Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hi guys,

In the not too distant future I’ll be putting new gears on my Elite, which will mean removing the muffler and rear wheel. Its got about 5000 miles on it, so I plan to clean and repaint the exhaust while I’ve got it off. I’ve read the wiki procedure for doing the lye exhaust cleaning. I know how to safely handle the stuff and I have the proper PPE, but I have just one question:

What do you do with the lye solution when you’re done? I mean I get that it’s basically drain cleaner, but what about all that carbon gunk from the muffler? Wouldn’t that clog up pipes?

Just want to hear from a few people who have used this method and what they did with the stuff afterwards. Thanks!

Greetings:

I just poured it out in my neighbor's yard. I never liked them.

Just kidding. Recycling rules! Run it through cheesecloth and de-hair that shower drain!

As it happens, I just got new neighbors! What a great way to say hello!

So I've got the muffler off and ready to do this, but thought I'd weigh it first since I've seen people comment about the muffler "feeling lighter" after being cleaned. I weighed it by stepping on my bathroom scale, then again while holding the muffler and subtracting the two. I got a weight of 7.6 lbs (with the heat shield still on), and the wiki notes that a stock elite muffler weighs about 7.2 lbs. Has anyone else done before and after weight measurements? I'm not sure if the 0.4lbs of carbon buildup is a ton or not that much.

Just want to see if anyone can advise on if its worth doing, though being the stats nerd type I might just do it anyway so I have the data

That's a lot, think of that volume in a measuring cup. Takes up a good chunk of space.