Polishing the FZ6 exhaust...

[MrMogensen]

Is this stuff any good for polishing the exhaust? It's slowly becomming more and more bronzelooking.

Hein Gericke (UK) Ltd.

I am guessing that the exhaust on the FZ6 is made of stainless steel?
Of course I primarily want to polish the the front part (4 to 1), since the rear is covered by the aluminium cover..

***

Another question!
I was unlucky to ride on a road with quite fresh new tarmac, and got a few squirts on the front part of the exhaust (4 to 1). I doubt the above mentioned product can help here as it is for polishing not cleaning. Whats good for cleaning these annoying little stripes of tarmac? The exhaust was hot so the tarmax kind of seems melted into the steel (can't really feel it when letting a finger run over the spots).

 

[goker]

Never tried that one, but, here is what some of others (including myself) use:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-general-discussion/23957-cleaning-exhaust-pipe-assy-1-a.html

If you search for Autosol, you will find even more threads.

 

[MrMogensen]

Owner at Hein Gericke in Flensburg (Germany) mailet me back and recommended this instead.

Hein Gericke (UK) Ltd.

If the product is about 4 times as good as it looks (because it looks crap) then I'll be sure to let you know... it's gotta be "magic".

 

[Norbert]

I've tried NEVR-DULL.
It NEVR worked!

Seriously, it took a lot of "elbow grease" for this thing to change my headers to silver, and I NEVR (ok last time I do this) was able to get the part of the headers coming out of the engine to turn silver. I assume it's the hardest to polish since it's when the exhaust is the hottest. I got the same results with good old WD-40 and the soft rated steel wool. The steel wool + WD-40 combo did a good job of removing the dirt and corrosion that has built up, which is all I really care about. It did a better job at that than the NEVR-DULL. I think the Hein Gericke guy is over-hyping the NEVR-DULL.

I'll probably just stick with steel wool + WD-40 and clean my headers once a season to keep the corrosion off (it's not much to begin with). Anyways there's my 2 cents.

 

[MrMogensen]

Hmm dang I already orderet it - but didn't really cost much so I'll survive. Ordered other products anyways (for cleaning the bike before I stow it away in a few weeks during winther).
Perhaps I could combine the NEVR stuff with the product I started this thread with. But I dislike the matte-like finish on the pictures instead of the shiny silver-like finish on the standard front part of the exhaust.

Hmm have been looking for a lower cowl anyways, so if I get one sometime soon I only have to put some effort into polishing the first 4x20 centimeters of exhaust pipe. ;-)

 

[Kriswithak]

The common consensus when this was last asked was that if you ride alot your going to be spending more time cleaning your headers than riding your bike.
Every ride they'll start to go back to that horrible blotchy/bronzed look and it needs constant care to keep it in shape.

I think someone found a more long term solution with the exhaust being finished in some way (normally in black) that wouldn't colour, fade or chip. I can't remember who first mentioned it but I think Wolfman was getting it done.

 

[MrMogensen]

Kriswithak >>> actually makes very good sense. Everytime you clean and polish the exhaust you actually "peel" a layer of the metal, only making it more and more vulnerable - at least that's what I think?
I have the 2004/05 edition with alu/silver engine so would look kind of crappy if I had the front 4 to 1 painted black. The sub/lower cowl makes more and more sense.

 

[Dunny]

Is this stuff any good for polishing the exhaust? It's slowly becomming more and more bronzelooking.

Hein Gericke (UK) Ltd.

I am guessing that the exhaust on the FZ6 is made of stainless steel?
Of course I primarily want to polish the the front part (4 to 1), since the rear is covered by the aluminium cover..

***

Another question!
I was unlucky to ride on a road with quite fresh new tarmac, and got a few squirts on the front part of the exhaust (4 to 1). I doubt the above mentioned product can help here as it is for polishing not cleaning. Whats
good for cleaning these annoying little stripes of tarmac? The exhaust was hot so the tarmax kind of seems melted into the steel (can't really feel it when letting a finger run over the spots).

I use a product called Autosol (comes in a tube looks like toothpaste) a little elbow grease comes up like new, as for the tarmac kerosine will soften and remove it and will not harm paint work.