Grease Buildup

[The Bearded Duc]

I should be getting my 14t front sprocket this week!
There is a lot of grease buildup in the housing, should I clean all of that out before installing the new one? If so, what should I use to clean it? Degreaser? Soap and water?

[stopintime]

Soap and water  degreaser I use WD40 and Kerosene (lamp oil) - little of this and a little of that. Works great. The brushes I use are not good for anything else after that, but that's allright.
Maybe someone will have qualified objections regarding these chemicals on an engine, but I haven't heard any....

[Slide Panda]

Wd-40 will do a good job. Just allot some rags and such for the job and write them off since you'll never clean them. Also shishkabob bamboo skewers (found at the grocery) are handy for picking out the gunk. Just pull your 15 off and get to cleaning.

All that gunk is chain lube. The best way I've found to prevent that gunk build up is to use Dupont 'multi-use teflon'. It comes as a spray or in a squeeze bottle. Apply and once it dries it basically a wax that doesn't fling off like the greasy chian lubes. Also being a wax, it doesn't pick up dirty and brake dust much at all. My chains got 10k on it and looks near new still. It's the best and the bonus is that it's only $5 a can and availible at Lowes. Recently they made a thicker version aimed at the moto crowd - but the original works so well it seems uncessesary

[brimo]

Diesel fuel, then water.

[corey]

Soap and water  degreaser I use WD40 and Kerosene (lamp oil) - little of this and a little of that. Works great. The brushes I use are not good for anything else after that, but that's allright.
Maybe someone will have qualified objections regarding these chemicals on an engine, but I haven't heard any....

don't see any problem with these.
WD has been proven a great cleaner time and time again.
and i use kerosene and a grunge brush to clean my entire chain. it's perfectly safe, and won't harm the o-rings in an x- or o-ring type chain.

as far as keeping your chain lubed, i'm a maxima chain wax guy, but i have noticed my chain is rather stiff when the chain is cooled down... you kinda need to clean it all off every once in a while.

[NorDog]

Flamethrower works best.

[ScottRNelson]

I still need to clean out all of the grease buildup in the countershaft area on all of my bikes.  One of these days...

When I finally get to it, I'll use a wooden popsicle stick to scrape out as much as possible, then I'll go to work with kerosene and an old toothbrush.  I'll get the last remnants with a rag.

My cleaning "tools" will do a good enough job with no danger of damaging anything.

[The Bearded Duc]

Flamethrower works best.

Probably just melts that grease right off, huh?!

[slowkitty]

Coming from driveshaft bikes, I find the maintenance of chains tedious. Educate me, isn't modern O-ring chains good enough to trap lube such that an application of lube and then a complete wipe off is good enough? No necessity to leave the lube on the chain.

Cheers

[patorojo]

Wd-40 will do a good job. Just allot some rags and such for the job and write them off since you'll never clean them. Also shishkabob bamboo skewers (found at the grocery) are handy for picking out the gunk. Just pull your 15 off and get to cleaning.

All that gunk is chain lube. The best way I've found to prevent that gunk build up is to use Dupont 'multi-use teflon'. It comes as a spray or in a squeeze bottle. Apply and once it dries it basically a wax that doesn't fling off like the greasy chian lubes. Also being a wax, it doesn't pick up dirty and brake dust much at all. My chains got 10k on it and looks near new still. It's the best and the bonus is that it's only $5 a can and availible at Lowes. Recently they made a thicker version aimed at the moto crowd - but the original works so well it seems uncessesary

+1 on WD40, lots of rags, and Dupont multi-use. 

[Ddan]

Coming from driveshaft bikes, I find the maintenance of chains tedious. Educate me, isn't modern O-ring chains good enough to trap lube such that an application of lube and then a complete wipe off is good enough? No necessity to leave the lube on the chain.

Cheers

That's what works for me.  I try and apply the lube to a warm chain, leave it for 10 minutes, or the next ride and wipe off as much as I can get.  Chain and bike stays clean and I get decent longevity.

[sbrguy]

been using the maxima chain wax spray on and wipe off method and seems to work fine for me and also it keeps the chain clean, no need for cleaning the natural spraying on and wiping off cleans the grime off at the saem time like in the ca-cycleworks video been doing it for 2 years and been working fine.

for the cleaning part of the engine case just use some rags you will probably get most off the heavy stuff off with that, and if you want it like new spray on some wd40 or simple green and then scrub with a brush or another rag and it will be fine.

best of luck with whatever you do, and remember do all of this WITH THE BIKE OFF.

[Slide Panda]

remember do all of this WITH THE BIKE OFF.

You saw that video to huh...

With the Dupont stuff, you don't need to worry about doing the post spray wipe. Once it dries, the stuff doesn't fling, and if it does come off, it's really waxy, so it doesn't stick. Tellin' yah man - it's the best chain lube... and one of the least expensive

IF you want some more info, here's how I learned about it:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motorcycle-chain-lube/dupont-teflon-chain-lube.htm
and a follow up they did when the moto specific yellow can came out.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motorcycle-chain-lube/dupont-teflon-chain-saver/