Stain-"Less" Headers

[furious_blue_imp]

A followup:
I chased down a bottle of optiglanz and used it (once) on my '13 headers.
Spray on, wipe off and rinse with water.
Without any elbow grease I was greeted with shiny un-brown pipes.
Yeah, that stuff is expensive @24-28 a bottle, but it saves so much time and physical effort that it's worth it.

My old '13 after optiglanz treatment on the right in photo:
http://www.cb1100forum.com/forum/attachm...p?aid=1469

The first time I saw a CB in the wild was in the Honda tent at Daytona Bike Week last year. The bike's headers were covered with brown stains. I figured it must have been ridden down a dirt road just before they loaded it on the truck for the show, and nobody bothered to clean it up.

Of course it turns out the header pipes get brown, crappy-looking stains every time I ride in the wet. I assume everyone else's does too. If this were a knock-around bike like my VStrom was, I'd either ignore it or spray VHS flat black on the pipes and forget it. But it's not, the CB's look and appearance are a big part of why I bought it. Rusty-looking headers are not going to cut it.

The only thing that really seems to clean them up is Simichrome and a LOT of elbow grease. BMW markets a spray that's supposed to work, but it's even more expensive than Simichrome.

What do y'all think/do about this?

I was curious and looked up this optiglanz stuff. Not cheap but if works by just spray on and wipe off with no elbow grease, it would be worth it to me.

I was curious and looked up this optiglanz stuff. Not cheap but if works by just spray on and wipe off with no elbow grease, it would be worth it to me.

I was curious and looked up this optiglanz stuff. Not cheap but if works by just spray on and wipe off with no elbow grease, it would be worth it to me.
I followed your lead and found Optiglanz on Amazon.com. $28 for a 12 oz. bottle. It's not only easy to use as you said, IT WORKS! My headers look as if they are chrome. It reminds me of Tarn-x Silver Cleaner. You spray it on the pipes and the gold/brown tarnish disolves and runs down the pipes. Leave it on for one minute and rinse with water. After the application, I went on a 100 mile ride. They still look perfect.

Thanks for the lead. . . no need to purchase chrome headers now.

Good to hear !
I gave up on the Simichrome and sweat regime in a losing war with browned Stainless headers on my long gone Speed Triple.
Using Optiglanz (or rather letting Optiglanz do the work !) on the CB1100 almost seemed like 'cheating'.
My one regret about trading in my '13 was that I would no longer have the chance to revel in seeing Optiglanz doing its stuff :-)
I did pass my bottle of Optiglanz along with the bike to the next owner, hope he likes it.