Best way to clean Laverda engine crankcase and block ,engine still in frame??

Paul LeClair

Paul LeClair

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Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Hi all

maybe one of the last nice riding days of the season here today, all the way u to 20 C, got out for several hours on the RGS Executive, great day. Temps well above seasonal average of 10 C or less, but cooling off quickly for the weekend. Anyways, I think that is likely the last of my riding of the 79 1200 and the 84 RGS for this year, although I will keep riding on the ZX 14 for a while yet.

so, I don't want to pull the engines, both triple are running really well, but on both of them the engine fronts and bottoms of the crankcase are filthy. I will be pulling the downpipes, but really don't want to pull either lump from the frame. So, how best to clean the porous cast aluminum??

Paul LeClair
 
Try kerosene and a stiff finger nail brush. Won't bring the cases up 'as new' but will provide a nice patina.

Terry
 
Paul

When I used to work on motorcycles for a living back in the Jurassic, we used a small electric pressure washer with hot detergent solution, rinsed with clean water. Yes, a pressure washer will force water in through gasket surfaces, so don't use it on the gasket surfaces! Used to work great for getting decades of greasy grime off ancient British bikes. Doesn't etch the surface, so you still have to polish polished surfaces, but gets all the road grime off the front of the cases and between the barrel fins.
If you want to brighten the nice clean (but oxidised) alloy, a bit of naval jelly will take most of the oxidation off without serious risk. Just be sure to wash it off well with hot water, it doesn't dissolve all that well in cold water and will continue to attack the metal surface if you don't get it all off.

Ken
 
Paul, Try Simple Green and a scrub brush.Steve on Bevelheaven has a thread on it,basically just spray on and let it soak a bit,scrub and rinse.The trick is not to let it dry as it can stain the aluminum.I think it has a bit of phosphoric acid in it like the old mag wheel cleaners used to and will turn the alloy dark gray if left to dry.
 
I saw a set of cases and a barrel that had been soda blasted today,it cost a bomb but wow were they nice,I use CT 18 truck wash on the dirtbike and the Laverda,spray it on with a hand spray,leave it for a bit and hose it off.Thats the plan sometime on the weekend after the 500ks,some in the rain to watch the OZLaverda bunch last weekend.
 
Paul,

Like all of us I've tried every treatment under the sun but the bike still ages. Nothing I've heard of will bring an engine back to newish again without typically dismantling it. I couldn't be bothered when I rebuilt mine so I soda blasted the engine in the back yard. Now it's all assembled I just use truck wash like Vince.

The guy that did mine thought there would be no problem doing the engine in the frame. I'll do it down the track at some stage when I feel I've lost that restored lustre. As he said, if the operator is careful, i.e doesn't hit painted surfaces, it won't damage anything and then you just wash off the bicarb with water.

How did your home made set up go?


Chris
 
Acid-free mag wheel cleaner (the type suitable for painted wheels) works fairly well to brighten up cases that are essentially ok but just covered in road grime.  Doesn't affect frame rails or polished covers.  It's what I use on my runners, but it's not going to bring them up like new, only way for that is disassembly and blasting.
Cheers
Steve B
 
I have used a paste made from fairy liquid[dish washing liquid] and clothes washing powder, applied to the cases then pressure washed off
after it's done it job. Does bring up the cases pretty good. Worth a try.
 
For a while I was looking for a reasonable polishing mop I could attach to a Dramel,I was after something to take the drudgery out of scrubbing and polishing but not spray polish everywhere.Gave up,I could not find anything to suit the 5mm chuck that wasn't the size of your pinky nail.So back to the tooth brush,I haven't tried it yet but one of those battery powered tooth brusher's I think would do the trick for those long cold winter nights.
 
motoddrob said:
I have used a paste made from fairy liquid[dish washing liquid] and clothes washing powder, applied to the cases then pressure washed off
after it's done it job. Does bring up the cases pretty good. Worth a try.
Click to expand...

I will also use the same mixture to clean oily hands it works very well. If particularly stubborn I will add some sugar to the mix for its abrasive qualities.

Scrumpy - man with out a dishwasher apart from the wife
 
Paul I've found Castrol's Greentec Bike Cleaner works pretty good. I use it one go round to get the worst of the grunge off first and then a second application which will brighten the cases a bit. It's also gentle with polished parts. Probably the same stuff Steve recommends but in another package. For really crudded up stuff I use an aluminum wheel cleaner mixed with water at 1:10 instead of the recommended 1:50. With this you do have to be very careful, work it and wash it off quickly as it is fairly aggressive. I used to use this on steel expansion chambers back in my two stroke days. After a couple of minutes they would be completely clean but if left on too long things would start to turn green.

Tom
 
The washing powder paste thing is very good, tryed it some years ago can,t remeber if it was Bio or none Bio ,dont laugh one is a lot better than the other
 
i`ve used washing powder on my bikes before, allways worked a treat, spray a strong solution on,  give it a scrub leave for 15mins and hose off.........  but the mrs uses those liquitabs things now, so last time i had to buy a pack specially from the shop.... daz it was called, but it was for twin tubs... big mistake, soap suds everywhere, took yonks to rinse off and didn`t have any cleaning power at all, total waste of ?2.50, could of bought a pint with that.  :)
 
thanks for the various suggestions, all.

As I happen to have a 4 liter jug of Simple Green out in the garage I will give that suggestion a try first on the Laverda's.

I am hoping that I don't get the "while I am at it" cleaning the cases I might as well do a proper job and yank the Laverda engines and blast them bug, they don't need to come out of the frame for any other reason, and I have the benefit of the old Kawasaki 650 in lots of tiny bits now to keep my need to work on a bike under control.....I hope :o

Paul LeClair
 
If you can find it, there is a product called Mr Moto that I use on everything from plastci/fiberglass streetbike bodywork to chain lube splooge, chrome rims, polished alum, etc.... 
The stuff is amazing and I cut it 50%.
You may be able to find it at a local off-road store.
 
Hi Paul
This might be an option if you have lots and lots of time on your hands.  I haven't used it myself but do know a bloke who was amazed with the result.

http://www.machinerycleanery.com/index.htm

Cheers
Jason
 
Chris asked earlier in this thread how my soda blasting went.... I am using it sodium bicarbonate, from a 50 lb bag, in an unpressurized 5 gallon gravity drop sand blaster, with no mods. Makes a heck of a powdery mess, so I am blasting outside beside my house, wearing goggles and a mask. The soda doesn't feed quite as well as glass or sand, but works well enough.

I think the hot tip for super success with soda would be one of those 5 or 10 galloon pressurized rigs, would keep the soda flowing. With my non pressurized unit I have to give the bucket a kick and a shake once in a while if the soda flow slows down.

anyways, I attach three photos of the Mikuni carbs I just soda blasted, as well as the Kawasaki 650 head I just soda blasted. I also did the piston barrels, and they also came out well, but the barrels aren't in the photos. Interstingly, the soda did a heck of a job cleaning up the combustion chambers in the head, as well as the exhaust and intake tracts, but I ran out of soda before I was completely done the head. I expect soda blasting is so pricey as I used a whole 50 lb bag of soda, at $37 for the bag, to do four carbs, a set of barrels, and the head. Having said that< i should have taken a "before" photos, all these parts had been sitting outside in the weather since 1999, with the carbs full of fuel, and I am REALLY happy with the result. See for yourself...

Paul LeClair
 

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