How to Remove Plastic

          On one of the other pages at this site, I tell the story of an encounter with a sheet of heavy plastic during a fall ride. It covered the lower half of the exhaust system with great globs of melted, stuck-on plastic. That stuff resisted all efforts to pull it off.

          First, I took a pair of pliers and pulled off as much of the big, globby stuff as I could manage. Then I thought about how to get rid of the rest  —  the stuff I couldn't get a grip on with the pliers, and the stuff that had already burned itself into a nice thick coating of black, hardened goo...

          Steel wool it off? Nope. I'd scratch the chrome on the pipes... Maybe a Scotchbrite pad? No go. I'd have been there for days. Hmmm... How about some Simichrome? Useless. At that point, I started thinking about dissolving the stuff.

          A friend in the painting business suggested trying some lacquer thinner. Well, it sure stunk up the garage, and I started to feel sort of loose, and floaty... Even with the doors open. Seems there wasn't any wind that day. Another friend suggested 5F5 paint remover, and that seemed to attack the plastic, but I was afraid it would attack the paint on the frame, swingarm, and exhaust support brackets, so that was out.

          A few days later, I was talking to Mike, at C&C Motorcycle Center in Schenectady, NY. We were talking about what engine work would produce the results I wanted for next year. I happened to tell him the story of the "plastic assault", and he thought for a moment. And then said, "Easy Off oven cleaner."

          Well, at first I was inclined to laugh  —  after all, this stuff was resisting anything that wouldn't melt any part of the bike it touched. But what the hell. There's nothing to lose, right?

          Somewhere, there is still a God.

          With a brand new can of "Microwave Easy Off" on the bench, I started the FXR, and let it run until the pipes were a bit too hot to touch. I figured if I couldn't touch the pipes without getting burned, that was probably about right for the Easy Off.

          Then I killed the engine, and sprayed on the Easy Off. Let it sit for a minute or two... And using a soft copper scouring pad, OFF CAME THAT DAMNED PLASTIC!

          There was a bonus, too; all the Easy Off that oversprayed on to the exhaust mounts and the swing arm, came right off with a wipe of a rag  —  and it worked better than Gunk or any other degreaser I've tried. From now on, it's "Microwave Easy Off" for this FXR!

          When I look at 'em now, there's no way to tell they ever looked so bad I was thinking of buying new ones. And the folks who see the bike don't laugh any more, though when I tell the story, they seem to have to turn around for a while...