#Tested Best Motorcycle Carburetor Cleaners For Performance

If you’ve got a bike with carburetors, you need to use the best motorcycle carburetor cleaner you can to keep your bike running smoothly and reliably.

While a large portion of modern motorcycles have their fuel atomized and delivered to the pistons for combustion via direct injection, almost all older bikes (and still a number of cheaper commuter motorcycles and scooters) used to use carburetors to do this job. Both carburetors and fuel injection systems can become clogged up over time, either from poor quality fuel or from lack of use. When this happens your motorcycle will run poorly, or sometimes not at all. In this article, we’ll be looking at how to clean your motorcycle’s carburetors and how to keep them clean with the right cleaning parts and additives.

Best Carburetor Cleaner Quick Review

Top Choice: Carburetor Cleaning Wires and Nylon Brushes Set

When you need to dismantle your carburetor to clean out the jets, it helps to have a kit to do this instead of using paperclips. This kit from Amazon makes that job a lot easier.

First Checkpoint
ProductBest UseRating
1. Carburetor Cleaning Wires and Nylon Brushes SetBest Carburetor Cleaning Kit★★★★★
2. Ultrasonic Cleaner SolutionBest Motorcycle Carburetor Cleaner Additive★★★★★
3. STA-BIL Carb/Choke & Parts CleanerBest Motorcycle Carb Cleaner Spray★★★★
4. Multool Ultrasonic Carburetor Cleaner 6.5LBest Ultrasonic Carburetor Cleaner★★★★
5. WD-40 Specialist Carb/Throttle Body and Parts CleanerBest Dirt Bike Carburetor Cleaner★★★★

What Does A Carburetor Do?

Carburetors used to be the default mechanism via which fuel was mixed with air and delivered to the pistons in motorcycles and cars. The process by which carburetors do this is by atomizing the fuel (turning it from a liquid into tiny droplets), mixing these with air, and delivering this highly combustible combo into the piston cylinder, inside which a spark plug ignites this mixture, detonating an explosion inside the cylinder which drives the piston. While cars often used a single carburetor to do this, and send atomized fuel to multiple cylinders in multi-cylinder motorcycles, there’s often one carburetor per cylinder. In single-cylinder bikes, there’s usually just one carburetor.

Does My Bike Have Carburetors?

Motorcycle Carburetor cleaner

Generally if your bike was made before the year 2000 or so, it’s almost guaranteed to have carburetors instead of fuel injectors. Even for a number of motorcycles made in more recent years, particularly small capacity commuters, scooters and some off road motorcycles, many manufacturers continued to use carburetors instead of fuel injection. Carbureted motorcycles are still made today.

How Do Carburetors Get Dirty?

Carburetors can get dirt in them from rust inside your bike’s fuel tank, from dirt in poor quality fuel, from excessively dirty air filters, or from fuel that’s been sitting in your bike for a long time, which starts to gum up. Symptoms of a dirty carburetor include difficulty starting your bike, rough running, hesitancy with revving, and either running lean or rich.

Can You Spray Carb Cleaner in A Spark Plug Hole?

One of the classic symptoms of a dirty carburetor is difficulty starting your bike. If your bike takes a lot of effort to start, and if it runs really rough after it starts (after a herculean struggle to get it fired up in the first place), it’s likely that your carbs are dirty.

motorcycle carburetor cleaning tools

Sometimes, in instances where your motorcycle is seriously refusing to get started in the first place, you might figure that whatever mixture is going into your cylinder isn’t explosive enough to get the cycle started…so can you spray something else into the spark plug hole, something guaranteed to be highly flammable and explosive – something like carburetor cleaning spray?

You can, in fact, spray carburetor cleaning spray into your spark plug hole to get the motor firing, but this isn’t going to solve the problem of a dirty carburetor, which is likely causing the problem in the first place. And even if this gets the motor started, if your carburetors are really filthy and gummed up, your bike isn’t going to keep running much longer, if at all, after doing this “spray carburetor cleaner in the spark plug hole” trick. You need to tackle the source of the problem to truly fix it once and for all.

Can Brake Cleaner Be Used to Clean A Carburetor?

Do you really need a specialist carburetor cleaner spray or solvent to clean a dirty, gummed-up carburetor? Well, no, technically you don’t, although as with most things in the motorcycling world, you’ll almost always get the best results with a product designed specifically for the job you’re wanting to do.

how to use carburetor cleaner

Many carburetor cleaners, though, are marketed as being designed to clean brakes as well, so you could flip this question around and get a similar answer; so, you could use carburetor cleaner to clean a motorcycle’s brakes too.

You can also get multi-purpose motorcycle cleaner or mechanical cleaners, like ultrasonic cleaners, which are used for a huge variety of cleaning applications, from jewelry to tattooing and mechanical equipment, which will also clean carburetors really well. These are, of course, going to be a lot more expensive than carburetor cleaning spray, but they will last many years if you buy a good one.

What Are the Symptoms of A Dirty Carburetor?

As mentioned, one of the classic signs that there’s a problem with your carbs is that your bike is having great difficulty starting. Usually, if your carburetors are perfectly clean and functioning as they should, your bike should start (with a bit of choke, depending on how cold it is) at the push of a button, or on the first or second kick of your kickstart. If you’re having to hold your starter button down for a solid minute while the starter motor struggles to get the engine swinging, or you’re kicking your kickstarter until you’re blue in the face and nothing is happening, you may have a dirty carburetor.

how to use carb cleaner motorcycle

Other signs that your carburetors are dirty include difficulty idling, or if the engine is hunting while idling. Further symptoms can include difficulty accelerating, a loss of power at certain revs, the engine dying instead of idling, having a really high idling speed, or, either when the motorcycle is running or after the motor has been turned off, you notice fuel dripping out of the carburetors.

Please note that while these can all be symptoms of a carburetor that needs cleaning, there can be other causes for these symptoms. Your carburetors may also need to be completely adjusted and balanced; cleaning may not completely solve any or all of these problems, but in most cases it certainly will help a lot.

Can You Use Wd40 to Clean A Carburetor?

WD-40 is often touted by DIY mechanics as being a sort of “cure-all” elixir, which can be used to clean, protect and lubricate just about anything mechanical. While it’s true that WD-40 can be successfully used to clean, protect and lubricate a number of motorcycle parts it won’t do as effective a job – particularly if your carb is blocked up with seriously stubborn deposits – as a dedicated carburetor cleaner. WD-40, by the way, actually does make a specialty carburetor and brake cleaner, which we’re going to be reviewing. Contrary to many opinions, WD40 can also be used as chain cleaner. We’ve explored this topic in depth over here.

If you’re looking for a general cleaner or something more specific to clean your chrome or give your chrome a nice shine, check out our post on the best chrome polish and cleaner.

Best Carburetor Cleaner Review


Best Motorcycle Carb Cleaner Spray

STA-BIL Carb/Choke & Parts Cleaner

As an ardent motorcycle enthusiast, maintaining the peak performance of my ride is of utmost importance. One of the critical aspects of ensuring this is keeping the carburetor clean and functioning optimally. Today, we turn our attention to a renowned player in the field - the STA-BIL Carb/Choke & Parts Cleaner.

The STA-BIL Carb/Choke & Parts Cleaner is designed with a dual-action formula to effectively clean and dissolve gum, varnish, and dirt that accumulates in carburetors, chokes, and other related engine parts. It features a quick-drying formula and a high-pressure spray to reach every nook and corner.

The standout feature of the STA-BIL Carb/Choke & Parts Cleaner is its dual-action cleaning, setting it apart from other cleaners in the market. This comprehensive cleaning and dissolving capability ensure your carburetor stays in peak performance.

The STA-BIL Carb/Choke & Parts Cleaner offers comprehensive and convenient cleaning for carburetors and other engine parts. Its dual-action formula combined with a high-pressure spray makes it an excellent choice for maintaining the performance of your motorcycle.

Pros:
  • Dual Action
  • Quick-Drying
  • High-Pressure Spray
Cons:
  • Hazardous Material
  • Not Ideal for Sensitive Materials
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Best Motorcycle Carburetor Cleaner

Ultrasonic Cleaner Solution for Carburetors

The Ultrasonic Cleaner Solution for Carburetors is designed specifically to penetrate and remove tough gunks and deposits from carburetors. This solution is non-corrosive, making it safe for most metals and materials found in carburetors. The concentration of the cleaner can also be adjusted according to the level of grime and the components being cleaned, offering flexibility.

Compared to traditional carburetor cleaning methods like aerosol cleaners, the Ultrasonic Cleaner Solution takes a different approach. It might not provide the immediacy of aerosol applications, but the depth of cleaning it provides is superior.

The Ultrasonic Cleaner Solution for Carburetors has evolved in terms of formulation, offering a safer, non-corrosive solution compared to its earlier versions. This allows users to clean their carburetors without worrying about damaging the components.

Pros:
  • Versatility
  • Deep Cleaning
  • Adjustable Concentration
Cons:
  • Requires Ultrasonic Cleaning Equipment
  • Not Ideal for Quick Cleanups
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Best Dirt Bike Carburetor Cleaner

WD-40 Specialist Carb/Throttle Body and Parts Cleaner

While you can use regular WD-40 to clean your carb, the company makes a specialist carb cleaner that does the job way better. It can also be used to clean other parts of your bike.

You’ve already got a can of regular WD-40 lying around, so what do you need specialist WD-40 carburetor cleaner for? Well, while regular WD-40 can clean mildly dirty carburetors, for any remotely stubborn deposits or worse in your carburetors, it’s not really going to cut it. WD-40 Specialist Carb/Throttle Body and Parts Cleaner, however, will get tough grime and stubborn deposits out of your carbs, Plus, it can be used on a wide variety of engine parts and unpainted metal parts – which is perfect for when you’re going to be giving your dirt bike’s mechanical parts a good cleaning.

While it’s not quite as potent as CRC’s Clean-R-Carb, it’ll get rid of the vast majority of deposits you’ll find in your carbs. It’s also a little safer to use than Clean-R-Carb, with less chance of splashback getting in your face. Even so, it’d be wise to wear eye protection while using WD-40 Specialist Carb/Throttle Body and Parts Cleaner.

Pros:
  • Not just for cleaning carburetors; can clean a bunch of engine and metal parts
  • Good price
  • Reduced sprayback from can
Cons:
  • Not quite as powerful as CRC Clean-R-Carb
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Best Carburetor Cleaning Kit

Carburetor Cleaning Wires and Nylon Brushes Set

When you need to dismantle your carburetor to clean out the jets, it helps to have a kit to do this instead of using paperclips. This kit from Amazon makes that job a lot easier.

Sometimes even the most potent sprays will fail to get the gunk and grime out of your carburetors, and at that point you’re going to have to disassemble the carburetor completely and clean every jet individually, by manually pushing something through it. You could improvise by using paperclips and sewing pins and such things to do this, but you’d have a much easier time of it with a specialized carburetor cleaning kit.

This kit from amazon, consisting of a variety of brushes and cleaning needles, should be suitable for almost any motorcycle carburetor, from the smallest capacity bikes all the way up to the biggest. It’s a great price too, at just over ten bucks, and if you take care of it, it should last for years.

Pros:
  • Comes with a large variety of cleaning needles and brushes, which will be suitable for most motorcycle carburetors regardless of size
  • Great price
Cons:
  • If your carburetor parts are of a very unusual size, you might need extra brushes and needles
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Best Ultrasonic Carburetor Cleaner

Multool Ultrasonic Carburetor Cleaner 6.5L

If you’re going to be cleaning a lot of carburetors, as well as other metal objects, you might want to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner. This 6.5 liter ultrasonic cleaner from Multool does a brilliant job of cleaning carburetors and other parts.

If you own a number of carbureted motorcycles, which frequently need carburetor cleaning, or if you simply have a lot of mechanical parts, motorcycle-related or otherwise, that frequently need cleaning, you might want to save yourself a lot of time and hassle by investing in an ultrasonic cleaner.

They’re very easy to use, and save you a lot of effort; you just put some cleaning solution in, pop your dirty carburetor (and other parts) in, set the time and temperature and let it do its thing. An effective ultrasonic carburetor cleaner, like this 6.5 liter one from Multool, will clean carburetors with even the most stubborn deposits in them very effectively, all while saving you a lot of elbow grease. These machines aren’t too cheap though, so if you’re only going to be cleaning your carburetors once in a while this ultrasonic cleaner might be overkill.

Pros:
  • Can be used to clean a variety of parts, not just carburetors, as well as jewelry and other metal items
  • Very easy to use – just set the temperature and time and let it do its thing
Cons:
  • Quite pricey
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Keep Your Carburetors Clean and You’ll Be Smiling for Miles

As much as we motorcyclists love our bikes, there are times when all we want to do is push them over the nearest cliff, and having a poorly running, hard-to-start motorcycle with dirty carburetors is one of these times. Thankfully, you can clean out your carburetors very effectively (and prevent them from getting dirty and clogged in the first place) with the best motorcycle carburetor cleaners, and save yourself a lot of time, hassle, and cursing at your bike. Take care of your carburetors and they’ll take care of you, and you’ll end up smiling for many miles on your perfectly running motorcycle.