Carb Cleaner vs. Brake Cleaner

Manufacturers generally want happy customers.  To that end they make products aimed at performing tasks people want to pay for.  To help people get what they want they put labels on their products identifying their intended use.  Solvents makers do this too.

There are a gazillion kinds of gunk to remove.  There are products aimed at removing certain kinds of gunk well which can also do a sorta passable job of removing other kinds of dirt/contamination/gunk.

Brake Fluid, Contact Cleaner and Carb Cleaner are similar products.  However, they are aimed at specific kinds of contamination removal.  Any cleaner will do a better job on the gunk it is designed to remove.

Carb Cleaner (http://berrymanproducts.com/Products/AirCarbandInjectorCleaners.aspx) is aimed at the stuff that accumulates in carbs.  Carbs deal with varnish and gum deposits, so carb cleaners are designed to dissolve varnish and gum.

Contact Cleaner vs. Brake Cleaner

Using Contact Cleaner where Brake Cleaner is called for can create problems.  Most people use these two types of products interchangeably.  They are far from it.  Basically, Contact Cleaner is so 20th Century :-)  Really, Contact Cleaner was devised to deal with a problem that doesn't exist in the 21st century.

That problem being lubricating and preventing corrosion http://www.mcmelectronics.com/browse/Contact-Cleaners/0000000447 of 20th Century contact points type ignitions (http://www.summitracing.com/search/Brand/ACCEL/Product-Line/ACCEL-Points-Ignition-Contact-Assemblies/?autoview=SKU).  21st Century ignitions use non-contacting electronic triggers.  Since nothing touches nothing needs lubricating.

Brake Cleaner http://www.permatex.com/products/industrial/industrial_cleaners/cleaners/Permatex_Electrical_Contact_Cleaner.htm on the other hand, is designed to remove everything and leave nothing behind.

Using Contact Cleaner on brakes will result in lubricant and corrosion inhibitor being applied to the brakes.  Sounds non-optimal to me.  I want my brakes clean and lube free, thank you very much.

Brakes need Brake Cleaner.

Engine parts that are supposed to hold oil also need Brake Cleaner.  Think about it, Contact Cleaner leaves lube behind.  That's not "clean and oil free" like all the manuals say the parts are supposed to be before assembly.

If you want the parts to be clean use Brake Cleaner.

The Electricians - music

There is a new sheriff on Shakedown Street and his name is The Electricians.  These guys play GDead music without being a cover or a tribute band.  Instead of copying the originals they are inspired by them.  Sorta like Rubber Souldiers (http://www.rubbersouldiers.com/) are inspired by The Beatles.  But that's another review for another day.  This one is about The Electricians (http://www.the-electricians.com/).

John Zias, the lead, is a really great player.  The Bass player totally nailed dropping the Bomb for The Other One.  The other guitar player and drummer are also solid players with good jamming skills.  The band opened up their music, which is hard for bands to pull off,  to let David Gans (http://www.dgans.com/) join them for a few numbers.

These guys play Dead music with different notes.  Same song, but definitely lots of different string picking done compared to everyone else, who work to hit the same notes as the Dead.  The Electricians can hit those notes when they want to, of course.  They deviate constantly with great success and originality, though.  

They did a really good Dark Star last night.  Got into a totally new and strange space, came around to coherency again, then grew The Eleven out of it as they continued on with the fine music.  Really good Playin' In The Band, too.

Blair Jackson and I totally agree about The Electricians.  http://hotline.deadnetcentral.com/WebX?13@1022.sI1Ba4gpefE.4@.4aefc5aa/259493

The Electricians get the Roserunner stamp of approval.

Oil Spill Cleanup

Despite my best efforts every couple of years I return to the garage and find a pool of oil growing underneath a bike I'm working on.  Ray Roy (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000484720215) gave me the idea to use kitty litter for cleaning the mess up.  Elegant simplicity at it's best.  The kitty litter soaks the oil up.  Sweeping it up is lots easier than dealing with all the rags/paper towels I formerly used.

There are a gazillion kinds of kitty box material out there.  After a few bags of the stuff I have decided that all I need is straight unscented clay type kitty litter.  My favorite brand is Johnny Cat Unscented (http://www.jonnycat.com/products.php) as it is inexpensive, readily available and effective.

Denso Iridium Plugs vs. NGK

A few weeks ago I decided to put a new set of plugs in just because the I hadn’t done it for three sets of tires.  When I looked around the garage I had two IW24s and two B8ES.  So I put them in, as all four were brand new.  It was evening, the shops were closed and the bike needed new plugs so I went with what I had.


Starting out in the morning I got stuck in traffic on River Road on my RG500.  Several miles of rolling through a tourist area at 5-25mph.  Hardly any stopping, so never got to take off and rev it a bit.  Just rolling along in heavy traffic at very low revs.

Guess what happened after being stuck at low speed/revs for several miles?  The two B8ES plugs fouled.  The IW24s were still working fine.

These were all brand new plugs with less than 25 miles on them before I started.  The NGKs fouled while the ND Iridiums kept on sparking.  At moments like that the few extra bucks for functional spark plugs sure seems worthwhile.  I’ll never put an NGK plug into a bike of mine again. 

I will always run ND plugs.

For more information on Denso Iridium spark plugs check out his link http://www.densoiridium.com/originofiridium.php

Chicago Pnumatics Brake Bleeding Tool

About the most frustrating thing I have had to do with a bike is bleed the brakes.  There is a tool available now that transforms the job from days of agony to minutes of easy wrenching.  The trick is using an air hose to create a vacuum which positively sucks the brake fluid out of the caliper.  What it does is run high speed air across a vent hole which is connected to a hose that is connected to the brake caliper.  This means an air compressor is needed to use this tool.  Professional models co$t around US$200, which is unreasonable to me considering their simple construction.  Harbor Freight sells one for US$26, much more reasonable.  Here's a link http://www.harborfreight.com/brake-fluid-bleeder-92924.html

Pro models have unrestricted flow, which can actually be a problem.  When bleeding small motorcycle master cylinders a Pro model can suck the fluid so fast it empties a motorcycle's reservoir.  Then the job has to be started all over again from the beginning.  Pro units are made for cage guys who have to move quarts of brake fluid, instead of ounces.  The Harbor Freight unit has a bit of flow restriction, which makes it perfect for motorcycle use.

After using this tool any other brake bleeding method seems slow and cumbersome.  This thing is fast and easy.

Heli Coil No More - Permatex Stripped Thread Repair Kit instead

Steel bolts going into aluminum threads assures occasional thread destruction.  Either an overzealous tightening or just aging can make any given aluminum thread fail.  Heli coils are the traditional repair method.  This problem only happens to me every couple of years, so I've never bought the heli coil tools.  The result is every time I need one I have to take the piece to a machinist's shop.  Once the piece gets to a shop I have to wait a few days while he does this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFYa6sjhh_E

I was looking for something else in the on line catalog of Parts Unlimited (http://www.parts-unlimited.com/home/home.do;jsessionid=45252E76C6B79EFE23BD4B39FCF04ED5) when I stumbled upon the Permatex Stripped Thread Repair (http://www.permatex.com/products/automotive/thread_compounds/thread_repair/Permatex_Stripped_Thread_Repair.htm).  Looked a lot easier than hauling my XR350 to a bike-friendly machinist I finally found to have a clutch cover thread in the crankcase repaired.  Best $15 I ever spent.  Here's all I had to do http://www.permatex.com/videos/video_strippedthreadrepair_eng.html  Much easier!

It's holding just fine.  Torqued just like normal.  The cover stopped weeping oil from that area.  This is so 21st Century, I love it!  Highly recommended.