Was it a ShamWow? I've been thinking about trying one.

 

Easy off oven cleaner works awesome!

 

+1 on the oven cleaner. I've used steel wool in extreme (black garbage bag) situations. My new trick got a melted rainsuit off last summer. I got one of those spongy polishing ***** you chuck up in a drill. Used white Diamond polish and let the drill do the work.

 

Easy Off oven cleaner works for me. I also used it to remove the pinstripes the previous owner put on the fenders and saddlebags.

 

One thing is very apparent from reading this thread..............there are a lot of riders/passengers that have made mistakes around the pipes.

+1 on the flitz.

 

They all work, it is just what method you prefer, I prefer the 0000 fine steel wool, it has never scratched the pipes and has worked every time I use it. Good for removing road tar and baked on bugs

 

+5 on the 0000 steel wool with the pipes hot. rub lightly...very easy.

 

Try this to get the bulk of it off. Run the engine to heat up the pipes. Then direct a heat gun to the deposit area and use a wooden paddle to scrape the stuff off. (It actually kind of disintegrates). I used one of those wooden paint stirring sticks. They are soft wood and won't scratch the chrome. I used this method on a pipe that was black ceramic coated and it worked great. You can then use brake cleaner to clean up the remainder and finish up with chrome polish. Just take your time, you'll get it off. Good Luck!

 

Hah, you folks are so out to lunch on this. Well except for one very smart individual that chose the penny any way. When the pipes cool off and the towel hardens you can use a penny or a nickel in a pair of vice grips and it will take the towel right the pipe. You would really have to go nuts to hurt the chrome on the pipes because the copper or nickel is very soft in comparison to the chrome. They won't scratch, you don't have to worry about any overspray hitting paint or some other area that really doesn't like things like oven cleaner and there is very little effort required.

 

Thanks 7/11. i have used oven cleaner for removing clear coat on aluminum frames and that stuff is nasty. it will take stuff off you dont want off.