• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

Cleaning Stained Stainless

Forums New posts
B

Brass

0
Joined
Jul 13, 2007
Messages
539
Reaction score
1
Location
Calgary, Alberta. Canada
The stainless pipes on my Bandit have become stained. Mostly by bugs that, due to the exhaust temps, have bonded with the metal of the pipe at a sub-molecular level.
Short of taking the pipes off and heading down to a sandblast cabinet for an afternoon of fun :yawn: What is the best way to clean/remove the burned on flesh of the suicidal insects? They cover the header as well as the highly polished muffler. I’m a nervous to try a polish like Mother’s or similar because some of these are just too abrasive. In the past I simply used a green scrub pad and gave the pipes a brushed look and on the muffler, lived with the swirl marks left by cleaners that the labels always promised a mirror like finish on chrome or polished stainless steel.

I know there are a thousand different products out there, so lets hear it. What is your top pick. Most votes wins.
 
Brass said:
The stainless pipes on my Bandit have become stained. Mostly by bugs that, due to the exhaust temps, have bonded with the metal of the pipe at a sub-molecular level.
Short of taking the pipes off and heading down to a sandblast cabinet for an afternoon of fun :yawn: What is the best way to clean/remove the burned on flesh of the suicidal insects? They cover the header as well as the highly polished muffler. I’m a nervous to try a polish like Mother’s or similar because some of these are just too abrasive. In the past I simply used a green scrub pad and gave the pipes a brushed look and on the muffler, lived with the swirl marks left by cleaners that the labels always promised a mirror like finish on chrome or polished stainless steel.

I know there are a thousand different products out there, so lets hear it. What is your top pick. Most votes wins.
Click to expand...

I have been using Mothers aluminum polish for years on polished S/S and it works great and it will leave a beautiful shine, and its all I use on my polished aluminum also.

I find it sort of funny that you are concerned about Mothers polish possibly scratching the finish on your pipes, yet you were contemplating removing them and sandblasting them which would diffinately scratch the finish. :eek2:
 
El Bandito said:
I have been using Mothers aluminum polish for years on polished S/S and it works great and it will leave a beautiful shine, and its all I use on my polished aluminum also. :rider:
Click to expand...

+1....with their powerball on a variable cordless drill....works wonders....
 
+3 on Mothers...... just be sure your polishing cloth is very clean. If it hits the floor do not use it.
 
Oven cleaner :ponder: Strange coincidence that I just finished cleaning oven and still have it sitting on the counter.
I wonder how it would react with painted surfaces. We know it's safe on the hard enamel finish of an oven but softer motorcycle paint?
 
I don't know how well it would work on melted boots or even bugs on header pipes but it did a great job removing the wife's burnt, oops sorry I mean very well done, dinners from the oven.
 
Brass said:
I don't know how well it would work on melted boots or even bugs on header pipes but it did a great job removing the wife's burnt, oops sorry I mean very well done, dinners from the oven.
Click to expand...

I gather it's still warm up there....at least warm enough to sleep in the Dawg House?..:rofl:
 
Brass said:
Oven cleaner :ponder: Strange coincidence that I just finished cleaning oven and still have it sitting on the counter.
I wonder how it would react with painted surfaces. We know it's safe on the hard enamel finish of an oven but softer motorcycle paint?
Click to expand...

Do not get it on your paint... :eek2: if you have to heat your oven up, you'll have to heat up your pipes(run the bike) :trust:
 
An SOS pad, saturated with SprayWay cleaner. Works like a charm:

framesliderleft.jpg
 
Is there a product that you can use on the faring/windscreen/metal to make it so bugs don't stick as tightly and come off easier.

I'm using pledge on these surfaces (pipes too, when cold), as recommended by many on this forum (thank you) but is there anything that is more of a preventative measure or protective coating that makes it easier to get them off?
 
i attempted to start a cleaning thread, but it was hijacked.
lets hope they dont come here too.
thinking that would be a good place for those that had good experiences with chemicals known to clean and polish this and that.


any metal polish with 0000 steel wool will clean the bugs off your header.
brillo pads, will scratch it.
semichrome or other similar jewelers rouge will also polish clear screens.
a good wax is the best shield to make bugs easy to remove.

i also tried to find out what people used to take bugs off, but was told all you had to do was wipe them off with a towel. (really? even between the fins on the radiator? or some impossible to find ten times expensive wonder goo, like that would really work), and other advice said, wash it. (like washing and detailing it afterwards, is simplicity in itself, with no effort)

hopefully, i will laugh myself out of my chair as this thread gets hijacked, and simpletons suggest dumb things, never knowing or doing any of it. like using oven cleaner to spray on the front of the bike, all over. yeah, dont forget to do the brakes too.
 
twist said:
Is there a product that you can use on the faring/windscreen/metal to make it so bugs don't stick as tightly and come off easier.
Click to expand...

Pledge furniture polish -- but not on anything that gets hot. Perfect for bodywork and windscreens. The bugs come off much easier, and it will make your plastics very shiny and smooth. Just don't over-apply it, lest it leave streaks. A light application is plenty.
 
Hydrogen peroxide will disolve away bugs stuck on your bike... won't harm paint/plastic either :trust: And it's a enviromentally safe cleaner :clap:
 
Last edited:
suzukijo said:
i attempted to start a cleaning thread, but it was hijacked.
lets hope they dont come here too.

hopefully, i will laugh myself out of my chair as this thread gets hijacked, and simpletons suggest dumb things, never knowing or doing any of it. like using oven cleaner to spray on the front of the bike, all over. yeah, dont forget to do the brakes too.
Click to expand...

In the end all threads are hijacked but somewhere in there we can still find a snipit of useful information.

Many years ago (15 or so) there was a product out in a spray bottle called Mr. Clean Magic. I used to hijack it for cleaning the bikes. A few shots on the bugs with a few minutes to soak and they would rinse right off, even in the fins of the rad. For what ever reason they seemed to have stopped selling it.

I've never found a similar product as good for cleaning baked on bugs.

So far for pipe cleaning, Nevr-Dull and Mothers seam to be the most popular choices.
 
Brass said:
In the end all threads are hijacked but somewhere in there we can still find a snipit of useful information.

Many years ago (15 or so) there was a product out in a spray bottle called Mr. Clean Magic. I used to hijack it for cleaning the bikes. A few shots on the bugs with a few minutes to soak and they would rinse right off, even in the fins of the rad. For what ever reason they seemed to have stopped selling it.

I've never found a similar product as good for cleaning baked on bugs.

So far for pipe cleaning, Nevr-Dull and Mothers seam to be the most popular choices.
Click to expand...

Hydrogen peroxide for baked on bugs... spray on and let it soak for a few minutes... rinse :trust:
 
Here's a story about Easy-Off oven cleaner. Guaranteed to be true, and I SAW the results.

A friend bought a black Goldwing that was covered in hideous, painted, pin stripes. Well, WE thought they were hideous!:mrgreen: He was told by a pro pin-striper at a m/c meet, to use Easy Off to take off the pin stripes. He said it wouldn't hurt the clearcoat. The next time I saw the Wing, it was BEAUTIFUL!! Looked like a different bike. All black, no striping.

I had looked at the bike, but didn't want it because of the stripes, so I told him about it. So he ended up with a beauty that "could" have been mine, had I known "the secret"!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top