Best Motorcycle Carb Cleaner [Buying Guide]

If you’re happy to spend a few more dollars, the Genuine Ford PM-2 Carb Cleaner is a great choice. Since it’s a genuine product from the Ford Motor Company, you can trust the quality of this solution. Available in an 18-ounce aerosol spray, this carb cleaner is easy-to-apply and excellent at cutting through grime.

As a carb cleaner, it’s ideal for removing gum and other nasty deposits that often build up in your carburetor. It’s particularly good for tackling stains that are caked onto cast iron or varnished steel parts without causing any damage.

What makes this a great investment is that the formula is incredibly versatile. It’s not just a carb cleaner. This Genuine Ford Fluid PM-2 Carburetor Tune-Up Cleaner can also be used for cleaning inlet systems, inlet valves, port areas, choke valves, and it can also be used for extracting stubborn spark plugs too.

This stuff is seriously cheap. Depending on the vendor, you can pick a can up for next to nothing, and while it’s cheap in price, it’s not cheap in quality. Gumout has a few different carburetor-specific cleaning products on the market, but this one offers the best bang for your buck.

This aerosol product can breakdown grease and grime that forms in and around your carburetor. It can clean gum, varnish, dirt, and oil. Like most of these aerosol products, it’s great for quick results, but if you want to thoroughly clean your carb, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty and take the thing apart. However, for quick dirt unclogging jobs, you can’t beat this cheap and affordable spray.

Gumout’s Jet Spray Carb Cleaner also works on other parts of your motorcycle. It can help to improve hard starting and rough idling and keep your engine running smoother. For the price, there’s no reason not to have a can of this nearby.

If you’ve never heard of WD-40, then you probably have no business taking a carburetor apart! The WD-40 brand is world-famous and every home should have a can of their famous water-displacing solution. This product, however, is not the usual WD-40 lubrication and degreasing stuff. Instead, it’s a solution that has been formulated specifically for cleaning carburetors.

This dual-action formula uses a combination of solvents to cut through stubborn, baked-on carbon deposits and other damaging grease and grime. Simply spray it where it needs to go. The spray action of the can will displace any waste, blasting it away from your motorcycle’s sensitive areas.

It’s not just for carburetors either. It can also be used for cleaning throttle bodies and for cleaning and protection of unpainted metal parts. This product is a must-have. It’s not motorcycle-specific either, so you can confidently use it on your car, lawnmower, truck, weed trimmer, and more.

This WD-40 Specialist Fast-Acting Carb Cleaner won’t damage any oxygen sensors or your catalytic converter. It’s 50-state VOC compliant too!

Next up, we have another product that leans towards the more expensive end of the carb cleaning aerosol spectrum. This is the Berryman B-12 Carb Cleaner. Unlike many other products on the market, this one uses a high-solvent formula that cuts through grime, removes grease, and more. As a high-solvent formula, it’s not VOC compliant in many areas of the U.S.

If you want a heavy-duty cleaner, this could be the product for you. It can make short work of gum, carb deposits, varnish, grease, grime, and oil. This product can also be used on a wide range of components, including the carburetor, throttle bodies, choke, and other valves. It’s particularly good for motorcycles that have a tendency to lose power or stall.

There are downsides though. Apart from being non-compliant in a number of states and regions, the high-solvent solution can also be pretty aggressive on some parts. Rubber seals and gasket have been damaged by it in the past. So, do take care!

CRC is a well-respected brand, and its products can be found in most auto shops around the country. The CRC Carb and Choke Cleaner is a great product, particularly for those on a budget. It’s an aerosol carb cleaner that comes in a 12-ounce can, with a reputation for no-nonsense carb cleaning action.

This fast-acting product can tackle anything from light contaminants to really heavy build-up. It simply dissolves them, allowing you to wash them off easily. It’s as simple as that.

What makes this a great product is the fact that it’s a low volatile compound formula (VOC). It’s powerful enough to tackle grease and grime, but it won’t harm other parts of your motorcycle, such as your oxygen sensors or catalytic converters. Be careful on painted areas though! Also, because of the low VOC formula, this carb cleaner meets all U.S. EPA and California requirements.

Next, we have another product from Berryman. This is the Berryman ChemDip Carb Cleaner. As the name suggests, it’s an immersive chemical dip cleaner, designed specifically to tackle tough grime on small motorcycle parts.

All you have to do is place the part in question on the drip tray and dunk. The formula can comfortably cut through oil, grease, varnish, and surface rust too. There’s no monotonous scrubbing required!

Though it’s an aggressive formula, it’s actually VOC compliant, and it’s safe to use on plastic, rubber, and some painted components too. If a part is a metal or alloy, it’s also completely safe. It’s non-chlorinated, non-flammable, and won’t cause any premature oxidation of parts.

Like all immersion cleaners, there is a downside. It’s not fast-acting and will require time for it to work its magic. And, of course, large parts aren’t compatible with this kind of cleaning method. For a carburetor though? It’s absolutely perfect.

This cleaning solution from Liqui Moly is mainly aimed at modern motorcycles with fuel injection systems, but it will also clean your good old fashioned carburetor too. In fact, we highly recommend using something like this in conjunction with a standard cleaner for the best results.

Unlike the aerosol carb cleaners listed above, this product is a fuel additive. By mixing it with your fuel, this cleaner works through the entire fuel delivery system, cleaning hoses, valves, and the whole carburetor in the process.

Since it flushes through the whole system, this product can remove carbon and other dirt and grime from the inside of your carb with ease. Plus, it can also provide long-term protection for your fuel system, since the additives will also protect your parts from premature oxidation and aging.

If you use this in partnership with other conventional carb cleaners, you’re going to have a very happy carburetor — and engine too!

Gunk has a number of high-quality carb cleaning products on the market. The most popular of these include a pair of aerosols, available with or without chlorine additives. They’re both good, but if we had to choose one product, we’d choose something else altogether: the CC3K parts cleaner. It’s not an aerosol. Instead, it’s a can that you can drop your parts into for a thorough clean.

As an immersion cleaner, CC3K can cut through carbon, grease, and oil. Just drop your parts in and let it do the work for you. What’s more, this Gunk CC3K Carburetor & Parts Cleaner is environmentally-friendly, non-corrosive, non-chlorinated, and features no ozone depleters.

The major downside to this product is that you’re limited to the dimensions of the can and drip basket, though you can easily transfer the contents into a more accommodating receptacle if need be. And that’s hardly a negative point — it’s just something to keep in mind.

Berkebile’s B101 Instant Gum Cutter Carb Cleaner is an efficient aerosol cleaning formula. This product uses a lot of strong chemicals, so make sure you use it in a well-ventilated area! It’s a little toxic, but the result is a powerful and effective cleaner that can dissolve carbon and clear away any build-up that’s giving your carb trouble.

In fact, this cleaner is a good product for other parts too. It’s particularly efficient for cleaning up combustion chambers with caked-on carbon that other products won’t shift. This product is also good for lighter-duty work too, cutting through varnish, gum, grease, and oil with ease. And it’s fast-acting, so you can see results pretty quickly!

This carb cleaner is oxygen sensor safe and won’t damage your catalytic converter. However, we must point out that this product cannot be shipped to California, so please take note of that.

3M is another brand that you can trust. This American company has made a name for itself in multiple industries. It just so happens that the brand manufacturers some of the best auto-care products on the market. The 3M Throttle Plate and Carb Cleaner combo is one of our favorites.

There are cheaper aerosol carb cleaners out there. That’s a fact. However, this 3M product comes equipped with a precision nozzle and an ergonomic trigger, allowing you to spray the solution directly where you need it. It even works upside down!

It’s a solvent-heavy solution, but it’s actually made from less than 20% VOC. Despite that, the solution is tough on grease and grime and can cut through gum and oil with ease. The high acetone content does mean that you have to be careful about how you apply it. It can cause damage to some plastics and paintwork, and you should definitely wear solvent-resistant gloves when you use it.

Overall, it is ideal for carburetors, throttle bodies, and more. And you get all that with a fairly respectable price tag.