Hello - if the rain holds off tomorrow I am going to give me lovely new 748 a clean, I have read quite a bit on this forum about best polish and products to use, think for the paint fairings and tank I will use Mer polish as I have some of that somewhere, to get the crap off the wheels wd40 perhaps? Then not sure what to finish them off with any suggestions? The front calipers are quite dirty - ingrained crap (must be brake dust i assume) I have read that carb cleaner will work - anyone think this is ok? Reason i ask is I have a can of this in the shed and it'll be good to use it up rather than bying a tin of brake cleaner. What about the forks, what's best to clean them?
Cheers I think I'll get some brake cleaner then; that's a safer bet, might be able to get some from Halfords
Mer make a wheel wax you can buy in Halfords that will remove your brake dust and leave a shiny, slick finish that the dust won't stick to as well as to an untreated surface. This will work on wheels, calipers and forks.
Brake cleaner is probably going to cost you much less here: Brake Cleaner 400ml - Toolstation They do carb cleaner too. Open on Sundays I think and there are plenty of branches these days (funnily enough, all of those I can think of are quite near Halfords).
If you have a motor factor near you get the 5L containers of brake cleaner and stick it in one of these Heavy Duty Brake Cleaner / Solvent Pump Up Spray Dispenser - 1ltr Wurth | eBay (note these have special seals) It's the same stuff as in the cans, ultimately cheaper and slightly less environmentally unfriendly, if you work on your cars/bikes more than a few times a year. For <£20 you have a re-usable brake cleaner spray. Also another good thing to use is Pagid Cera-Tec Brake Lube 75ml (GREASE) it's designed to lube up the pistons, seals, backs of the pads, retaining pins etc. blah. Better than copperslip as it doesn't destroy seals IMHO. HTH Liam
I would use brake cleaner on the calipers as a last resort. If really grubby, I'd take the calipers off, remove the pads and go all over it with soapy water and toothbrush. (Make sure you don't accidentally use your own). Might take a little longer but you'll get the job done the same.
Best thing ive found for the whole bike especially removing stubborn crap around swingarm and brake calipers is SDOC 100 Bike cleaner gel.The only other cleaner I buy is for the chain and that's it. Have you considered the 4pad calipers ,good upgrade for the money.
Buy this and save your self any hassle or hard work . Simples! Iron Out, Intensive Iron Contaminate and Fallout Remover Imperial, Acid Free Wheel Cleaner
