Header pipe discolouration

[Dingo55]

Hi all

Just curious as to the seemingly different header pipe "discolouration" that different bikes exhibit

Do the differences tell us anything about each individual bike or is it just random?

Some seem to have a noticeable orange/sandy colour on the front curvature 

Anything to be concerned about

Cheers 

Mark

[Dingo55]

hi 

Any thoughts

Cheers

Mark

[dirtrider]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:25 PM, Dingo55 said:

Hi all

Just curious as to the seemingly different header pipe "discolouration" that different bikes exhibit

Do the differences tell us anything about each individual bike or is it just random?

Some seem to have a noticeable orange/sandy colour on the front curvature 

Anything to be concerned about

Cheers 

Mark

Evening Mark

 

A lot of the difference in pipe color is due to the front pipe type, some front pipes are bare stainless steel so they basically turn sh!t brown. The uplevel pipes are chrome plated stainless steel & those basically turn a bluish purple. 

 

Color doesn't tell much as they are single wall construction so they do turn color easily. 

[Dingo55]

Thanks DR

That explains that

Which type of pipe gets fitted is that down to original customers order or just pot luck off the showroom floor?

Cheers

Mark

[dirtrider]

9 hours ago, Dingo55 said:

Thanks DR

That explains that

Which type of pipe gets fitted is that down to original customers order or just pot luck off the showroom floor?

Cheers

Mark

Morning Mark

 

I'm not sure at the moment. Back in the hexhead & camhead days it was a standalone option. With BMW sending fairly loaded motorcycles to the US  lately so chrome pipes might be included, or automatically part of the uplevel packages. You will probably have to talk to a BMW dealer to get an informed answer on this.   

 

My parts book still shows a stainless steel (polished) & a (chrome plated) available for the wethead RT. 

[Bernie]

Chrome pipes are an option on all WetHeads and ShiftCam bikes, but are also included in some of the optional packages. 

[Paul De]

I’ve wondered why there wasn’t wider adoption of the double wall header approach most Japanese bikes were fitted with back in the day.  The chrome plated outer wall pipe stayed pretty close to shiny bright.  I suspect cost & weight are the likely reasons it never became the universal solution to nice looking headers.  If memory serves BMW did do double wall header pipes on the C model Oilhead, but that was an outlier as most all other models and years are single wall headers regardless of materials used and discolor 

[Hosstage]

Personally I find the discoloration to be just fine, shows it's being ridden. I like seeing the shades of color as they change from black to blue to yellow, and progress down the pipe a bit as the miles get put on.

And I ride Harleys where chrome is king! Not double walled construction on HD pipes, but they sure have a lot of chrome covers.

My favorite pipes were my drag pipes, simple single wall construction, no covers, (no mufflers!), light weight, they were black for about 6" down from the heads, then a nice blue, on to yellow. 38" pipes, probably 15" of color or more.

There were not the favorite pipes for those riding near me.

[TSConver]

I love the discoloration on SS and especially on Titanium.

[dirtrider]

13 hours ago, TSConver said:

I love the discoloration on SS and especially on Titanium.

Morning  TSConver

 

I also do on 300 series stainless steel, but BMW uses some type of 400 series stainless steel for the front pipes & that just turns sh!t brown (not very exciting looking, just looks dirty & blah). 

[Paul De]

Blue is old school cool looking and never bothered me.  Sh!t brown on my oilhead is just fugly

[alexvtr]

On a VIN decoder website like whis one https://www.mdecoder.com/ you can lookup all the original equipment of your particular bike.

On mine, it shows option "X0350 Exhaust System, Chrome".

My pipes are indeed blue.

On my previous bike (K26), the headers were brown and no "chrome" option was listed in the original equipment.

Hope this helps.