R12RT muffler cleaning

[marcls]

Hi list members,

After the long NorCal rainy season, I noticed last night the forward part of the muffler has become encrusted with bits of road tar and dirt that resist removal by all conventional means. Does anyone have a suggested product and/or technique for cleaning it?

 

Regards,

Marc

[Kitsap]

I use a citrus based degreaser to remove the road grime followed by Meguiar's Gold Class All Metal Restorer. The muffler will shine like a mirror when done.

 

Cheers.

[aggieengineer]

Naptha will easily soften road tar, grease, or any petroleum-based product. You can get it by the gallon at the hardware store, or as a small bottle of lighter fluid at the grocery store.

[RFW]

It's stainless, isnt't it? I use Scotchbrite (green pads) for the muffler on my K100. Works beautifully. If there is road tar, make the Scotchbrite moist with varsol.

 

Bob.

[johnlt]

Some are stainless and some have the optional "chrome" muffler. I suspect that getting tar off would be the same anyway, but polishing may require different products.

[Tool Man]

 

Sorry....couldn't resist the temptation for clean humor. waite....was that another one.....I'm kill'n me....

 

 

On the serious side, I've had good luck with Goo-Off for tar and sticker removal. Plain old WD-40 works well too....if you spray it on and let it sit.

 

Good luck....at least someone out there is cleaning their bike....ooooo that hurt.

[RFW]

[quote On the serious side, I've had good luck with Goo-Off for tar and sticker removal. Plain old WD-40 works well too....if you spray it on and let it sit.

 

Good luck....at least someone out there is cleaning their bike....ooooo that hurt.

There's no magic to getting tar off mufflers. All you need is a suitable solvent. Nearly ANY solvent will work, but some are better than others, because some solvents are more aggressive than others.

 

Ordinary paint thinner, kerosene, Varsol, and so on are mild solvents and are safe for use on plastics. They will take a while to dissolve baked on tar.

 

On the other extreme, lacquer thinner, benzene, xylene, and toluene are much more aggressive, and will dissolve the baked on stuff much faster. However, they can damage some plastics such as ABS and polycarbonate (Lexan), AND PAINTWORK. They will not damage acrylic, nylon, or polyethylene.

 

But since most people are unable to identify plastic types by sight, I suggest that lacquer thinner and similar solvents shoud be only used on metal parts, and to be safe, use the less aggressive solvents on plastic and paintwork.

 

Bob.

[DrDakar]

What about melted plastic on the collector (front pipe) ? I think mine is chrome, and bike's cover touched to the hot pipes ten minutes ago.

 

Hey Kitsap, where can I find that "citrus based degreaser" ? What is the brand name?

[RFW]

What about melted plastic on the collector (front pipe) ? I think mine is chrome, and bike's cover touched to the hot pipes ten minutes ago.

 

Best is to let the pipes get just hot enough to really soften the plastic (without burning it on) then use steel wool to get the softened plastic off. Most plastic will not be affected by trying to clean it with solvents.

 

The other way is to hit it liberally with Cold Spray (available at alectronics suppliers). When the pipe gets down to -30° or lower, the plastic will get brittle and may be easy to chip off.

 

Bob.

[DrDakar]

I used acetone and 3 hours to clean the melted plastic from pipe.

 

But, OOPS Multi Purpose Remover (2 dollars at WalMart) removed the remaining in two seconds. It is worth giving a try.