Engine Cleaning

[leadfoot]

I am looking for a solution that might help me clean the engine on my RT when I wash it. I used some S100 on my HD (black engine) and some simple green, and both seemed to fade the paint on the engine. I just have some dirt stains that I would like to get out of the cooling fins without a tremendous amount of effort. Any tips?

[GolfGuy]

Try engine degreeser.;)

[airoilheadbeemerguy]

Careful with engine degreaser, used it on my '83RT engine and it etched the aluminum:doh I used a biodegradable washing solution diluted 50/50, took the fairing lowers off and used a bristle scrub brush on the fins of my '07RT. Not perfect and the only conclusion is to keep riding to avoid looking...

[leadfoot]

That is kinda what I was worried about. Some paints react different than others. My HD, even though it was powder coated, seemed to fade when I put even Simple Green on it, but I put it on without diluting it. I think I will stick to a heavily diluted bio degradeable solution, and if that does not help I will just use some good ole' elbow grease, unless someone chimes in with a proven sulution.
Thanks for the input!:usa

[TourNut]

Exhaust Pipes! What is the deal with them? I pick up a brand new (34 miles) RT saturday and ride it a hundred miles before I got home, the exhaust pipe coming out of the engine is getting discolored yellow with blue spots already ! I've got a SilverWing that hasn't discolored it's exhaust after 27 years, and it didn't cost $20K ! What do you do to clean and protect the RT pipes ?

[AKBeemer]

Exhaust Pipes! What is the deal with them? I pick up a brand new (34 miles) RT saturday and ride it a hundred miles before I got home, the exhaust pipe coming out of the engine is getting discolored yellow with blue spots already ! I've got a SilverWing that hasn't discolored it's exhaust after 27 years, and it didn't cost $20K ! What do you do to clean and protect the RT pipes ?

You do nothing. Your pipes are single walled and if they are stainless steel (the standard) will generally turn a brownish color with some blue spots. If you have the optional chrome pipes they will turn blue. Relax and enjoy because you might as well try to solve world hunger as keep the pipes bright and shinny. I have seen some folks with ceramic coatings on their pipes and that appears to work; costs around $200.

[Polarbear]

Blue pipes and BMW are a very very old thing, like frosting on a cake:). Don't worry about it. Black engines look so cool, but soooo hard to keep that way. I find my standard silver paint engine hard to clean, especially around the front of the heads, its nearly impossible to get in there with all my brushes,etc..One tip I find especially useful, is when I wash at home, my "air compressor" makes for a most useful tool, when drying the motor:). I just blow her off and find water shooting out of all the unseen areas of the motor,etcetc....Randy:thumb

[Hotspice]

Careful with engine degreaser, used it on my '83RT engine and it etched the aluminum:doh I used a biodegradable washing solution diluted 50/50, took the fairing lowers off and used a bristle scrub brush on the fins of my '07RT. Not perfect and the only conclusion is to keep riding to avoid looking...

What kind did you use that caused the etching?? I've used Gunk Foamy Engine degreaser for as long as I can remember and haven't had any discoloration or etching as a result.

:scratch

[AdventureGoat]

Exhaust Pipes! What is the deal with them? I pick up a brand new (34 miles) RT saturday and ride it a hundred miles before I got home, the exhaust pipe coming out of the engine is getting discolored yellow with blue spots already ! I've got a SilverWing that hasn't discolored it's exhaust after 27 years, and it didn't cost $20K ! What do you do to clean and protect the RT pipes ?

The only way to stop the discoloring is to have them coated. The following guys will do it, and it works. Caution--Some BMW guys think that the discoloring is "Classic BMW" and any modification to such, makes you less BMW'ish...

http://www.prismpowdercoat.com/cermakrome.html

[lagator]

Toclean the engine, exaust pipes, etc. I use Formula 22. It will not harm anything that plain water itself will not hurt. Actually I use it on the entire bike, it's great on rims. Just follow the instructions, don't spray it on while then engine is warm and do not let it dry before rinsing it off. On stubburn spots I just use a soft bristled brush to agitate the area. It won't take the wax off of the body work either. It works great.

[airoilheadbeemerguy]

What kind did you use that caused the etching?? I've used Gunk Foamy Engine degreaser for as long as I can remember and haven't had any discoloration or etching as a result.

:scratch

That was about ten years ago, don't remember the name but it was in an orange can. If memory serves, it claimed to be gentle. :blah