Removal Of Cooked Flies On Exhaust Downpipes

Discussion in 'Bonneville' started by Schuey, Apr 28, 2020.

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  1. Schuey

    Schuey Senior Member

    Mar 3, 2020
    491
    113
    Midlands
    Hi Chaps,

    Looking for some advice please on my Bonneville. Washed it over the weekend and noticed there are some cooked flies on the chrome downpipes. I’ve tried removing with polish and micro fibre cloth, but a couple are quite stubborn and not coming off. Please can you recommend some product to use? I want to avoid using anything abrasive as I don’t want to scratch the chrome. I was thinking of perhaps a bit of T-Cut but decided to check on here first as that might ruin and discolour the chrome?

    Any tips will be appreciated, thanks!
     
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  2. Gladtobebackontwowheels

    Nov 23, 2019
    398
    393
    Dover. UK
    Leave them soaking in some WD40?
     
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  3. Notso

    Notso Senior Member

    Dec 17, 2018
    624
    243
    Solihull
    I'd be tempted to use the edge of a piece of wood either direct or through cloth, once softened a bit with wd40 as above. Then Autosol if there's stains. I have done this on my stainless exhaust when I had some baked on gunk, in fact also used a blunt chisel to pick some thick bits off, perhaps chrome has other issues/risks so check further.
     
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  4. Schuey

    Schuey Senior Member

    Mar 3, 2020
    491
    113
    Midlands
    Thanks Guys, some good tips and I'll try these. To be honest, 95% of them came off with some Auto-Glym Tar remover, but there are a couple which are very stubborn. I'll soak them and try WD40 as recommended and then get some Autosol too if necessary :)
     
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  5. Shaun64

    Shaun64 Senior Member

    Feb 23, 2020
    651
    243
    England
    Harpic , this stuff is excellent at moving stubborn marks and especially good at bringing tarnished exhausts back to there best, if it doesn’t remove the flys totally use a piece of hard plastic and put an edge on it, don’t get harpic on your paint.

    355C76EA-C127-453C-A55B-1931E97323EC.jpeg
     
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  6. Shaun64

    Shaun64 Senior Member

    Feb 23, 2020
    651
    243
    England
    I’ve not used it on chrome on a bike but I’ve used it on taps with lime scale on with no ill affect, if you do use it your bikes chrome I wouldn’t leave it on too long just in case, if your chrome has something on it then try Mr sheen , spray on and leave a few seconds then rub off .
     
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  7. brown mouse

    brown mouse Elite Member

    Sep 15, 2018
    2,288
    943
    East Midlands, UK
    If you have to resort to scraping... I've successfully done this on my chrome downpipes with the edge of some plastic like and old bank card. It's sharp enough to scrape well, but soft enough to not leave any noticeable scratching.
     
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  8. Schuey

    Schuey Senior Member

    Mar 3, 2020
    491
    113
    Midlands
    Never had a chance yesterday, but I will give it a go today and report back guys.
     
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  9. Kinjane

    Kinjane Active Member

    Oct 15, 2017
    233
    43
    Bristol, Land of Enger
    Autoglym active insect remover.

    Also great for bird droppings on the car, they just require a little bit more spray and a little bit more soak time than the bugs do.
     
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  10. Schuey

    Schuey Senior Member

    Mar 3, 2020
    491
    113
    Midlands
    Ok guys, just got out of the garage and WD40 along with a tea towel did the trick, the stubborn ones have come off and I'm happy now. Many thanks for the tips chaps! :)

    While I was there and as per Mr Fillingham's advice on YouTube, I coated my wheels and spokes with a specialist wheel wax. I had some 'Auto Finesse Mint Rims' that I had used on the car, but I hadn't' thought of using it on the bike rims until I saw him recommend it to protect from corrosion. Took a bit of effort but hopefully worth it in the end :cool:
     
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