Was surfing the web, looking for carb tips cause I'm gonna balance mine soon. And I came across a weird one: boiling your carbs in lemon juice??? Of course I can't even begin to find a way to explain to my girlfriend why'd a vital piece of my motorcycle was simmering on the stove, why the house reeked of lemons and wth I was using her best stainless steel pot for it.

But the question is: is there any solid science behind this?

 

Heat to soften, lemon juice (citric acid) to dissolve.

There are tons of "orange" degreasers/hand cleaners out there. Same thing.

EDIT: I have no idea if this is good for carbs. I am a chef and this makes sense from a "cleaning nasty restaurant equipment" viewpoint.

 

Well looking at it from an impartial frame of mind:

1. The heat from boiling lemon juice can't exceed the heat of the engine, so no damage there
2. The lemon juice prolly can't harm any rubber or plastic parts with limited exposure
3. Lemon juice is a good degreaser and solvent

But seriously... I can't see how a 10 min dunk in a pot can get anywhere near serious carb cleaning.

 

How serious does it need to be? I bet 10 minutes in boiling lemon juice will clean up a cast iron pan that's had bacon fried in it -- if your carbs are worse than that, you've got some explaining to do.

 

Did you strip the carbs at all before 'the boil'? The science behind lemon juice is pretty clear but the science of dunking your cabs in a hot pot seems rather comical to me. Don't spose you took a picture did you? That would make interesting viewing.
The crux of the matter is.... did it work?
When I was a lad I used to heat up my bicycle chain in parrafin on the stove..... when Mum was out of course.