Hi folks - just wondering if anyone has had any problems cleaning their Ducati with S100 Total Cleaner+? I’m hoping not to damage my new Multi. I ask because I had an issue with my KTM swing arm turning from black to ‘chalky’ after its first clean with this gel, after following the instructions. The folk at the manufacturer (Dr OK Wack Chemie ) told me the following when I sought their view: “ ... In the past we found that several motorcycle manufacturer use some special coatings for metal parts. We bought the same original spare parts from the motor bike manufacturer and tested these substrates by ourselves. Indeed we have seen that our cleaning agent was capable of removing that coating/ bleached that black finish but have seen as well, that all tested competitor products showed the same behavior. Then we tested an ordinary household hand dishwashing detergent and to our surprise even this one showed the attack on the surface. Hence, from our point of view these parts are virtually non cleanable. In the next step we sent this parts to an independent laboratory and asked them to analyze the surface. The result was, that the base material is steel, coated by zinc (which is grayish) and the top layer is a very thin black chromate coating, hence a classical black chromate part. The laboratory suspect a bad interaction/ adhesion between the zinc and chromium layer as the root cause. Chromated parts are well known and used in lot of applications over the past years. But one thing has changed a couple of years ago due to the legislation. The used chromium salts for the production of such coating was commonly chromium (VI) compounds. By now these compounds are widely banned due to its toxicological profile and the industry has had two switch to Chromium (III) compounds for the chromate finishes. In common these coating based on Chromium (III) are more sensitive than Chromium (VI) based coatings. Furthermore, we have investigated, that some manufacturers are using a more expensive coating procedure and obtain a less sensitive coating, whereas some motor bike companies “prefer” the cheap coating. The first one does not show any effects after cleaning with our S100. Hence, we have cases in the market, where the chromate coating could be affected by any kind of detergent/ cleaning agent used. We assume that the problematic you have observed is caused by the same low grade black chromate coating. We cannot see an aggressive formulation of our product because no other treated parts were effected in any way. In this particular case we face materials/coatings which are virtually impossible to clean without having negative cosmetic effects. Due to this we do not see our cleaning agent as the root cause for the bleaching but rather the poor coating quality. To avoid problems like this meanwhile we do not allow to clean all kind of chromate parts with our Sdoc 100 bike cleaner....”
Test it somewhere inconspicuous? I don't use those aggressive cleaners. Rag and WD40 for anything other than painted parts.
I recently bought some Sdoc 100 after seeing it mentioned on here and saw the great results that it appeared to give. I wasn’t that impressed by its performance over standard degreaser and good ol’ washing up liquid. I shan’t be buying it again.
Some KTM models swingarms do have this tendency...my enduro bike swingarm started to show signs of mild oxidation after first couple of uses, then they turn back greyish and stabilize there. I was happy with Sdoc100 on my road/track bikes.
Use sdoc100 all the time, just like most things don't leave it on surfaces for ages. I always dilute it & the bike has been sodden, then the warm mix get sprayed on for 10mins or so. It's not a clearner imho just a starting stage to get the lose stuff off. I use bilt-hamber auto wash solution to do the main job as recommended by @rob lewis The only problem I've has was with muckoff & it tarnishing the wheels of my f800gs. Because I left it on & it dried out onto the surface, nasty stuff!
My MV swingarm goes a bit grey when washed. I polish it with the stuff they put on fire grates. Used to be black lead but now its graphite. Comes up lovely I put it on with a little sponge then rub it with a rag. It's very messy applying it but once on it doesn't come off. It comes off the next time you degrease it.
Thanks for the replies - perhaps I should use what’s left to clean any oil stains from my drive when one of my old bikes leaks! In the meantime I’ve switched to Pro Green products.
I was using sd100 for a while but worked out I could get the same results with euro car parts cheepo maintenance spray in the 500ml cans. Spray it on, leave for a few mins and then clean off. As it’s oil based it hasn’t damaged any metal. For tar spots on the engine case I have a 20l drum of virosol left over from when I used to concourse cars. About £20 delivered and lasts for ever (but you don’t want to get that stuff on anything with special coatings/finishes)
I'm not a fan, it seems very agressive on some finishes. It even has a warning on the container. I know a lot of folk don't like Mukoff but I've used it for years on, bikes, push bikes, alloy wheels and engine bays and never had any issues at all.
Not a good idea at all to use washing up liquid. It has a very high salt content, very similar to washing your pride and joy in sea water...... It will damage paintwork (well almost anything) and cause corrosion if it sits in little gaps and crevices.
I use this stuff, despite saying it is a Shine...it removes chain grease and fingermarks brilliantly. It is mild enough to use on your hands too. It leaves NO stains on anything No washing off needed, use a rag or cloth and wipe as you clean ( kinell I sound like a Mister Sheen advert lol)
I used to live by SDOC 100 but without treating alloy parts right away, it would accelerate alloy rusting. My advice, stick to a normal degreaser if you can't treat the metals. But what I used to do, is: Spray foam > rinse > SDOC 100 and agitate built up areas > rinse > double bucket hand wash > rinse > dry and run to temp > once cooled down a little, use a paint spray gun connected to a air compressor and apply ACF 50 to get a mist. Avoid brakes but generally coat the entire bike, all nooks and crannies > hand towel to wipe down after letting it sit for a bit. And boom, deep clean done, then for the next 12 months, just a foam wash and rinse as ACF 50 leaves a film which dirt doesn't stick too. These pics are from years ago, but the bike had around 15k miles on it, had previously been treated and as you can see, thanks for ACF 50, it still looked new after a rinse.
