Polishing the exhaust?

Airman · Post by **Airman** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:05 pm

I think the Simichrome is a good product for this. I've used it several times just to shine the pipes up. I don't try to take the blue off, but I like the colors to be halfway even left to right. One of th guys here suggested polishing the pipes then allowing them to "age" a bit in the garage. This will supposedly give us that even color without waterspots and the like.

adg44 · Post by **adg44** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:11 pm

duke wrote:The blue is OK, but my x-link pipe looks brown/grey. I bought some chemical cleaning stuff and will shine it, although I do not

Yeah, if you see in my picture I did that on the right side, but didn't do the left side. I only did one pass with Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish, and it helped quite a bit. That polish is fine for all metals, however I think they make one specifically for stainless steel (which the pipes are).

Samiam · Post by **Samiam** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:32 pm

I bought a tube of Semichrome just after buying this bike thinking I would be polishing on it all the time same as my last bike, some years ago. It was a Harley and I did get a lot of pleasure in keeping it clean, shiny and in perfect condition.

Strangely, I've washed the Roadster only twice in the sixteen months I've owned it. I've waxed it exactly once and rarely do more than check oil, tires and a general pre-flight before riding. My pipes are blue, grey and olive and I think they're fine that way.

The BMW is literally a rider much more so than any other bike I've owned. It's also the ugliest bike I've ever owned (ducking for cover!) but I think BMW puts little stock in the looks of its motorcycles. My previous bikes, Triumphs, BSA, Norton and Harleys were actually lovely to look at. The Roadster is not pretty but the most roadworthy of all bikes I've had.

Post by **CycleRob** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:59 pm

I've cleaned my pipes to like-new twice in 57,000 miles. both times I used Blue-Away to get the discoloration out, then Semichrome to get the final chrome high luster. You can do it by hand (fingers) but a slow turning electric drill and buffer pad does it quick and painless.

Start with the pipes still on the bike and do all areas you can access, to completion. Then remove the pipes to get the places you couldn't reach before. Products are available at most M/C shops and here is a website just to show what they look like.

http://www.marbeck.com/cleaners_househo ... hrome.html

A picture is worth a 1,000 words . . . . .