[Arizoni]

Maybe this has been posted before but I don't recall reading about it.

I'll admit, I allowed my rear wheel to get pretty dirty.  In fact, I probably haven't cleaned it for over 1/2 a year so it was covered with dirt and chain lube.  The spokes and rear hub were black so I decided the whole thing needed some cleaning.

I've had success using one of the orange cleansers so I started with that and some paper towels.  Although it worked, sorta, most of the chain lube on the rim showed no sign of giving up its hold.

After 15 minutes of spraying and rubbing I got to thinking, "What is a good solvent for oil and grease that won't attack rubber?"

Acetone, MEK, lacquer thinner all will remove grease but they all will attack rubber and the thoughts of one of those fluids getting down thru the spoke nipples and on my inner tube weren't pleasant.  Then it hit me.  Disk Brake Cleaner.  It kills grease and in small quantities won't damage rubber!

A short time later armed with a can of Disk Brake Cleaner and some paper towels, I dampened some paper towel with it.

One wipe and the offending oily deposits simply dissolved and disappeared.
Two strokes of the damp towel on a spoke and the oil and dirt vanished.

I will say I recommend wearing rubber gloves and doing this cleaning outside is a good idea.  Although Disk Brake Cleaner doesn't have any hazard warnings and it isn't explosive, stuff that can do that much damage to oil and grease can't be good for the human body.  Besides, the rubber gloves keeps the dirt off of your hands making clean up of your body parts easy.

Have fun and keep it rubber side down.

[High On Octane]

I love using brake cleaner for cleaning my whole chassis, but especially the rear wheel.  People think I'm crazy or joking when I say I detail my Indian with brake cleaner, but it works fantastic.  With my older motor I spew oil everywhere, and my rear wheel is constantly filthy.  I got tired of all the grime all over the back half of the bike and decided that brake cleaner would be the fastest most efficient way to clean.  To make my life even easier, I was at work when I decided this where I have a SureShot sprayer and brake clean in a 55 gallon drum.  I spray down the whole chassis, motor, rear fender, pipes and rear wheel and give it a quick wipe with a microfiber.  Then I'll give it a wipe with detailing spray to seal it.  And in between hosings I wipe down the chrome and rear fender with a microfiber wet with brake clean.  I've been doing that for over a year and it works great with no damage done to the finish or other parts.

[dginfw]

Good to know....I've used brake cleaner to clean up grease/oil spots but was always afraid it would ruin chrome or polished metal.

Off topic, but kinda related:   if you ever have a part that is anodized aluminum and is an ugly color (and anything other than 'aluminum' or 'black' is ugly) you can use spray oven cleaner to get the color off of it and get it back to bare aluminum.

[ERC]

Better move quickly with the oven cleaner it will also eat the aluminum away if left to long.   ERC

[ace.cafe]

Just a note about brake cleaner. When I install titanium valves, they always have a warning notice in the box to not use brake cleaner or any solvent that has chlorinated hydrocarbons in it. Apparently it attacks and weakens the titanium alloy. Maybe this is an unusual situation but I thought I'd mention it in case anyone is using any titanium.

[motorman2whel]

Easy spoke cleaning on my dirt bike is some mean green and a pressure washer..lol . On my RE its some Honda spray polish (with carnauba wax) and a old towel. I like that fuzzy oven mit thing someone suggested, I'm gonna have to look for one.

[singhg5]

Trying to clean hard to reach spaces was something that I hated as it scraped skin off fingers and hand by sharp metal corners and edges of screws or nuts. Could not find anything that would fit these narrow spaces, and something that would not damage paint.

Then out of all the places, a dollar store had a fantastic design of microfiber attached to a flat plastic handle. The microfiber cloth can be taken off and washed and re-attached. It reaches all the hard to reach places e.g., spokes, hub, inside surface of fenders, behind starter motor, almost everywhere.

A brief intro of its applications -  It can clean bike in 5 minutes.... may be 10  .

[barenekd]

Or old toothbrushes work well for really tight spots.
Bare

[greekxj]

WD40 is amazing at taking out chain lube and grime, like it instantly wipes away the grime on contact. Ill lube my chain and after the first good ride it will let off all the excess fling for the most part with some grime stuck to it. WD knocks it right out with it applied to a towel and a little wiping. Don't have to worry about it being too harsh either. That's my recipe .

[Arizoni]

WD40 works well for cleaning chains but I wouldn't use it to clean my wheel spokes.

It is a type of petroleum oil that is designed to penetrate into the smallest places.  It can easily pass thru the spoke and valve stem holes, saturating the inner tube and rim strip that covers the spoke nuts.

Many types of rubber are not at all resistant to petroleum oils.  Oil will cause them to break down and lose their strength and air-tightness.

This is why I was interested in using a fluid that would dissolve the oil/grease but not attack rubber.

[singhg5]

WD40 works well for cleaning chains but I wouldn't use it to clean my wheel spokes.

It is a type of petroleum oil that is designed to penetrate into the smallest places.  It can easily pass thru the spoke and valve stem holes, saturating the inner tube and rim strip that covers the spoke nuts.

Many types of rubber are not at all resistant to petroleum oils.  Oil will cause them to break down and lose their strength and air-tightness.

This is why I was interested in using a fluid that would dissolve the oil/grease but not attack rubber.

Interesting point that certain types of rubber can be attacked by petroleum based solvents. However, due to an oversight or ignorance I have used WD40 to clean my bike for quite some time. BUT I use it VERY SPARINGLY. Only a small squirt and then spread it with my handy cleaning tool (shown above). It smells bad for a while but it is pretty good protectant against moisture and cleans chain lube droplets or street grime on motorcycle parts. 

Some years back, I was extremely reluctant to use WD40 for applying to my motorcycle for cleaning purposes. There was a snow storm on the way and Scooter Bob had mentioned that WD40 can be used to protect the bike - in case I don't have anything else. Good thing that it worked quite well. Gradually I expanded its applications and usage. Now I use it everywhere including spokes, rims, fender, engine, shocks, nuts, bolts, tank, throttle area, crankcase      ........ - but as I said before in small quantity AND I do not let it run all over. Quickly spread it over a large surface area.

I do not spray it on spokes but in the 'gully' of rim, not on the holes. More of it ends up on the fiber cloth, and that is enough to clean spokes ! NO WD40 on tires and front wheel brake disc and brake pads.

I do have a concern that it may not be very good for paint. Though my bike looks clean but a close up shows some dull spots on the sides of the tank. These may be due to my heavy pants rubbing against the tank or could they be due to WD40 ? I am not sure which is real culprit. May be someone knows the effect of WD40 on paint shine and longevity.

Though the best one is ACF50 - the sticky, incredible stuff. That also has petroleum distillates but it does not run like WD40. As you have mentioned the dissolving powers of ingredients. There was a post by someone in which ACF50 had dissolved rubber grommet, which proves your point. So it is good to know the risks and drawbacks. But as we know ACF50 is widely used with great results. I guess the key is the QUANTITY used and NOT letting them sit at one spot.

[Arizoni]

For some tongue twisters, here's some information about rubbers that are good in oil and those which are not good.

Elastomers (rubbers) that are good with petroleum oil below 250 degrees F include:

NITRILE  NBR
HYDROGENATED NITRILE  HNBR
HYFLUOR  FKM
PERFLUOROELASTOMER  FFKM

Elastomers (rubbers) that are very poor with petroleum oil above 250 degrees F are:
NITRILE  NBR
HYDROGENATED NITRILE  HNBR
ETHYLENE PROPYLENE  EPDM
STYRENE BUTADYNE  SBR
POLYACRYLATE  ACM
POLYURETHANE  AU, EU
BUTYL  IIR
BUTADIENE  BR
ISOPRENE  IR
NATURAL RUBBER  NR
FLOUROSILICONE  FVMQ
SILICONE  MQ, VMQ, PVMQ

Rubbers that are marginally acceptable with petroleum oil at temperatures below 250 degrees F are;

NEOPRENE
FLUOROCARBON
FLUOROSILICONE
SILICONE

Inner tubes and tires are sometimes made from Natural Rubber, Neoprene, Nitrile and Butyl.  Because many of them don't say what they are made from I tend to be on the conservative side when it comes to contact with oil.

[singhg5]

For some tongue twisters, here's some information about rubbers that are good in oil and those which are not good.

Elastomers (rubbers) that are good with petroleum oil below 250 degrees F include:

NITRILE  NBR
HYDROGENATED NITRILE  HNBR
HYFLUOR  FKM
PERFLUOROELASTOMER  FFKM
.....
......
.....
Inner tubes and tires are sometimes made from Natural Rubber, Neoprene, Nitrile and Butyl.  Because many of them don't say what they are made from I tend to be on the conservative side when it comes to contact with oil.

Good list of course.  Thanks for taking the time to write them here. 

Tongue twisters ..... Nah  .  They are tame.

There was a time when we had to draw structures and synthesis of cholesterol from mevalonic acid and know the chemical names of each intermediate ..........;    conversion of arachdonic acid to thromboxanes, prostaglandins, and leukotrienes  ........  with their chemical structures and names.

Dealing with MTBSTA - N-tert-buyldimethylsilyl-N-methyl trifluroacetamide derivatization for GCMS analysis of compounds in biological samples .........,

Handling tritiated triamcinolone acetonide or dihydrostreptomycin sulfate
for encapsulation in dipalmitoylphosphatidyl choline   ..........

and ....  many many more........REal tougue and brain twisters  !

Don't remember all of them now but they do not bother me. On the contrary, names and structures are the windows for understanding their nature and properties. Without that it means very little to me.   

[Leofric]

There is no such thing as easy spoke cleaning !

[Richard230]

There is no such thing as easy spoke cleaning !

Still, cleaning spokes is easier than cleaning BMW cast aluminum "snowflake" wheels that were on their bikes during the late 1970's.