Tire cleaning help--please
 

I was attempting to bleed my front brakes on my 84 VT700C, after looking in MC reservoir and seeing this black soup where clear fluid should be. The right side went fine. The left side was another story.

The bleeder valve was frozen, I applied a bit too much torque and snapped it off right above the caliper. Fluid quickly collected into a nice puddle right below the caliper and got onto the side wall and tread of my front tire.

How do I safely clean the brake fluid off my tire, especially the tread?

Thanks for the advice.

Don

any type of degreaser you have. simple green. good water pressure. no big deal really. it won't penetrate the rubber that quick.

Dawn dish soap is one of the best degreasers (and cheapest) out there. Squirt some directly on the tire, scrub a bit with wet brush or wet sponge to get a lather going... then hose off until everything is removed, clean, and clear.

I use the same thing to clean grease off other things... mower, grill, bike, etc.... It works great!

You can dilute it for "less greasy" jobs... a teaspoon or two in a half-gallon of water... and scrub away!

Lemon Pledge :-D

Thanks for the tips. Went with the simple green, as that is what I use on most of the other greasy/oily cleanups on the bike. Just never tried it on rubber before this.

Lemon Pledge on a tire. I hope you were being sarcastic.

maybe not to clean up brake fluid,
but to shine the sidewalls..yes indeed..spray some on a rag and wipe it on the sidewalls or get close enough to not over spray on to brake rotor/pads and tread(use best judgement,sometimes i do it this way) and spray directly on to sidewalls and wipe...my sig pic,including tires was just after wiping down with pledge.

+1 to the dawn dish soap it does wonders

Wax on a tire, no matter where is not a good idea. Same thing as not using any tire shine products on the tires.

I've got over 30k miles on my bike and have been using interior vinyl dressing on the sidewalls for as long. It won't hurt a thing as long as you are careful to keep it off the tread. I always wet a rag with the dressing, wipe down the sidewall, then take a completely dry rag and "buff" it to a nice sheen.