Unca_Sam

No. The bars look pretty clean from here, and it really depends on what finish you're trying to achieve. I wouldn't use anything but #0000 steel wool on aluminum, and only on something that's already matte. Same for the bar keeper's friend, because the abrasives in it are too aggressive if I'm looking for a polish.

Goo Gone, naphtha, and mineral spirits have all been suggested, and goo gone is designed to dissolve most adhesives. If it's really dried out, hot water and dish soap plus a scratch-free pad, or a plastic card to scrape the residue off.
Any metal polish will work to shine it up, but aluminum polish will give the best results; I like blue magic polish for that.
Post some pictures of your progress, and maybe an example of what you're trying to achieve.

Dan Burkhart 

Well, it works pretty well on tubular glue. Does that stuff have a completely different chemical makeup from other adhesives?

cyccommute 

Learn how to spell my name...3armer

cyccommute 

Saying “adhesive” is like a saying “paint” or “plastic”. There are lots and lots of different kinds and formulations. Context is often important. Most general adhesives you’ll find on tape...bar, Scotch, duct, etc...are nonpolar. The idea is to keep them stuck and not have them dissolve in water. That’s why acetone doesn’t work all that well on most of them. It’s too polar.

When you say it works pretty well on tubular glue, how much effort do you have to put into removing it with acetone? Do you have to scrub on it a lot...like the scratcher pad above...or does it come right off. My experiences with using acetone on adhesives is that it’s just not worth the work. Mineral spirits takes it off fairly quickly and Goof Off does it faster. I’ve tried Goo Gone but it’s rather oily.

Goo Gone’s MSDS says that it is “petroleum distillates, hydrotreated light” (60 to 100%). Given the viscosity, I’d say it’s likely in the kerosene to diesel fuel distillate range which accounts for it’s oiliness.

Mr. 66

Any solvent should work, it just takes time to reintroduce the solute to the molality of the adhesive. Acetone works but it evaporates to fast to be the most effective. So you solute the old adhesive of course it gets sticky, that's part of the process.

Iride01 

You might be surprised how well steel wool works. Use it with soap and water.

You might even use a Brillo or SOS pad, particularly on the parts you are just going to cover with tapes again. They aren't 0000 but you aren't going to see anything under the tape. I use them on my best copper pots and all my other stainless and aluminum cookware. I've found them to be less damaging than the green 3m pad that is abrasive. Steel wool burnishes metal more than it abrades.

WizardOfBoz

cyccommute is correct: the main ingredient in oven cleaners is invariably sodium hydroxide (lye) or potassium hydroxide (potash). A very strong base. While it can pit aluminum (EZ-Off recommends that you NOT use it for aluminum), a weaker lye solution can clean oxidized residue from pots and pans. My GrandDad was a baker in the Navy, and owned his own bakery after serving, and my Dad told me that they never washed their bread pans. They just soaked them in a lye solution every week. Got everything off, and after rinsing the pans were completely clean and ready to go.

But the baked on carbon residue of bread pans or ovens is not what the OP is asking about, so don't use lye or EZ-Off on your handlebars. After you've washed the bars with soap and water, the stuff remaining is a dog's breakfast of hydrophobic gunk (that's a technical term we chemical engineers use). Gunk. So, in order of battle, I'd try odorless min spirits. If that left some gunk, I'd try acetone (buy acetone at Lowes, and don't use your wife's nail polish remover - too expensive in both dollars and ill-will when you use it up!). If that left gunk, I'd try brake cleaner. For any refractory stuff (typically adhesives are the bad actors) I'd use Goo Gone, which is a mix of min spirits and d-limonene, a natural compound (found in citrus fruits) that has some very special solvating properties.

If the stuff on your bars is still there, I'd have to ask what the hell you had on the bars in the first place! At that point I'd give up and wrap the bars with new tape and call it a win.

Upshot: Lye is inappropriate for this task. EZ-Off does not recommend that their oven cleaner (mostly lye or potash) be used on aluminum.

3alarmer 

WizardOfBoz

Also, I'd point out a big difference: Goof Off and Goo Gone are completely different. I much prefer Goo Gone which contains d-limonene. The d-limonene really works well on adhesives in my experience. I've not had as good an experience with Goof Off. Goo Gone is expensive but (IMHO) worth it.

WizardOfBoz

Agree on all points, except that I think that d-limonene (present in 1-5% in the "original" formula) and sweet orange extract (mostly d-limonene) adds some oiliness too.

Crankycrank

Fill the handlebar tubing with boiling water, let sit for a few minutes and often the adhesive is easy to just wipe off with a solvent soaked rag.

sweeks

If the old adhesive is in little hard chunks, you could use (carefully) a flat bastard file to knock them off, then the final finishing with the abrasives of your choice.

cyccommute 

Thought I was on time out? Just couldn’t resist, huh?

CaptainPlanet

Ended up using kitchen steel wool and dish washing agent and everything comes right off. It's still not 100% perfect, but it looks a lot cleaner now.