by Bill C. for webBikeWorld.com
Our recent review of Blue Away motorcycle exhaust blue
remover brought several emails from webBikeWorld visitors, all
recommending Blue Job chrome polish as an alternative.
We quickly ordered a container and came to the
realization yet again that it's better not to be too obsessed with
removing that blue color on your bike's exhaust pipes.
This stuff is expensive! $11.95 plus $4.00
shipping for a 0.5 ounce (that's a miniscule 14 grams) container.
Which also gives us yet one more reason to like our
Triumph Tiger hack bike -- the Tiger's exhaust pipes are not chrome
plated!
We're probably asking too much by trying to restore the
nearly twenty-year-old BMW R65's exhaust pipes; over the years they've
become stained and scratched and have way more problems than a simple
blue sheen.
But Rick has dreams of showing the Beemer next year
during its twentieth birthday, so we've been experimenting with various
ointments and restoratives to see how much of its youth and vigor can be
brought back for the judges.
The R65's pipes do have a mottled coat of blue, starting
right at the exhaust nut on the front of each cylinder and extending
down around underneath the bike. The Blue Away product we tried
just a couple of weeks ago seemed to have no effect at all on the
exhaust. Blue Away is a blue creamy liquid substance that's
applied just like a paint polish or wax.
Blue Job is quite different; it's a white odorless
powder. The directions call for mixing it into a paste with a
little bit of water and spreading it on the exhaust pipe. Where
the Blue Away product had a gritty feel, Blue Job seems to do its stuff
with some type of chemical reaction.
I had a tiny open cut on my finger and the mixture
stings, so I'd guess that has some type of acid, but the company claims
that the formula has a "balanced pH" that can be used by people with
chemical sensitivities.
The mixture
quickly turns to a white liquid as it's being rubbed on the pipe, and
the blue color on the exhaust does seem to disappear without much fuss.
The Blue Job package claims that it will remove "the
exhaust pipe blues, burnt on shoe rubber, golds [sic], rust and fingerprints".
Does anyone know what "golds" are??
Unfortunately, although Blue Job claims to remove
"bluing or discoloration and surface rust", it did not remove the brownish
stains and other baked in and caked on dirt on the R65's vintage pipes.
Blue Job carries a "100% guarantee" by the company, who
states that they offer a "100% refund of purchase price, if not
completely satisfied".
It's not easy to take a photograph of something as shiny
as chrome under lights, especially with the limited exposure range of a
digital camera. Even the R65's old pipes have too much shine left
for the camera to fully capture the differences in coloration.
So we couldn't
get a good before/after photo, but the line that delineates the sections
that were untreated and treated with Blue Job on the exhaust pipe in the
photos below are readily apparent.
 |
 |
|
Area treated with Blue Job to the right of
the yellow arrow, bluing to the left. |
Section of exhaust pipe treated with Blue
Job is indicated by the brackets. The bluing on either
side is readily apparent. |
Conclusion
If you really, really have the jones to get rid of that blue sheen on
your pipes, Blue Job seems to be about as good as it gets. In the
meantime, we'll
keep looking for that miracle elixir that will completely restore the
BMW's old exhaust pipes...
|
wBW Product
Review: Blue Job |
| Available
From:
Spot X
(The company goes by about 3 different names). |
Suggested
Retail Price: $11.95 plus $4.00 S/H |
| Use on:
Chrome. |
Made
in: U.S.A. |
| Product
Comments: Works fairly well at removing exhaust pipe bluing,
but did not remove the more serious stains on our admittedly older BMW
exhaust pipes. |
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From "B.K." (6/09): "Hi, I just finished reading the
Blue Job exhaust pipe cleaner product review by Bill W, if I remember
correctly, and he asked the question " if anyone knows what the golds are".
Gold is the first discoloration you will get in chrome
exhaust, if the heat is not intense enough to turn the pipe blue. Just
a milder form of discoloration. Hope this helps."