Plastic Bag on Exhaust

[Simon]

While doing my regular commute I noticed a plastic shopping bag rolling across the road. Having successfully avoided it (or so I thought) I continued on to the next set of traffic lights where I could smell this horrible melting plastic. I looked down to see that the bag had wrapped itself around the left hand exhast pipe. I pulled off what I could there and then and when home, wiped off what I could. However, I'm still left with an unsightly mess of burnt plastic goo. Any suggestions on how to remove it?

Thanks in anticipation,

Simon

[NCGS]

Oven cleaner and 0000 steel wool (the 4-ought steel wool is fine enough that many detailers use it to clean road film off windshields - they use it with "Bon Ami" scouring powder).

Get the pipe hot before you hit it with the oven cleaner.

[Dan-A]

Bummer when that happens.

I have some stuff from Stoner Chemicals (not a joke) called Xenit that will remove almost anything. It is orange based and might dissolve the crap without resorting to an abrasive.

It is not paint friendly but should be OK on metal. They suggest trying a small amount on a non-visible area before going full on with it.

It is an aerosol can and I think Kragens has it, and it might be worth a try.

http://www.autogeek.net/xenit.html

[gremlin]

Ooo! My very first post!

My local BMW dealer has a little old man who cleans and looks after all the shop floor bikes, so he was the first person I spoke to when I wanted advice - he told me that he uses "wheel acid" which he said you can get from local auto shops. He even went as far as going and getting some in a aerosol lid and used a paint brush to paint the liquid over the discoloured pipes on one of the shop bikes; the coppery discolouring vanished as he was painting on the liqiud with no effort at all! I've yet to get hold of some but am going to try!

Note: he said to AVOID any plastic parts!

[ShinySideUp]

More info on acid cleaners here:

http://www.properautocare.com/propwheelcar.html

[kudzu]

Oven cleaner and 0000 steel wool (the 4-ought steel wool is fine enough that many detailers use it to clean road film off windshields - they use it with "Bon Ami" scouring powder).

Get the pipe hot before you hit it with the oven cleaner.

This is a good tip - it works amazingly well! It seems to me that when I used it, on the recommendation of a guy who detailed Harleys for a dealer, that after getting the pipes hot, spraying it on and letting it sit for the prescribed time, I just wiped it off with a wet sponge. The 0000 steel wool won't do any harm, but may not be necessary. You do want to be cautious about overspray - oven cleaner is, obviously, quite caustic and you don't want it anywhere it is not intended. After doing this, I would wash the bike or, at least, the area around where I used the oven cleaner.

[daveyator]

I melted a plastic side case on my K12RS once. Used dissolve it. Another orange based cleaner. Worked resonably well.