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Cleaning Headers


Rogerl

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I had to take the entire muffler system off my R1200R to remove the left side head to replace the valve. While I have them off the bike I want to clean off the 4 years of baked on tar and crud from the cross pipe and the lower section of the exhaust. I tried a scotchbrite pad with mineral spirits and it barely touched it. I am currently trying oven cleaner and a stainless steel wire brush. Does anyone have a better idea? It looks like rust on the pipes but the pipes are chrome plated stainless steel.

 

Thanks

Roger L

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Simichrome

And 0000 or 000 steel wool .

Good music in the background. Comfy stool.

Favorite drink and patience.

 

Before you start the bike. Wipe it all down with windex and paper towels to prevent fingerprints from burning into the now clean finish.

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chrisolson

Similar to Tri750's suggestion, start with 800 wet/dry using water or 409 like product. Progress in stages to 1500. Finish with Simichrome or similar product.

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And when you get done with all that elbow grease and have purty headers again, the cost of a fender extender will seem like a bargin :grin:

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And when you get done with all that elbow grease and have purty headers again, the cost of a fender extender will seem like a bargin :grin:

Extender won't protect the headers. The area behind the fender extender will still get weathered. When you run the engine the entire exhaust header will again turn color and dull out. Unless you just want it to look nice or have the time and energy to clean and polish the headers every time it shows signs of discoloration then don't ride it and keep it in the garage. They just discolor with normal operating temperature. I cleaned them and polished them up when the bike was new. Unfortunately as you ride more and more you just can't keep up with the cleaning. They look nice when polished up but don't last long.

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Location that Roger mentions to clean sure does pick up crud from the sling off the back of the front tire, but agree that the bluing and oxide on the headers is from the exhaust temperature from riding. I guess BMW decided not to use dual walk headers to hide the bluing to save cost and the weight penalty.

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Thanks for all of the good information. The previous owner of the bike lived off a dirt road and the underside of the header unit and the cross pipe were corroded and pitted from sitting with the baked on dirt on them. I tried to clean the cross pipe when I bought the bike 2 years ago but it would not come clean. I had to take the header off the bike to do the valve repair so while it was off I decided to give it a good clean. I ended up using a scotch-brite pad with lava soap and a stainless steel brush with lava soap to get the dirt and corrosion off the cross pipe and the underside of the unit. This took LOTS of elbow grease. When I was done the chrome finish was a matt finish. I then used the metal polish listed below and LOTS more elbow grease to get the matt finish up to a shine. I could not find the Semichrome locally. I have the front fender extender on the bike as well as the Machine Art Moto inner rear fender so hopefully the headers will stay cleaner. I know that the headers will not stay shiny for a long time but they were truly a mess the way they were.

 

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web/PartSearchCmd?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&pageId=partTypeList&actionSrc=Form&searchTerm=blue+metal+cleaner

 

Thanks Again

Roger L

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My 99 RT had tar blobs and a brownish baked on patina right behind the front wheel track and I ended up using extra fine steel wool and mineral spirits and lots-o-elbow grease to get it back to a shine. I didn't try to remove any bluing and not sure you could. But a fender extender was my next purchase after that little chore.

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MichiganBob

I've been meaning to do this someday and did a search. A lot of folks swear by Limeaway and a sponge with the attached scrubber. If I get to it, I'll let everyone know how it works.

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I ceramic coated the pipes and they looked great. Two guys came by and liked the results and had there's done. The power coater that we use does ceramic coating. That was a few years ago and they still look great.

Edited by Edgar
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I ceramic coated the pipes and they looked great. Two guys came by and liked the results and had there's done. The power coater that we use does ceramic coating. That was a few years ago and they still look great.

 

A picture or two?

 

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I am assuming that the top photo is a before photo and bottom photo is an after photo. What do the headers look like after they have been on the bike for a while? You said that this is a ceramic coating?

 

Thanks

Roger L

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Roger,

You are correct they are a before and after shot of the same header.

 

From the web

 

Ceramic Pro is a multi-layerable, clear, liquid nano-ceramic coating. ... Ceramic Pro can be described as an additional clear coat, with 3 times the hardness and self cleaning properties. It handles high heat very well.

 

On my Camhead I have had the coating on for more than 10k and it still looks like when it was first applied. I have a brushed version that is not shiny and kind of blends in with the silver panels.

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