Plastic on Exhaust - any ideas?

So I was driving back from Jo-burg to Pretoria on the N1 with the 1200GS. A car in front of me picked up a plastic bag and I drove straight into it. As I looked down, I saw it got caught on the lower left crash bar and draped dramatically over the cylinder head. I yanked it off, but the damage was already done. As I stopped at the office, I could smell it! It turns out that the plastic bag wrapped around the left exhaust where it makes that beautiful downward arch. Actually, it was not a plastic bag at that stage anymore. The extreme temperatures changed it into some sort of sticky goo (when it's hot, at least).

Does anyone have any advice to offer on how to get that stuff off the exhaust? Any help would be much appreciated!

Hi Marnus
I had the same problem with my exhaust pipe canister.I took steel wool and washed it down with brasso. It worked on my exhaust canister.

not going to be easy, not complicated but somewhat time consuming.

try "Meguiars All Metal Polish"



for sale at Makro amongst others

Had the same problem - I used DIAMOND Guard and a bit (actually a lot) of elbow grease!

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll attempt some of these suggestions this weekend and report back.

It happened to me too. Was fortunate to have to send the bike in for service soon afterwards. Upon receipt of the bike the stains were gone, vanished, poof - just like that!

Wonderful chaps there at Bavarian...

At work the other day, my bike cover slipped onto the left side exhaust header. I let it cool down all day and went to work gently with a knife, cutting all the black gunge off until it was clean. Once I got home, I used some Autosol polish* and got the final traces off the pipe.

Just don't try to do it when the pipe is still HOT...!


(*PS - I got that tip from the guys at Bavarian a while back)