Exhaust Header Question
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5
From: Fort Washington, MD
Exhaust Header Question
For you guys who know a lot about these bikes. I was wonderinmg is there a long lasting way to keep the exhaust pipes from turning gold colored. I know they do that because they are stainless steal but can you crematic coat them or anything that would leave a nice shiny silver finish? Any idea on cost or effects of doing something like this might have on the bike?
Comments and suggestions welcomes. Thanks.
-Matt
Comments and suggestions welcomes. Thanks.
-Matt
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 579
Headers
Well, the different colors you see on exhaust headers are basically due to two different reasons. First is because of the high temperature of the exhaust itself. If you've ever seen an exhaust without heat shields on a bike at night that is being run very hard, those puppies will be glowing !!! And most metals will change colors if they are heated to extreme temps, and then cooled.
Exhaust pipes on cruisers like my Harley, are almost always chrome plated. The chrome serves as a protection against rust, abrasion, and the occasional oil spray. While chrome is a uniquely inert coating, even the best plating job will yellow, gold, and then blue when subjected to extreme temperature that can be generated in a high-performance engine. An out of tune engine can cause blueing far down the pipe where the exhaust would usually be cooler if the air-fuel mixture is overly rich. A rich mixture will ignite at the hot spot inside the Harley's muffler where a glowing baffle will cause a flame to hover and a large blue spot will appear on the outside of the exhaust pipe. Almost every newer bike will blue the header pipe for a few inches from the head in the first several hundred miles.
But in my case nice pretty chrome heat shields hide the discoloration. So, it's perfectly normal to have some discoloration close to the head, but if it's getting yellow, gold, brown, or blue on down to the mufflers you have a tuning problem.
There are also products on the market like "Blue Job" that with some elbow grease can get most of the discoloration out, but....it will be a never ending job. http://www.blue-job.com/
FBR
Exhaust pipes on cruisers like my Harley, are almost always chrome plated. The chrome serves as a protection against rust, abrasion, and the occasional oil spray. While chrome is a uniquely inert coating, even the best plating job will yellow, gold, and then blue when subjected to extreme temperature that can be generated in a high-performance engine. An out of tune engine can cause blueing far down the pipe where the exhaust would usually be cooler if the air-fuel mixture is overly rich. A rich mixture will ignite at the hot spot inside the Harley's muffler where a glowing baffle will cause a flame to hover and a large blue spot will appear on the outside of the exhaust pipe. Almost every newer bike will blue the header pipe for a few inches from the head in the first several hundred miles.
But in my case nice pretty chrome heat shields hide the discoloration. So, it's perfectly normal to have some discoloration close to the head, but if it's getting yellow, gold, brown, or blue on down to the mufflers you have a tuning problem.
There are also products on the market like "Blue Job" that with some elbow grease can get most of the discoloration out, but....it will be a never ending job. http://www.blue-job.com/
FBR
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