No more blue pipes!!

[JayW]

As does every R1200RT, the 1st 12 inches or so of each exhaust header turned blue/brown within just a few miles of picking the bike up, making the chrome option I paid for completely worthless. Some on this forum have commented that this discoloration adds "character" to the bike, but to me it just looks dingy and ugly.

 

Therefore, I took the pipes off and sent them to Performance Coatings in WA. For a total of $109.24 including shipping them back to me, I had them coated with their Chromex coating.

 

I thought some of you might be interested in a before and after picture, so here is the BEFORE:

[JayW]

And here is the AFTER. The pipes were back in my hands in 11 days, and I am very pleased with the result. This picture was taken after about 250 miles, and they assured me that they would not discolor at temps below 1300 F, which I assume is a lot hotter than these pipes will ever get. The finish looks like polished aluminum, and, to my eye, is a huge improvement.

 

Jay

[mwheels]

I think they look a heck of a lot better after you sent them off. Never have gotten used to seeing the discolored pipes on my last two bikes.

 

Hm.. now if I could only get the pipes off the bikes.

[JayW]

It wasn't too hard - took about 45 minutes. You have to remove the 2 nuts on the brackets holding the pipes to the heads, then loosen 2 clamps, remove the muffler (which requires a Torx wrench), then remove the 2 02 sensors. It took a few minutes to wrestle the whole contraption off and on, but it was well worth it. The hardest part was not riding for 11 days while the coating was getting done, but I waited for a family vacation to send them in, which took up 7 of those days.

 

Jay

[Buccaneer]

making the chrome option I paid for completely worthless

 

By the way, the extra cost chrome option refers to the muffler, not the header pipes.

 

Personally, I like the blue / gold colours the header pipes become. Makes the bike look ridden.

 

But I do hate the muddy brown you get when road crud has been baked on.

[KDeline]

So at 80,000 miles everything will show its age but the pipes.

[David_S]

Thanks for posting Jay. I'm planing on sending mine in this winter. Jet Hot wanted an extra $65.00 to remove the chrome before plating them which ran the cost up way higher than Performance's price. I'm tempted to see if they'll do the muffler too. I hate that big old chrome thing. Heck I hate any chrome. I don't like washing a bike much less have something shiny on it that needs to be polished.

[Catbird]

While I admire your header pipe "makeover", it's not worth it to me considering the price and the hassle of removal, packaging, shipping, re-installation, etc. I've grown used to the brown/blue pipes and don't even, consciously, think about them -- they're just part of my bike. They do look nice on your bike, though.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

David,

The header pipes are not chromed, merely polished SS. I'm pretty sure that holds true for the chrome option 1200's as well. Jet Hot is a pretty reliable outfit but, if you tell them your pipes are chrome, they are gonna dip 'em and charge you.

[skinny]

The chrome option is chrome header pipes. I have a new 1200 RT and the headers are definitely not stainless,as they were on my 2002 1150. I haven't found anything that will remove the blueing or the water stains left by the dealer when it was new. The stainless headers are much easier to clean.

[JohnJC]

Same here. My ST w/ chrome option has chrome on the entire system. Bikes I've seen without the chrome option have stainless pipes. The Remus system I installed is all stainless, with a carbon can. The stainless doesn't discolor near as bad, and easily cleans with metal polish.

[Jon_M]

The stainless headers are much easier to clean.

 

On an earlier thread about yellow headers, I reported on my experience in cleaning the stainless pipes. With some ordinary stainless cleaner from Pep Boys, I was able to get the headers on my R12RT back to clear. Within a single tank of gas, they were yellow again, but it is interesting that the left pipe was turning color uniformly with no blotches, but the right one, which had got some muddy water splashed on it when I hit a puddle, is mottled and ugly.

 

I see this as just something to live with, and occasionally when I detail the bike I'll polish out the stainless. There is no way I would invest all that time and money for replating that produces a brushed aluminum look. Not for me!

[JohnJC]

In an earlier thread I thought I couldn't clean the stainless, but later tried some metal polish. It did great. 3 tanks of gas and they are just slightly yellow. Very even color too, but the right pipe is turning a bit quicker.

[JayW]

So if I understand the "chrome exhaust option" correctly then, the header pipes are somehow treated differently to make them shinier, but the muffler is the same either way. I recall another member posting a picture of a warranty claim having to do with the chrome peeling off the lower pipe, so I have always assumed it really IS chrome.

 

Also, on the Performance Coatings web site they mention that they coat both the inside and outside of the headers. However, I think they only coated the outside of my exhaust because (I think) the catalytic converter is at the other end of the one-piece unit, just forward of the muffler. I know this bike has a converter somewhere, and one would think that coating the catalyst would render it useless. The inside of the pipe, including the 02 sensor threads, look uncoated to me

 

Jay

[David_S]

If the headers aren't chrome they are the best imitation of it I have seen. I have absolute zero browning of the pipes after riding for miles in the rain. Nothing but bluing and it's from the crap they got on the pipes when they cleaned the bike for delivery. I even have hand prints on it. The stainless pipes I've had in the past all turned brown after riding in the rain.