Cleaning those Gold Header Pipes

[JaimeV]

Re: I polished my exhaust today - What a Pain in the ass....

Adventure cred is right, the is an all road type of bike. I think dropping a KTM 990 :'(like that would really be bad, that thing seems like it is completely covered in plastic, and I do not think it is very cheap either. I just worry about the Yami dropping and shoving the fan into the radiator. I dont know if that has been a problem yet. It could be resolved maybe with a hard /stronger then stock cover that could take a good impact and not break,say with some kind of plastic that pelican makes their cases out of or some form of kevlar, hum :lamp:. Someone already have this?

A friend with a ST fell out in the radiator side. It was a little accident, nothing more serious than a few scratches in the plastic. But after a while the bike starts to be hot.
The ventilator support was bend and the fan was burned.
I fell in the same side much heavier with the crash bars and nothing happened.
Even if the stock plastic protection it works very well, I think this bike needs crash bars.

 

[Waspworks]

Re: I polished my exhaust today - What a Pain in the ass....

A friend with a ST fell out in the radiator side. It was a little accident, nothing more serious than a few scratches in the plastic. But after a while the bike starts to be hot.
The ventilator support was bend and the fan was burned.
I fell in the same side much heavier with the crash bars and nothing happened.
Even if the stock plastic protection it works very well, I think this bike needs crash bars.

That's the first thing I check after it has gone down on the left side.
It's been down a few times although all of them have been minor slides or tip overs, but I always stick my finger through the grill and spin the fan to check.

Crash bars have their limitations as well.... bend one crash bar and you are up for a full set.
also, my brother slid his F800 against some rocks and still ended up missing the crash bar and breaking the to faring... $800 for the top faring piece.
At least all the Yamaha cosmetic parts are reasonably priced.

Greg.

 

[houndman]

Re: I polished my exhaust today - What a Pain in the ass....

Yea I dont think crashbars are the savior deals on any bike, just the right fall into rocks, small stumps, or a hundred other variable things,a two or 3 cm twig/branch impaling through the screen and now a hole through the radiator etc. But I do have a set on my bike and should help with most of the average stuff. ::008::

 

[Mike Sisson]

Re: I polished my exhaust today - What a Pain in the ass....

Some time ago I sent Greg (Wasp) a PM asking how he kept his bike looking so good even though he REALLY rides it (lottsa dirt!). He kindly sent me a pm outlining his procedure.

I quickly realized I was waaay to lazy to do it.... ::025::

I'm getting more into "patina" as I get older..... ::001::

 

[dcstrom]

Re: I polished my exhaust today - What a Pain in the ass....

My big girl REALLY doesn't want me polishing her pipes... she put up these bars, and threw away the key...

 

[Paul466]

HEADER CLEANING METHODS

Hey Gents! Im planning on giving the headers some love this weekend Wanted to use a drill cleaning pad to save my elbow. Does anyone have a preference as far as what grit to use or cleaner choice? Is there any kind of coating on them that I should consider before getting crazy with cleaning them? Any input would be appreciated THX!

 

[Koinz]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

ya, paint them black or put some wrap on them if it bothers you. At one point I wanted to try and clean mine too, 15 inutes into I said this Bull and went for a ride instead.

There's all kinds of stuff out there and this topic was brought up before. Blue_job seems to get a lot of hits.
Cleaning a Motorcycle Exhaust Pipe

 

[~TABASCO~]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

What I've used for years is WD40 and steel wool.... If they are really caked up start off with course SW, then move to a finer ST... Ive found this method does not take a million hours and no need to 'scrub'..

 

[racer1735]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

My headers don't so much cake up with mud and gunk, but have simply turned a brownish color. I've used various polishes, but none seem to bring the original golden color back.

 

[GrahamD]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

What I've used for years is WD40 and steel wool.... If they are really caked up start off with course SW, then move to a finer ST... Ive found this method does not take a million hours and no need to 'scrub'..

Yep that my method.

And every year or so (or at sale time), 600, 1200, 2000 grit (WD40 lube) then Autosol polish for the final bling.

Lasts about a month

 

[Mark R.]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

Hey Gents! Im planning on giving the headers some love this weekend Wanted to use a drill cleaning pad to save my elbow. Does anyone have a preference as far as what grit to use or cleaner choice? Is there any kind of coating on them that I should consider before getting crazy with cleaning them? Any input would be appreciated THX!

Hmmmmm..........What is this "cleaning" thing of which you speak?

 

[Rasher]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

In the past I have found a really neat way that takes very little time, it is called trading in for a new bike, worked like a charm every time ::008::

On the S10 I have found a way to prevent the OE headers from deteriorating - swap them for some Arrow headers and put the OE ones away in the loft ::008::

 

[garnotte]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

Muriatic acid work very well, it's the same stuff we use for cleaning aluminium and stainless on the big rigs.

 

[Mtbjay]

Autosol and elbow grease get the worst of the marks off mine (and also take the pipes back to silver - which lasts only 'til you next start the engine when they turn golden again).

Not sure if there are other effective "miracle" cleaners out there. Probably something (or some implement) which is slightly more abrasive is needed.

I've just fitted a "fenda extenda" to the bottom of the front mudguard which hopefully will stop the worst of the crap getting sprayed off the front wheel and onto the exhaust headers.

I too, recently installed a Fenda Extenda. Anyone know what skid plates will interfere/not interfere with it? I may upgrade and this would be good info….

JB

 

[RED CAT]

SW Motech Shid Plate will make contact with the Fender Extender. If you lop an inch off the Extender, that will work.

 

[Camshft]

SW Motech Shid Plate will make contact with the Fender Extender. If you lop an inch off the Extender, that will work.

What RedCat said. I tore mine off on the SW skidplate. Trimmed the new Extenda an inch and absolutely no problems since then. Just a straight cut and round corners a tad.....

 

[Mzee]

Re: HEADER CLEANING METHODS

Polish with steel wool ::025::

 

[Llamaman]

Header pipe corrosion

I have bought a 2012 S Ten with 10k miles on it. The header pipes are corroded to a point where I want to rechrome or replace them., it must have had some use through the winters. I have found that Arrow make full St St systems that are quite easily available here in UK.

Is this a common problem and if I buy Arrow headers and maybe Yoshimura or Arrow muffler can they be fitted without any other fuelling modifications? I like having the stock smoothness and at the moment the bike is running great.

This is my second post, I'll put a picture up when I can. Grateful for any thoughts

 

[frez]

Re: Header pipe corrosion

The Arrow headers remove the cat and give a small increase in power. No idea if the fuelling is badly effected. As you can fit the standard silencer onto the Arrow downpipes I guess you can fit any make to it that would fit the standard downpipes.

 

[Llamaman]

Re: Header pipe corrosion

I just realised that because this forum has been running for such a long time and because members are so helpful almost any topic I think about has already been covered in detail.
Now.. I have found plenty of info on the header muffler combos so I'll shut up before someone calls my bike a Starbucks cruiser.

Although I'm not bothered about a bit more power I do want my bikes to look cared for so I'll investigate rechroming the stock headers with Yoshi can