Recently a girl got her boot on the pipes on the bike and there is melted rubber all down the side of the pipes. What is the best way to remove this rubber without scratching the heck out of the pipes.
The rubber melted because the pipe was hot, get the pipe hot and wipe it off. Really it works. If it doesn't all come off, only a thin layer will be remaining, then you can use your chemicals. Careful useing a razor blade, you will scratch the pipe.
I actually cleaned all of my aluminum with laquer thinner also, just before applying a protective coating to the bike. Used it on many occasions to clean off road tar & boot marks with no ill effects.
Y'all need to go out and get a polish called Simichrome. It's German and it's works great to get rubber of metal, stains off aluminum etc. This stuff is awesome.
I use a product called "Goof Off -2"
It works quite well and is cheap.
It also removes grease and tar.
The best part is that it neutralizes quickly and allows for a fresh coat of wax right away.
As stated before,,, I wipe the bulk off while the pipe is still hot,,,, and then hit the residue with the goof off.
Well once again I had to use Easy-Off on my pipes. And that stuff really works great. Warm up the bike, spray that crap on a rag, wipe it on and wait ten min. Gone, good bye shoe print. After being begged for a hour I gave in and gave this pain in my ass a ride. Ya she loved it, until she was getting off and in 1 quick motion, burned a nice big spot on her leg and melted her dam shoe on my V&H's. Well the pipes look great again thanks to easy-off. Her leg wasn't that lucky. Maybe now she'll stop bothering me for rides.