Plastic melted on Exhaust? Use a copper penny...
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,878
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From: The Desert SouthWest
Plastic melted on Exhaust? Use a copper penny...
Yesterday I rode to my Dad's for a BBQ. When I got there I took a Walmart shopping bag with some things in it out of my saddle bag. I set it next to the bike on the ground a little too close to the pipes on the right side... Well you can guess what happened? Yep a part of the bag instantly melted onto the chrome heat shield - damn! 
I went inside and later after dinner I signed in here at the Forum to see what's the best way to get this plastic off the exhaust. Sure enough there were several suggestions including oven cleaner (but a few major cautions on being very careful with this as it might overspray and cause more damage than the plastic you started with!). Well one of the other suggested home remedies was to use a copper penny.
This morning I went out and tried the penny trick and it worked great. No scratches or harm to the chrome at all and no trace of the white plastic baggie!
Just thought I'd pass this on to those who've yet had to deal with this problem...
PS: Now don't forget that modern day pennies are NOT made of copper anymore - they're some sort of aluminum or similar with a copper plating on them. I'm not sure if this alloy will work the same as true copper for the purpose described above (meaning I'm not sure that it will not SCRATCH the chrome). So you may want to use an OLDER penny that's true copper. I forget what year they changed from copper to an alloy but it was in the early 80's I think. You can tell by the color generally - true copper pennies are sort of a dark brown compared to the alloy ones (or scrape it on the cement and you'll see what's inside)
I went inside and later after dinner I signed in here at the Forum to see what's the best way to get this plastic off the exhaust. Sure enough there were several suggestions including oven cleaner (but a few major cautions on being very careful with this as it might overspray and cause more damage than the plastic you started with!). Well one of the other suggested home remedies was to use a copper penny.
This morning I went out and tried the penny trick and it worked great. No scratches or harm to the chrome at all and no trace of the white plastic baggie!
Just thought I'd pass this on to those who've yet had to deal with this problem...
PS: Now don't forget that modern day pennies are NOT made of copper anymore - they're some sort of aluminum or similar with a copper plating on them. I'm not sure if this alloy will work the same as true copper for the purpose described above (meaning I'm not sure that it will not SCRATCH the chrome). So you may want to use an OLDER penny that's true copper. I forget what year they changed from copper to an alloy but it was in the early 80's I think. You can tell by the color generally - true copper pennies are sort of a dark brown compared to the alloy ones (or scrape it on the cement and you'll see what's inside)
Last edited by Arizona; Jun 23, 2009 at 01:07 AM.
Thread Starter
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,878
Likes: 17
From: The Desert SouthWest
I dug out an old 1958 penny that I knew for sure was copper and used it as a scraper basically. I did it when the bike was cold the morning after it happened. It worked well and no sign of anything left afterwards. I don't know if it works as well with heavier/thicker layers of burned-on material (ie; your girlfriend's boot heel, rubber rainsuit, etc), but for a plastic Walmart bag it sure worked fine.
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 631
Likes: 0
From: MA
same thing happened to me at red light, plastic bag floated over and stuck instantly on exhaust, I let it cool and used carb cleaner, took off everything in seconds
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Road Warrior
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,280
Likes: 2
From: SC
I use Road-Rub. Most of the time after everything cools down, you can peal the plastic off and it leaves a residue, then you use the Road-Rub, and it shines it up. No scratches.
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Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Danbury CT
I had a quarter sized heel mark on the rear pipe & a 3X3 area of a melted polyester/cotton cloth that melted on the front pipe. Even acetone wouldn't remove the poly melt. I sprayed both areas with Easy Off Cold Oven formula with a piece of cardboard in back to protect the rest from over spray. Wiped it off the next morning. All gone & as good as new. I use the Easy Off all the time for anything melted on pipes if it's hard to remove.