Cleaning chrome exhaust, tips?

[DucatiBastard]

I thought I missed the giant foam cup blowing across the road, from the smell at the next few lights turns out luck was not on my side.

The cup had melted onto the left header pipe (this being on the Kaw)

The bike and cup remnants have cooled, now I'm left with nasty, smeared, burnt-on crap on my chrome pipes.

Anyone with good tips for safely cleaning chrome?  I had a scotch-pad lying around and immediately realized that was a bad idea.  Is there a certain grade of steel wool? A tough cleaner?

Much obliged!

[Buckethead]

To avoid scratching the finish, I'd be tempted to wage chemical warfare.

Depending on how "carbonized" it is, Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) or an equivalent solvent should soften the plastic to make it easier to remove. Douse a rag with the solvent, then tape the rag on the pipe over the melted plastic. Let it sit for 30 minutes, then come back to it with a plastic or phenolic scraper blade and remove as much as you can. Careful, tho; MEK is nasty shit. You'll want a lot of ventilation. Penetrating lubricant (I use PB Blaster at work) will get rid of the tape adhesive, and rubbing alcohol (or more MEK) will get rid of the penetrating lubricant.

If you don't feel like dicking around with the MEK, the plastic or phenolic scraper should be able to get rid of most of it. It'll just take more work, and makes it more likely to scratch the finish.

Follow up either one with chrome polish of your choice just to make it nice and shiny again.

Note: Depending on the condition of the chrome and the metal underneath, there's a chance that no matter what you do it's gonna leave a mark, or that it might even just flake off. So, you know. That's a possibility.

[SpikeC]

 I would be inclined to try acetone first. It is a good solvent and not nearly as nasty as mek.

[lazylightnin717]

denatured alcohol perhaps

[ducej]

WD40, your cure for everything... (at least a lot).

[dlearl476]

Note: Depending on the condition of the chrome and the metal underneath, there's a chance that no matter what you do it's gonna leave a mark, or that it might even just flake off. So, you know. That's a possibility.

Yep. I had pretty much the same thing happen to my Moto Guzzi, but with a plastic shopping bag. Strangely enough the "mark" it left was shinier chrome, which never blued. (now I need to patent a process where I melt plastic onto chrome to keep it from bluing!)

What I did:let the pipe cool. Took a brand new single edge razor blade and scraped at the shallowest angle I could along the pipe. (You want to use a new blade. The slightest imperfection in the edge will leave scratches.). Once I got all the plastic off I polished it with 3M chrome polish. It looked perfect once I finished polishing but, like I said, after a few miles I could faintly detect the area where the bag melted because the surround area continued to discolor.

With styrofoam, I might be tempted to try goo-gone before anything else. I know it dissolves the foam layer in the double stick tape I use at work.

[DucatiBastard]

Some very good ideas here, don't know why I didn't think of soaking a rag and leaving it on the spot, I do this all the time at work with paint thinner for new part stickers.  I think ill try this with all the products mentioned (maybe not the MEK, that stuff sounds intimidating).  I may even be able to get some plastic razor blades from work, and we've got plenty of metal ones.

Seriously, thanks for all the responses, I'll update when a cure is found!