What does everybody use to clean their headers?

[Stichill_imp]

Impressive, Stichill

Did you pull the exhaust to get that shine?

It’s good stuff. No pipe removal; you just wrap your rag around the pipe and buff back and forth like a shoe shine. Where you can’t buff, just rub with your fingers and liberal amounts of cleaner.

[Banned_imp]

This may be heresy, but I kinda like the "golden glow" of the SS pipes on my 14 Std. Read a story once where Holman and Moody advised that the way they get the finish on the original GT 40 headers (not Ford reboot) was to wipe them down with WD40 and let the heat go to work! I have tried this and it produces a very even golden color.

I'm with you and mine are evenly colored.

I'm with you and mine are evenly colored.
Yep, count me as firmly entrenched in Camp Bronze Coloured Headers.

It's one my favorite features of the bike.

[Guth_imp]

I'm cool with the light bronze look. That's how it is with the Hawk GT as well. I use Honda's own "Pro Honda Metal Polish". The Pro Honda Spray Cleaner and Polish worked so good everywhere else, I figured that I'd give their metal cleaner a try on the headers. It's likely a rebranded, repackaged version of a product made by someone else, but I have no idea which product it is if that's so. It's a cream that you apply with a rag and then rub it in (i.e. polish) using good old elbow grease (I'm not sure what the chemical to elbow grease cleaning ratio would be in this case, lol.) At any rate, it takes care of the blotchiness and leaves the headers with a consistent shade of light bronze. If you spend enough time rubbing it in, you can pretty much remove the bronze look completely for those who have such a goal.

Sorry that I don't have a recent daytime photo. But there's enough light in this shot for you to get the general idea.

[misterprofessionality]

thanks everybody for your input here. bringing the discussion back to the Optiglanz, since i've looked up a few videos of it being used and it seems pretty magical, do you folks know of any retailers that sell it? an internet search seems to only turn it up on amazon. I'd like to get some cleaning in tomorrow if i can.

[clearviewx]

I'm cool with the light bronze look. That's how it is with the Hawk GT as well. I use Honda's own "Pro Honda Metal Polish". The Pro Honda Spray Cleaner and Polish worked so good everywhere else, I figured that I'd give their metal cleaner a try on the headers. It's likely a rebranded, repackaged version of a product made by someone else, but I have no idea which product it is if that's so. It's a cream that you apply with a rag and then rub it in (i.e. polish) using good old elbow grease (I'm not sure what the chemical to elbow grease cleaning ratio would be in this case, lol.) At any rate, it takes care of the blotchiness and leaves the headers with a consistent shade of light bronze. If you spend enough time rubbing it in, you can pretty much remove the bronze look completely for those who have such a goal.

Sorry that I don't have a recent daytime photo. But there's enough light in this shot for you to get the general idea.

Those look awesome.

[Gumby 1100_imp]

thanks everybody for your input here. bringing the discussion back to the Optiglanz, since i've looked up a few videos of it being used and it seems pretty magical, do you folks know of any retailers that sell it? an internet search seems to only turn it up on amazon. I'd like to get some cleaning in tomorrow if i can.

I never tried it, but Napoleon makes a similar product to remove the discoloration from Stainless Steel BBQs: Stainless Steel Cleaner P/N: 10231

You might be able to find it at your local BBQ supply store or:
https://www.appliancesconnection.com/nap...10231.html

Word of caution: The active ingredient in 10231 is Sulfuric Acid vs Phosphoric Acid as used in OptiGlanz. Both require the use of rubber gloves and thorough rinsing with water afterward to neutralize, but you would want to be careful and not let it contact parts other than the headers.

I personally used the OptiGlanz, but I never sprayed it on. I used a low abrasive ScotchBrite pad to apply it which also helped remove some of the more stubborn spotting or "freckles".

[misterprofessionality]

good tip gumby. all the videos show them spraying it on all willy nilly like it's windex. perhaps there's a more controlled squirt bottle i can use to get the same effect of dousing the pipes without it spraying everywhere wildly. using a sponge is good too, but i'm still going to need to spray or squirt some of it in order to get the inside/backside of the pipes thoroughly.

[kennyw]

I think the black spots come from riding in the rain more than anything. Optiglanze didn't help with removing them but did return the rest of my headers to clean stainless. Then I quit trying to clean them. I do remember the only vendor I found selling it was located in England selling it on Amazon.

[misterprofessionality]

interesting. the videos i saw showed bye blotchiness and the color just melting right off. i do ride in the rain, since i can't call out of work just for rain. i guess all I can do is give it a try and report on my success or failure.

that must be why it's only on amazon. it's from europe. i found a website in germany selling it cheaper than amazon, even with shipping.

[kennyw]

Well, I ride year round in the Seattle area so my bike sees a lot of rain. If I didn't wait until 30K mike's to remove the build up, they may have come clean.