I need to do is get this sucker cleaned up good enough so I can actually see what the hell I'm looking at. I plan on dumping a little coin into it ( just not for a while yet ) so I can at least get it out on to the track and test her out.
But for now.....I have chain lube and exhaust build up that is extremely nasty! It's embedded into the pours of the cast aluminum , like the cylinder , head , Brake calipers (.....oh who am I kidding , basically every single metal part on the bike! What can I use to help "pull " some of this grimy stuff out of the metal? Simple green seems to of gotten rid of the build up....bu it really isn't doing anything for the baked in areas?
What do you guys use for stuff like this?
BTW....did I mention she is a project bike? Diamond in the rough under all that ugly though! Looks like shit.....but she is still tight on all the bearings , motor and tranny still really good. Still has the stock chain and sprockets as well. No bolt ( except for the seat bolts ) have ever been touched on this thing........just looks terrible!
But for now.....I have chain lube and exhaust build up that is extremely nasty! It's embedded into the pours of the cast aluminum , like the cylinder , head , Brake calipers (.....oh who am I kidding , basically every single metal part on the bike! What can I use to help "pull " some of this grimy stuff out of the metal? Simple green seems to of gotten rid of the build up....bu it really isn't doing anything for the baked in areas?
What do you guys use for stuff like this?
BTW....did I mention she is a project bike? Diamond in the rough under all that ugly though! Looks like shit.....but she is still tight on all the bearings , motor and tranny still really good. Still has the stock chain and sprockets as well. No bolt ( except for the seat bolts ) have ever been touched on this thing........just looks terrible!
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Blasting everything you can would be a good start but I don't know what to use to keep it from building up that way.
Like Brap said, try the engine shiner. I may have to give that a go as well.
While I wash my bike I use scotch bright pads on pretty much everything I can to help get some of that stuff off. I always wash my bike with my tank and sub-frame off which helps get into areas that aren't so easy with that stuff on.
And for what I planned on wanting to do.....all the shitty cosmetic / looks of the thing didn't matter....because I planned on going through the entire thing from top to bottom. Going to be a completely different bike when I'm done.
Rallendude : That stuff is something I may try if I can't get a few other things to work first. Sounds like a little nasty to work with and so forth.
And Brap and you other guys.....thanks for the info on the engine protector and shine. I will give that stuff a try once I get her cleaned up.
Dirty bikes are harder to see what's wrong with, and without ever cleaning it and looking close up, how do you know if everything is good?!?
Having said that, i've seen clean bikes with spokes so loose the nipples aren't actually screwed into the rim so who knows.
This thing ( since it's never been worked on a day in it's life ).......was probably sold brand new to some kid that road in a field. It then got sold to some yahho , who terrorized camp sites and logging roads. It still has really , really good compression on the motor and the tranny shifts smooth. But I'm tearing her down to replace the broken case , inspect he crank and top end before I even ride it. I'll do a little riding on her to test her out.....then she's getting torn down to the bare frame for about a 3 - 4 month total rebuild on every single nut and bolt that needs it. The motor should be a ripper too once I get it back from Gorr.
Pit Row
General Cleaning - Nothing beats Totally Awesome from the Dollar Store. Clear bottle yellow liquid. Same chemical makeup as high end Malco cleaner.
For the aluminum get some acid like Napa Aluminum brightener but keep it away from steel.
Soda blasting is the best for the deep ingrained stains. Go to Harbour Freight and pick up a 50-100 bag of the heavy grain soda and a cheap hand held blast bottle. Or you can spring for a higher end one but for one bike it's probably not worth it.
Have fun it's always more cool to pick up a project and redo than buy one already done, IMO. I just did it with a '97 CR125..........
I'm looking at something kind of like this look. Only being with the flo green plastics , Red anodized parts , with black powder coated Frame and so forth. Want something a little unique and a little different from others with my own custom graphics and so forth.
I would start a deep clean by soaking all the greasy grunge with WD40 and use a tooth brush to get it all loosened up. Then soak the bike in Shout, which has a neutral Ph, and use a larger soft plastic bristle to work on the dirt stains before hosing it off with water. At this point you will have a clean bike and be down to the permanent stains in the cast aluminum and metal surfaces, which will require more Shout and scotchbrite.
I've been using Shout on my bikes. I heard CamP rave about it years ago and it works great...and I wash all my gear with it too.
Nah, just kidding.
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