Removing the brown staining from the stainless Cat

[mpdouglas]

Hi All,

I am a brand new S1000RR owner. It's my 7th BMW bike in 12 years. I've just migrated from a K1300S and already loving the RR.

I'm a bit of a cleaning freak as I commute in to central London throughout the year and the overall finish of the bike can go downhill pretty quickly if you don't stay on top of cleaning.

I thought I'd share one of my cleaning techniques with you:

To remove the brown staining (almost rust like in appearance) from stainless steel headers/cat (I see many photos where the visible lower half of the cat is very stained), I use Wonder Wheels, alloy wheel cleaner. It's mildly acidic for removing brake dust from car wheels) but works an absolute charm on stainless steel. You just have to be careful to not splash it around onto normal steel/plated items as the acidity can make them rust over time. A soft brush (as comes in the box with the Wonder Wheels) is perfect for applying it and it only takes little agitation and a minute or two of waiting for it to work.


Mark

PS This is the product

Wonder Wheels

Its the "full fat" version - not the new mild Wonder Wheels "U" product they have brought out for unsealed alloys.

[3blueS1000rr]

Originally Posted by mpdouglas

Hi All,

I am a brand new S1000RR owner. It's my 7th BMW bike in 12 years. I've just migrated from a K1300S and already loving the RR.

I'm a bit of a cleaning freak as I commute in to central London throughout the year and the overall finish of the bike can go downhill pretty quickly if you don't stay on top of cleaning.

I thought I'd share one of my cleaning techniques with you:

To remove the brown staining (almost rust like in appearance) from stainless steel headers/cat (I see many photos where the visible lower half of the cat is very stained), I use Wonder Wheels, alloy wheel cleaner. It's mildly acidic for removing brake dust from car wheels) but works an absolute charm on stainless steel. You just have to be careful to not splash it around onto normal steel/plated items as the acidity can make them rust over time. A soft brush (as comes in the box with the Wonder Wheels) is perfect for applying it and it only takes little agitation and a minute or two of waiting for it to work.


Mark

PS This is the product

Wonder Wheels

Its the "full fat" version - not the new mild Wonder Wheels "U" product they have brought out for unsealed alloys.

Yep be carefull with alloy cleaner around painted surfaces...one of the substances in it is Germanium GE02 , i used to make my own mix, 15 % Germanium with water and soap....

[bens1000rr]

i painted my cat black and you dont have to worry about cleaning.

[Deadsp1]

I use AUTOSOL best stuff out there and very safe to use,makes the CAT shine and the headers gleam!!

[SPK]

Originally Posted by bens1000rr

i painted my cat black and you dont have to worry about cleaning.

Sounds nice.
Any photos available from this one?

[YELLOPER1L]

I have bits of melted bike cover on the collector and the wee but of pipe just in front of it. I've tried scrubbing but I can't seem to be able to get the melted plastic off. Any suggestions?

[Deadsp1]

Originally Posted by YELLOPER1L

I have bits of melted bike cover on the collector and the wee but of pipe just in front of it. I've tried scrubbing but I can't seem to be able to get the melted plastic off. Any suggestions?

The only way is to get it nice and hot again and use some WD40,i done this on my sp and it soon came off! Or use some Autosol/metal cleaner,again making sure it's hot.

[mpdouglas]

Try Cellulose Thinner on a microfibre cloth. I had a mishap with a BMW tailpack on my K1300S and it melted all over my brand new Titanium Akrapovic end can. 3 hours of cellulose thinner and gentle rubbing with the cloth and I had every last drop removed without a single mark on the can (and Titanium scratches up really easily). Let the thinner soften the plastic - use the chemical action rather than lots of rubbing. It's how I get the melted tar off my exhausts too. I cleaned the Akra that way every week for 2 years and it looked brand new when I sold it last month. Just be careful not to splash it over any painted finishes.

[skapan]

MEK would work well for that too, but it's banned in most of the civilized world. Too bad. Probably thinners on a Scotchbrite pad would do it too with a bit of elbow grease. I kinda like the stains, so I've taken the easy way out.

[RAVEN]

Scotchbrite and WD-40. Followed by a nice polishing with Autosol