Purple Power ruined my bike

[Surferp]

The title says it all. I was cleaning my bike with purple power since it's an "all purpose degreaser" and i noticed that when i was done cleaning the bike and it was all dried off the purple power left a residue all over the metal parts of the bike i used it on. I used it to clean off the engine casings, the frame, rear tire slop under the bike, and a couple of other nasty metal spots. Now all the metal parts i used it on have a residue that i can't get off. I tried car wash soap, tire cleaner, wax, paint polish. Nothing will get it off. Any suggestions on how to get the metal looking new again? It looks like oxidation almost. Thanks for the suggestions and the help.

[tkm433]

Originally Posted by Surferp

The title says it all. I was cleaning my bike with purple power since it's an "all purpose degreaser" and i noticed that when i was done cleaning the bike and it was all dried off the purple power left a residue all over the metal parts of the bike i used it on. I used it to clean off the engine casings, the frame, rear tire slop under the bike, and a couple of other nasty metal spots. Now all the metal parts i used it on have a residue that i can't get off. I tried car wash soap, tire cleaner, wax, paint polish. Nothing will get it off. Any suggestions on how to get the metal looking new again? It looks like oxidation almost. Thanks for the suggestions and the help.

If it is the same stuff that I have used if you read the warning label it states not to use on
Aluminum. Also did you use it straight or did you mix it with water?? It is a concentrated solution as it comes in the bottle and in full strength it will more or less eat the dirt and the aluminum in full strength.

The bad news is that you will not be able to return the aluminum parts of your bike back to the way they were. What looks like a oxidated surface is just that now.

[Surferp]

NO WAY!!! i used it in the spray bottle. I used it on a recommendation on this forum. When i posted a little while back on how to clean the engine casings someone said yeah just use purple power or simple green. I'm wishing i would have drove the extra 10 minutes for the simple green. Is there any way to polish or buff that out? What about some brillo or some other abrasive?

[riot]

Most of the aluminum parts (the engine covers for sure) are clear-coated. The purple power could have just stained or ruined the clear coat. My guess is you have two options: 1) Use polish intended for auto paint to try and buff out the discoloration, or 2) Use chemical paint stripper to remove old clear coat and re-clear them. If you do this, pick up some aluminum polish to clean up any imperfections after stripping, and be sure to use a clear coat intented for high-temperature or engines.

Option 2 will take alot of elbow grease, but this is what I use to restore aluminum cases where oxidation has crept under the clear. If you put in the time, they come out looking better than new.

Sorry to hear about that btw

[Swipe]

+1 on what Riot said. I too have oxidation forming under parts of my clear coat. I am in the process of removing the clear coat from the engine casings. I could probably save my time by using chemical paint stripper but I've been using a very fine grit wet and dry (wet) and plenty of elbow grease. To then get a good surface I use some very mild abrasive kitchen surface cleaner which brings up the aluminium great. It a lot of work so I tend do it a bit at a time. I've also read that some oven cleaners are useful for removing the clear coat i.e. spay on and leave for 20 min then wash off.

[SVHUNTER]

Yep I use alot of Purple on all kinds of thing. You have to use it in small amounts and rinse it right away. The stuff is super hot. I would try Bar Keepers Friend next this is super MILDED but alittle work it will polish it up nicely.

[Surferp]

do you guys have any recommendations on products i can use to 1) clean up the metal parts that purple power ruined and 2) re-clearcoat them once they are looking nice again. also, will i have any luck with aluminum polish on getting the stains out the purple power made? thanks

[Swipe]

Surferp, can you post up some pics so we can see the extent of the damage?

[Steve Hunt]

There are a variety of cleaners "intended " for cleaning motorcycles. I use S100, it works great. Buy it by the gallon and it's half the price of a the quart? or whatever it is they typically sell at the bike shop. Somebody told me Hondabright is S100 just privately labled for Honda, I don't know if that is true but most Honda products are good. A buddy of mine ruined his bike with Purple Stuff.

Steve

[multmigs]

Ever get the purple stuff on yourself? if its the same thing as Castrol purple super clean then ur in for a hurtin, I believe its some kinda acid. I once used it to clean stuff that was really greasy on my truck without using gloves, I'll never do that again in fact if I know I'm gonna use a ton of it on something really nasty that has to get scrubbed I will use giant dish type rubber gloves. where it got on my bare skin the entire skin dried up and peeled off like a massive sunburn within 2 days, looked really gross, can't imagine paint would like that either. Now when I use it I actually spray the towel I'm using to clean and then use that on the part. ALso ever spray it on tires and see how they start to almost melt and a river of brown/black crud washed off them in 30 seconds?
I'd say your parts are damaged and need either to be taken off, mechanically cleaned with something like a blast cabinet, wire wheel etc, or you have a ton of hand polishing to do which means upkeep afterward. This pic shows what my side cases looked like when I got the bike, same thing I think ur facing.

Good luck!