francophile 

I had to remove some factory stickers from the painted surfaces of my car. I found these INVALUABLE and will be using the other 90-something I have left after removing huge sections of clear rock chip protectors. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XX7K7Z6/

I then turned around and used them to remove some decal adhesive from the chainstay on my Trek 410 and my Cannondale SR500's chainstay. You just need to be super careful to keep the plastic blade as close to parallel to the work surface as possible.

However, when dealing with adhesive, tar and road paint, this stuff makes mincemeat of it without impacting paint: https://www.turtlewax.com/en-us/our-...icker-remover/

merziac

Looking marvelous again.

After the fact but might be of help with the last few specks.

I had to chisel the petrified grease off the 58 Paramount when I got it.

It covered the entire BB, seatclamp, upper and lower HS cup, shift levers and rear DO area's.

It was very scary on 60 year old paint.

Initially started with Simple Green and a ultrasonic tooth brush which helped to start soften it but the Simple Green was trying to lighten the paint but wasn't permanent.

After elbow grease and misc. cleaners I worked on it with popsicle sticks and carefully chiseled it off.

It looks greasy in the pics but very little of that came off, 75% underneath was locked down hard.

UKFan4Sure

Whatever you do, start mild. And have a 6-pack handy in the fridge. It's gonna take a while and a bit of patience. I'd start with my fingernail on each drop and see how hard the paint has set up. If it's the reflective paint used on lines, it might actually cure softer than other base paints.

**EDIT** Further reading reveals you've solved your problem. I'll leave my comment for future searches as I believe it's sound advice for anyone facing this issue.

jamesdak 

I will add I also used some Q'tips to get into the tight spots and even toothpicks. I just kept every area I was working on lubricated with the liquid detailing wax.

I should ride but at the moment I'm caught up processing pics from a beautiful antique chair I recently found. Want to get those done so I can start trying to age and possibly ID it. Vintage furniture is not my thing....

francophile 

Pro tip: Caked-on grease rubs off readily w/PB Blaster. Smells all to hell and back, but the stuff works wonders on hardened grease. Medium-bristle toothbrush and a squirt of PB Blaster in its cap will remove 50 year old grease in seconds and I've never seen it damage or stain paint.

Unca_Sam

I popped back in to say that the clay bar kit from Meguiar's worked a treat on my indefinite-age overspray. I'm glad that your solution worked as well.

verktyg 

3M is one of the larger suppliers of paint used for road marking in the US.

This web site gives details about the three types of paint that they provide:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...94857497&rt=r3

Their Polyurea Road Marking Material drys tack free in about 2 minutes so it's unlikely to be the source of paint spots on bikes.

The Thermoplastic Material contains microcrystalline ceramic beads for reflectivity. The binder takes longer to harden

3M All Weather Paint also contains microcrystalline ceramic beads and is probably the slowest drying of the three.

What I've found on road marking paint splattered is there is frequently chunks up to 1mm that scrape off easily with a finger nail. The chunks probably contain the reflective material. There is usually residual paint under the chunks plus lost of smaller spots.

I've carefully tried a lot of different products with mixed success, for example:

Alcohol - note: 100% pure isopropyl alcohol is no longer available over the counter. 91% is the highest you can get in retail outlets (at least In Calif). "Rubbing Alcohol" is 70% has 30% water so is safer but less effective. 91% alcohol works better but can attack some finishes so has to be used with care.

Goo Gone - mixed results.

Paint Thinner, Stoddard Solvent and similar petroleum products. They seem to have worked just OK to remover road paint splatter.

Acetone and some Nail Polish Removers - Work pretty well but need to be tested because thy can attack some finishes.

Lacquer Thinners and Similar Solvents contain Toulene, Xylene and similar toxic chemicals. They usually don't attack backed enamel finished or at least not as quickly as with a lacquer based coating.

What I've done is find something that removes most of the splatter and then remove the rest with polish or rubbing compound.

verktyg

jamesdak 

Yeah, after I loosened a bunch of the paint the rags kept just moving it around. I grabbed a clean claybar out of the garage but it wasn't grabbing the paint specs. Not sure why....

Unca_Sam

I used it first, pulled most of the overspray off with one pass! I thought I'd be working on it for half an hour, but all the easy to reach spots were give in 5 minutes. I'm starting to sound like a shill... It's easier than cleaning a window or waxing.

My guess is that it works best first, pulling the particles out or off embeds them into the clay. If they're loose, I guess "sponging" or dabbing them might work with a sticky clay bar. Did you try that action?

jamesdak 

I actually did try using the clay bar first since it works so well detailing my cars. But the paint was adhered pretty good. I think spraying with the liquid wax and then using the lysol wipes worked so good because it was big, coarse chunks of paint. I think the paint was sorta catching in the fabric of the lysol whips. The wet wipes also probably added another layer of protection and lubrication.