I've started cleaning and refurbishing the components on the Raleigh Lenton, and have run into one problem: For some reason the original owner stuck bits of red reflector tape in various places on the bike. Now, I've pretty much resigned myself to living with the tape on the painted frame and fork (I really don't want to risk damaging the original finish and decals), but would really like to remove the stuff from the alloy bits.

This is the old, classic, hard tape with the silver glue backing. The stuff that, once put on, never comes off. And when you try to remove it, it comes off in little chips.

Anybody have a favorite method for getting rid of this stuff? Speed would be appreciated, but I'm putting a premium on minimizing damage to the parts. Which means I consider using an X-Acto blade and taking off little bits at a time as the last resort.

Heat, I would try heat to soften the adhesive enough to maybe get the tape to come off without exerting so much force as to break it. Then GooGone for the adhesive.

What Khatfull said, either a hair dryer or a cautiously used hot air gun.

Works wonders.

That works, but every time you slip and go too deep, you get a scratch; and until you perfect your technique, it's unavoidable. I know this from personal experience. Next time I try this, I'm going to apply heat to soften the adhesive, using a hair dryer, heat gun, boiling water, electric hot pad, or whatever it takes. For tools, use wood rather than metal. If you split a piece of hard wood, oak or the like, you'll get some nasty sharp edges that you can work under the tape without scratching anything. Nasty job, though. Good luck!

heat/soak with goo gone, overnight if necessary that stuff works wonders.

I heated a sticker on my stumpjumper much like the ones you describe. I used a B&D heatgun, did the trick. I took my time and didn't let the head tube the sticker was on get too hot. It took me a while, but everything came off cleanly, albeit in little pieces.

I got the bulk of the same stuff off the World (Schwinn) Voyageur using a hot day, a heat gun or hair dryer, my pocket knife, gentle pressure, patience, and many breaks. You have to soften the material as well as the adhesive. I then used duct tape and shipping tape to eventually lift off any remaining adhesive. A pocket knife works better than an x-acto knife because it has a better surface to lift with while pinching an edge of the tape against the blade, plus the less-razorlike edge works more like a bull dozer than a cutter when trying to get an edge of tape to start lifting up.

You should be done by August.

See above or visit How To Remove Unwanted Stickers at MY "TEN SPEEDS".

Hope this is a help.

That damn reflective tape, once hardened (which is, like, instantly, I think) is a real pain to remove. I've been doing it a bit at a time on a current build. I'm using a blow dryer and a plastic edged scraper to avoid the problems inherent with using an X-Acto knife blade. It is painstakingly slow, and I'm finding that in the spots where the tape covers the paint... it bring paint off with it. Fortunately, most of mine is over chrome, but still...!

Looks like I'm in for an interesting weekend. Thanks for the advice. Fortunately, one of the tools I inherited was a heat gun.

Careful with the heat gun, it will cause burns on you and make paint bubble if held close to the paint too long.