Any tips for cleaning a dork disc?
 

Trying to restore 1979 Motobecane and would like to find a way to clean the plastic/aluminum spoke guard. I tried soaking it for a few hours in degreaser, which cleaned it up a lot, but there's still some gunk I can't get to. I'm reluctant to pop the plastic off of the aluminum for fear I won't get it back on. Any tips or ideas?

Thanks. - Pat

Simple green and a toothbrush. I sometimes trim the toothbrush bristles shorter so that they are stiffer. I would suggest Gunk engine cleaner if it was only aluminum or steel, but with plastic, it may make it cloudy.

A few more posts and you can show before and after pictures.

Easy: pop it off the wheel and throw it in the trash. Dork disk cleaned.

(jk — dork disks are kool, klassic and useful to boot.)

Light oil and brass wool (or steel wool in this case, since it’s aluminum) are usually my first go to. The oil is gentle and dissolves many types of gunk with mild effort.

WD40 to get off the grease and gunk. Goo Gone would work too. Don't use abrasives, at least not on the plastic part. You could use orange cleaner and/or detergent and water if you have lots of spare time.

Meguiars #17 plastic cleaner for the polishing and refreshing the plastic. Many hardware stores will have it. You can also use it on the metal part as a very mild polish.

Fire

I guess you guys aren't dorky enough to appreciate a good dork disk. ;) I admit I took mine off my Super Mirage when I was 13, cuz it wasn't cool. Must have really slowed me down too. ;) That was just the era, strip off everything you didn't absolutely need. Safety levers, reflectors, dork disk, valve caps, etc. Forget fenders of course.

There was a time however that those clear plastic dork disks were somewhat exotic. They proved that you had a really good bike, them along with center pull (!) brakes. Most bikes had chrome steel dork disks.

Simple
 

Like lawyer lips on forks, they are intended to prevent injuries....wait I mean injury claims. Remove and toss.

I have used rubbing compound, I just cleaned one on a MTB.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6781ed87f7.jpg I'll use rubbing compound on car headlights takes off the oxidation haze and clears to a shine.

This is what I use on aluminum and plastic, the final step is to buff with a micro-fiber cloth. It takes some elbow grease but clear plastic can look like new if not deeply scratched.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3fd8fb91ef.jpg

Normally am I just as cynical. Dork disks are a little different though. They won't prevent a chain from getting stuck between the freewheel and the spokes, though they help a bit I suppose. They prevent the spokes from getting chewed up if this happens, necessitating a wheel rebuild.

We can be all knowing in hindsight with our superior modern knowledge, but BITD people throwing their chains between the spokes and the freewheel happened all the time. Sure, if you were a racer or serious enthusiast, you probably kept your derailleurs well enough adjusted and your hanger straight. That was at most 1/100 people riding these newfangled 10 speed bicycles, probably much less than that.

I removed the DD from a 77 Raleigh Super Grand Prix I restored. When I took it for a test ride, I heard this intermittent clicking sound. Back on the rack, I found that the upper portion of the rear derailleur pulley cage was hitting the spokes when in low gear. I polished the ratty old DD, reinstalled it and problem solved.

It actually looked pretty cool too.

....

I'm sensing that not everyone loves the lowly dork disc. I think I'll put it back just because it's original, though. My problem is that the way it's constructed is that it's a piece of aluminum tightly connected to a piece of plastic by means of plastic rivets jutting out from the plastic piece (I'll post a picture when I hit 10 posts). I haven't been able to figure out how to clean the area between the plastic and aluminum, it's too tight to fit anything that I can think of. I could pop the plastic rivets off, but I think they'll break, and then what?

Not that big a deal in the grand scheme, I guess. The gunk probably won't even be visible behind the freewheel, anyway.

Thanks for all the suggestions, though!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...38b85af6b9.jpg

Yeah, if you want to preserve it, you can call that clean enough. Those plastic prongs will not survive the surgery, so it's best to leave it assembled. (I accidentally destroyed an identical Huret earlier this year...)

Lately I've been using auto wheel and tire cleaner, Armour all, but there are others. It's made for Asbestos dust removal. It works great on the alloy dust grease combo that encrusts wheels. I've also started using it on cranks and brakes. Works like scribing bubbles, spray on rinse off. Perhaps that can penetrate your dorkage.

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Let's see how many times we can repost the same photo....:rolleyes:

I am not NOT a dork disc fan, with one single exception. The Sekine dork disc does blow my kilt up. Though I no longer have a Sekine, I do have one of these nailed to the beam under my cottage, where I do my bike work...
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ae31f9426e.jpg

Genius idea, Mr. 66! I just ran out and tried this and it did reduce the gunk some. Too dark now to try again, but I'll hit it a few more times over the next couple days and report back. Thanks!