Boot marks on exhasut

[MikeT]

Don't know about the rest of you but I keep marking my exhaust by letting my boots rub against it, by the time the resulting black mark is noticed its usually well burnt onto the exhaust and very difficult to remove :(

Well after trying various automotive cleaning products (all useless) I have discovered the solution that works best for me is Cif Kitchen/bathroom cream cleaner (used to be called Jif). Whatever is in Cif works a treat on the just some moderate elbow grease and that burnt on stuff disappears fast. :D

[dbrick]

I had the same problem in spades when I moved my biike's footpegs down and forward; there was even *more* room for my left heel to melt on the muffler. I solved it by cutting a piece of sheet metal and bolting it to the footplate; the sheet metal "shield" now occupies the space between the rider's footpeg and the passenger's. You can see a couple of pictures on the how-to article I posted about changing the riding position.

[Joisey]

JC Whitney sells a 7" long curved heat shield for this very purpose. I had the same boot-melt problem on the /5 and it looked and worked fine. It says that it is for a 1-3/4" or 2" diameter pipe, but I know for a fact that it can be bent (gently) to fit a larger diameter without damaging the chrome. Don't know if the RS will be a suitable application, but might be worth a try.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ProductDisplay/s-10101/p-2643/c-10111

[Stitch]

If you don't want to bolt on extra pieces of iron-mongery try "Solvol Autosol". I've used it to get a shine back on the headers so it'll certainly shift a bit of burned-on boot sole (works well on aluminium, as well) Cheers, Stitch. ;)

[Unity]

I don't know if this would work on boot marks, but I discovered that Glass Wax by Gold Seal does a good job of cleaning stainless mufflers. I had some baked on something-or-other on my RT muffler (legacy of original owner) that wouldn't budge with conventional cleaners. The dealer I bought from had given up on removing it. Glass Wax ("Glass and Metal Cleaner") took it off with little effort -- and made the rest of the muffler look great too. :p

--John

[Unity]

Here's another product:

"BLUE-JOB concentrated powder is specially formulated to remove blueing and stains on chrome pipes, copper, brass, or stainless steel. BLUE-JOB quickly removes exhaust pipe blueing or discoloration and surface rust, and polishes your pipes to a high gloss shine in one step. Also removes burnt-on shoe sole and rainwear rubber."
(Quoted from CycleGadgets' "New Items" page http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/?cat=NEW ) :o

--John :cool: