White spirit on chain

I'm taking my bike over to Gunterpots tomorrow so he can help with my chain/wheel alignment problem. I wanted to clean the chain thoroughly before going over so it's not covered in old lube and gukk and stuff.

Can I use white spirit and a toothbrush on it without damaging it? I can use clean lube on it straight away afterwards. Failing that, what can I use that I'm likely to have around the house? Car screen wash? Washing up liquid? Silicone spray? Polish?

Obviously chain degreaser is the best choice, but am poor now until next week!

WD40

I've got 5 litres of rubbing alcohol here, bring a toothbrush and you can do mine whilst you're at it :)

Haven't got any WD40! lol

But can I assume from the fact you haven't gone NOOOOOO then it should be ok?

The best thing to clean a chain is petrol but at todays prices it's probably not the cheapest. Just dont smoke when you're doing it. White spirit will be fine. It'll dry out pretty fast as it will evaporate. Give it 10 mins then give it a good lube.

WD40 or petrol on a rag to wipe the outside of the side plates clean. While you're at it, clean the swingarm and wheel too. It's a personal thing, but if someone wants me to work on a bike of theirs I won't touch it until it's clean >:(

Wheel & swingarm were spotless, but now the chain is gleaming too!

I think I've also srted my problem out with the tight spot/wheel alignment too. Took all the vaseline off my nuts to make it easier to see what was going on, and I think where I'd tightened up the locking nut, but not secured the adjuster bolt properly, it had put things out. Have cleaned, lubed, realigned and used a spanner to hold the bolt while I tightened up the nut with another and it seems t have sorted the problem. Only had a little spin round the block though so will still take it to Gunters tomorrow to check my work and see if it's right. plus I'll know on way there if it's resolved the problem properly.

Chain is a bit corroded though on the outer plates so I will order a new one soon with sprockets.

Can anyone tell me if I can take a tooth off/add one one anywhere ok to make it a bit quicker off the mark? Not so worried about losing a bit of top speed as it's rare I take it past 130, let alone the 170 it's supposed to be able to go!

Petrol as others have said, but when you have some pennies I can not recommend Muck-Off Degreaser enough, water soluble as well so all you have to do after using it is take the hose to the thing then lube her up again.

If the teeth on the sprockets ain't hooked and you can't pull the chain off the rear sprocket, then a bit of rust is nothing, it's fine, stop worrying :)

If you want to drop gearing you could do either 1 off the front or plus 1,2 or 3 on the rear - plus 1 or 2 on the back will be less of a change than -1 at the front. You might find someone on the web who's done up a gearing chart to suit your bike would show top speeds in gears with adjusted ratios, can figure out rpm at cruising speed from said table.