Non Blue pipes

[SK_in_AB]

I expected nice blued exhaust pipes on the 02 RT I bought (20K miles). They are blue for about 2" and then a brown dusty color around the front of the bike. Can I safely polish them up with chrome polish or something like that?

 

I vaguely recall polishing my R65 pipes but the memory back 20 years is a bit weak.

 

Any comments or suggestions?

[Haynes]

I polish mine fairly regularly with a cheap metal polish and it restores the blue finish fairly quickly. The brown colour is probably due to road scum being thrown onto the headers and then baked. If the brown colour becomes a bother, fit an extended front guard.

[Tool Man]

Or you could exchange all that polishing time for riding time. For a measly 65.00 (U.S.) you can get your head pipe system porcelien coated and never polish them again.

 

[CMWingfield]

When mine get scuzzed out, I use a Brillo pad on em. It cleans them up nice and shiny and after the next ride they turn that desired blue!

Mike

[Ralph]

Or you could exchange all that polishing time for riding time. For a measly 65.00 (U.S.) you can get your head pipe system porcelain coated and never polish them again.

 

 

Ya know Toolie, I was talking to a friend just yesterday about that. He is getting his pistons coated & I asked if the ceramic coating would work on my brown pipes & help a little with the heat. Yours look good. Silver like my bike. I like it.

[Tool Man]

Ralph,

I used these guys up in Wa. http://www.performancecoatings.com/performancecoatings.html

 

Turn around time was quick. basically two days. It took three days for my exhaust to get there. They coated it the day it was received and shipped the day after. Another three days on the big brown truck back to me and on the bike in less than 30min.

 

BTW, that photo is several months old and still looks the same as it did then.

[eakins]

Or you could exchange all that polishing time for riding time. For a measly 65.00 (U.S.) you can get your head pipe system porcelien coated and never polish them again.

 

is your done in chromex or satin?

[No_Twilight]

I polish mine fairly regularly with a cheap metal polish and it restores the blue finish fairly quickly. The brown colour is probably due to road scum being thrown onto the headers and then baked. If the brown colour becomes a bother, fit an extended front guard.

 

 

Careful, talk about polishing too much and you'll be banished to the Harley board.

[Tool Man]

is your done in chromex or satin?

 

Hi Bill,

What you see in the picture is the "Chromex" coating. The website samples don't do the finish justice. Having had this procedure done on other exhaust systems I knew it wouldn't look exactly like chrome....which is what I didn't want anyway. It's just a nice smooth easy to clean finish that is hammer tough.

 

Also you will notice there is an order form to print and fill out with your request and a price list. For a two into one header system the price is marked $75.00 which is still a bargain. However, since the BMW header is so short they only charged me $65.00 which almost saves you shipping one way. If I ever can get to it, I plan to do my GS exhaust as well.

[Ralph]

Mike, there is a performance coatings here in Oklahoma City. May or may not be related to the one you sent yours to. They did some jugs & heads for me about 10 years ago on a Harley i was building. But it was HPC coating in black, not ceramic.

[Yeeha! Stephen]

I use some stuff called "Barkeepers Friend". It's kinda like Comet. It'll get that brown stuff off the front.

[Wooster]

SK_in_AB,

 

Single walled exhaust pipes change colors and true, mostly blue, but dusty brown may be just another color; straw comes to mind. I've seen lots o'colors, blues, purple, brown, gold.

 

My suggestion is live with it, though I gotta admit ceramic coat look sweet !

 

Wooster whose pipes begin blue, go gold & fade away

[SAAB93driver]

I kinda like the blue pipes, gives the thing some character. I do keep mine clean, but always blue.

[georgem]

Hey Tool, Did you have to replace any gaskets or donuts at the head when you pulled the pipes off?

[SK_in_AB]

Thanks for the comments. I will try a polishing effort and see if it restores the bluing. Like some others on the forum I also prefer the pipes blue. It is a BM quirk that sets us apart from the non-Deutchland cyclers out there!

[baggerchris]

I have a 97 RT with 19.5 K on her. I got the bike at 14K and the pipes were still shiney. No Blue. I have run her semi hard since then. At 16K I removed the ccp and installed the potentiometer. Still mostly shiney, very little blue. Never heats up past the normal range. Runs cool and fast. Must be the cool Sierra air.

[USAF1]

Performance Coatings can do them in BLUE as well.....

 

Pat

[Silver_Fox]

Stephen,

I agree with Toolman. I had my 02 RT done in the Chromex finish and Voila! No more problems. I also had my headers on my '74 R90S done and they are sweet now after many years of blue to the max. Performance Coatings are great to do business with.

Steve

[SK_in_AB]

Thanks for the feedback. I got some metal polish and it looks like the brown discolour will come of with some work so the blue at the head can transition to chrome farther down the pipe. I just need to find 3 hours to pull some plastic off and get at it!

 

Stephen

[Ken H.]

And then the next time you ride the bike, in particular in the rain, they will just brown out again.

 

Really it's a loosing battle. If you really want them to look nice all the time your only real option is to have them high temp powder coated.

[Tool Man]

I just need to find 3 hours to pull some plastic off and get at it!

 

[phoenixtexas]

To Tool Man: Did Performance Coatings coat the rings at the end of the headers where they went into the head? It's a tight fit, and I was curious. Just sent mine off to them. Tony Swindell, Howe, Tx