Cat. Converter Maint.

[Dave_Faria]

GM List. I'm doing a spline lube soon and was curious if anyone has ever tried to clean the catalytic converter. My bike was an oil burner up to 65k miles and I was wondering if carbon buildup and increased back pressure could degrade my bike's performance. Does anyone know what the hole size is in the platinum mesh??? Is it large enough so that carbon plugging will never be a problem??? What is a good solvent/cleaner for the converter??? And can it be cleaned with a solvent??? Should I run a rod up to the converter and poke a few holes in it?? It is cold here today and I figured this might be a good topic. What do you think???

Thanks List
Dave Faria

[bikerfish1100]

Are you sure you are not from Fort Lee, NJ? That sure was an awful lot of questions!


i think you should not worry about it for now, throw it out when it is dead (or sooner), replace with a cat eliminator of some brand (Remus, Laser, Staintune, etc.), and enjoy the 13 lbs of weight savings.

[wickwatch1]

GM List. I'm doing a spline lube soon and was curious if anyone has ever tried to clean the catalytic converter. My bike was an oil burner up to 65k miles and I was wondering if carbon buildup and increased back pressure could degrade my bike's performance. Does anyone know what the hole size is in the platinum mesh??? Is it large enough so that carbon plugging will never be a problem??? What is a good solvent/cleaner for the converter??? And can it be cleaned with a solvent??? Should I run a rod up to the converter and poke a few holes in it?? It is cold here today and I figured this might be a good topic. What do you think???

Thanks List
Dave Faria

I took mine off and put a full Remus system on more power love it...

[Dave_Faria]

[QUOTE=bikerfish1100;533211]Are you sure you are not from Fort Lee, NJ? That sure was an awful lot of questions!


How did you know I was from Ft Lee??? Just kidding. I'm in Austin Tx which is probably abt the same. I should be able to see part of the converter insides while I've got the muffler off doing the spline lube. If there is a solvent that would work and not damage the catalysis I would like to try it. My bike was burning 1 liter/1k miles up till 65k miles. Now it is around 1 liter/4k miles.

[bikerfish1100]

The Ft Lee question goes back to an old SNL skit- just felt like throwing it out there.

[ALIENHITCHHIKER]

Dave, this link will you show you some pics of the cat

http://www.myr1100rtp.netfirms.com/catelement.htm

Without really knowing I would guess that either carb cleaner or gasoline might be an effective solvent for the job, but it sure sounds messy.

I suggest a good ole' Eye-talian tune up: take it on the interstate, run it up to about 7000 rpm in third gear and hold it there for a 1/2 mile or so. Then do it again.

Your long term oil burning issue sounds like the piston rings were slow to break in - especially since the problem got better as you added more miles to the bike. It just might like a little high RPM flogging. These boxers crave a little excitement now and then.

[Dave_Faria]

Thanks for the responses everybody.

[riderR1150GSAdv]

A cat converter is non serviceable AFAIK. The best thing you can do for your bike and transmission is to drop the cat and get a Y-pipe or complete aftermarket exhaust system. Getting rid of the cat will eliminate future tranny issues as a lot of heat is eliminated....YMMV