Cleaning Titanium

I'll need to clean my greasy fingerprints off my Arata before I start the bike...

What is safe to use? I have some WD-40, would that hurt it? The pipe is naked titanium and the silencer is anodized black.

Dish soap and water?

Good thing I used the search feature.

I would put a little WD-40 on a rag and just wipe clean. After that a bucket with soap and water should do fine. Do a wipe down with a dry rag and fire it up.

Titanium is soooooo cool.

Originally Posted by Custom900

Titanium is soooooo cool.

[tigerblade]

Originally Posted by Custom900

Titanium is soooooo cool.

I have more than $200K of it.

WD40.... Why would you "clean" a greasy fingerprint with something oily....

If there is a mess on them that you are worried about, use contact/brake cleaner...

[abtech]

Originally Posted by tigerblade

I have more than $200K of it.

Bet you can't polish it with WD-40

Originally Posted by Baketech

WD40.... Why would you "clean" a greasy fingerprint with something oily....

If there is a mess on them that you are worried about, use contact/brake cleaner...

I have some of that, but I was worried its "caustic as ****" nature might hurt the anodized part. If I ruin my pipe it's all your fault.

I thought WD could fix anything and cure all disease? You're sure getting a lot of mileage out of that googly smiley.

WD40 is for chain cleaning and keeping old men's shovels and rakes from rusting...that's about it...

WD40 is the most wonderful invention ever made.. you have no idea how many things we use it for at work... plus it's the best damn thing to use to clean up yourself if your hands and arms are covered in oil, grease, oxide, whatever just to get all that crap off and then use some hand soap to get rid of the wd40 residue.

We where in a marina the other day, me and another mechanic had our hands covered with grease, diesel and some other nasty stuff. The only thing we found to clean ourselves was........ head and shoulders shampoo.... That stuff must be freaking strong cause it got EVERYTHING out!!! Don't know about using it on titanium though.

WD-40 is the best thing I've found to clean Ti with. But you do want to wipe off the excess after cleaning. And don't hang around a closed place after you've started the bike... the vapours are nasty toxic when heated. Great excuse to go for a ride after you've cleaned your bike.

Cheers

[luvtolean]

Titanium forms a layer of titanium oxide at the surface on contact with air that makes it incredibly chemically resistant.

It takes a strong acid to etch Ti, don't worry about it with any cleaner you'd use on aluminum.

[tigerblade]

Originally Posted by abtech

Bet you can't polish it with WD-40

Nah, I'm sticking with spinal fluid. It's kind of difficult to come by, but I wouldn't trust my hardware to anything else.

From the Akrapovic EVO1 instructions, clean the Ti with WD-40:

Originally Posted by CanyonCarver

From the Akrapovic EVO1 instructions, clean the Ti with WD-40:

The only thing they are warning you about, is the sticker and nothing takes off adhesive like WD40.

Originally Posted by luvtolean

Titanium forms a layer of titanium oxide at the surface on contact with air that makes it incredibly chemically resistant.

It takes a strong acid to etch Ti, don't worry about it with any cleaner you'd use on aluminum.

This is correct however are titanium exhaust 100% Titanium?
I had read somewhere that exhausts could be called titanium if they contain only 30% titanium. (Kind of like synthetic oil marketing). That would make them a titanium alloy with properties different from pure titanium.

[luvtolean]

Actually, there's really no set definition for how much Ti has to be in the material for it to be called titanium. So you are correct.

Most of the big name pipes that claim to be titanium really are, and I definately trust Arata, so he's fine.

[CBR929RE]

Originally Posted by Baketech

WD40 is for chain cleaning and keeping old men's shovels and rakes from rusting...that's about it...

there's over 300 uses for the WD40 No Mess Pen nevermind the 2000+ uses for regular WD40.


There are 2 things that can use to fix anything, WD40 and duct tape.

Maybe, but who actually owns 2000+ rusty shovels...