Well, YMMV but, I just went out to try the magnet test. First I tried it on my wife's Suburban chrome bumper, the magnet stuck. Then I moved over to the TBA, my magnet stuck to the silencers, the side covers (both sides) the headers, tank, and the rear fender.
I used a "promo" style refrigerator magnet from the vet's office. It has very litte weight and good magnetic strength I guess.
I used "Blue Job" today on my left header...it's now clean as a whistle in about 12-15 minutes with very light buffing using a battery operated variable speed drill/driver. The gold and blue are gone but there is a slight "dull" strip where the blue was the worst.
My headers were replaced under warrenty two years ago by the dealer. Way back then - as soon as I got home from the shop, after a short ride, I noticed a slight blue area on the first bend of the left header. Took another ride a couple of days later and it got a little worse. I called the shop mechanic and he asked me to check the header bolts. Well as you might guess they were not tightened all the way on the left header and this lead to air being pulled in and thus the blueing. I didn't make a big deal out of it then since they had just replaced the headers at no cost and the "new blue" was small compared to the old headers so I just sucked it up and lived with it.
As of today, they look fine when compared to the other "signs of age" and regular riding you can find on the bike at other parts. In summary, and for me, this is a "rider" not a show bike! With well over 15,000 miles on it - what the heck? It looks like I ride... and there's nuthin wrong with that.
