Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

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Tommy

I found that brass brushes in a Dremel worked really well. I used a tiny bit of Simichrome on a few of the more resistant spots, but mostly the brushes (in various shapes) did the job themselves. It's still a slow process, but easy.
-Jon

I like the idea of the Dremel tool with a brass brush. Sadly, I have never invested in one, may be time to break open the wallet.

I found a combination of degreaser, scrubbing, and Aluminum cleaner worked well enough.

Boy what a mess I made with the soda blasting idea, LOL, I won't ever do that again unless I am tearing down to bare parts. St.

Shout fabric cleaner is a great cleaner. Lifts dirt grease and grime and does not hurt aluminum or paint. Plus is your bike smells fresh.

Although its a late response I found that aluminum mag wheel cleaner with scotchbrite pads will get most of the old grime off. You will need to let it sit for a bit to work and if it starts to dry just spray with water before a good scrub. Stiff bristle nylon brushes for the tight spots. I did this with my r90/6 and it came out good without looking too new like a vapor blast. I used a citrus engine degreaser before the wheel cleaner. This will also work with aluminum wheels and hubs...

Never too late for a good tip, thanks for sharing all. St.

Always nice to see another Airhead riding when the going gets tough. My 82RT, aka Battle Bike, keeps me on the road November-May up here in NH and has seen a lot of salt. The rust on the swingarm finally got to the point I removed it for a quick media blast/examination and powder coat if it is solid. I am cleaning up the FD since it is sitting there. Any more discoveries or ideas? Any treatments to keep it from quickly reverting to pre-clean status?

New to the group but a long-time bike guy (started riding when I was 14, am 72 now). Anyway, my experience with Simple Green is that it's not all that friendly to aluminum parts. Regular engine degreaser and LOTS of scrubbing with stiff nylon or brass brushes. Only thing I use WD40 for is to clean chain & sprockets or inner control cables before re-lubeing. In the old days (before the formula changed), WD was a good start fluid for 2 stroke GP bikes.

What ever you do don't use a wire wheel in an electric drill. It ruins the original matt finish.
That is a lesson that I learned the hard way.

This is the method of cleaning aluminum cases when apart. I bought a Small blast cabinet to blast the components first with play sand from home center. Clean out cabinet of sand and switch over to glass beads. The glass beads give a nice satin finish. The sand takes out the stains and corrosion but leaves it dull. This is always the bulk of work. A quick brush blast with glass beads make it come alive. I have tried to use just glass beads and not sand, but the beads just don’t take out the stains and corrosion. My engine block won’t fit in the cabinet so I use the same method with a hand blaster in the driveway. I have a 1hp air compressor that I use. It maintains 60 to 80 psi when blasting. Degreasing must be done first. I tape off all machine surfaces before blasting. I made wood plates with rubber roofing material glued to one side to block off engine openings. Nothing gets inside the engine block if sealed properly.