Cleaning those Gold Header Pipes

[viewdvb]

Re: Header pipe corrosion

The stock headers are definitely not chromed or any other kind of plating. Almost certainly stainless though perhaps of less than ideal quality. All the previous suggestions will/might work but, when you have got them back to acceptable appearance, try spraying them with any silicone spray. Most of them handle high temperatures well, don't discolour like the aircraft protective sprays and, though they don't change the fact that the pipes get covered in road dirt, the residue coating of silicone will make it easier to get it off again. It has worked for me for years. I managed to keep the chrome system on my Yamaha 900 Diversion in pristine condition for 80,000 miles which can't be bad. I am using it on my current XT1200 and the discolouration on the headers (and cat and link pipes) is minimal.

 

[tomatocity]

Re: Header pipe corrosion

WASP removed, cleaned and polished his well used exhaust and it looked very good. Wondering if it is still on the internet.

 

[Llamaman]

Re: Header pipe corrosion

well now I know they are stainless steel I know how to tackle them. When I put the new Yoshi tailpipe on I noticed the cat is remarkably muddy but no rust at all so the stainless theory holds good. Thanks for all advice

 

[mrpete64]

Cleaning header pipes?

My nice gold header pipes have begun to turn colors. Is there anyway to bring them back to the stock color?

Mr. Pete
Aging Hippie

 

[Don in Lodi]

Re: Cleaning header pipes?

My nice gold header pipes have begun to turn colors. Is there anyway to bring them back to the stock color?

Mr. Pete
Aging Hippie

It will only last till you start the bike again. What cleaning does do for you is remove the palm/finger prints of the tech that shouldn't touch stainless steel pipes with his grimy paws in the first place ::009:: ... anyway, it will color shift to a more uniform patina. I used an acid wash. Need to research that one, don't remember right now, nasty stuff though.

 

[Scoobynut]

Re: Cleaning header pipes?

My nice gold header pipes have begun to turn colors. Is there anyway to bring them back to the stock color?

Mr. Pete
Aging Hippie

Mr. Pete, I use Honda aluminum polish (the stuff that comes in a tube) and .0000 steel wool to clean up the headers. Just apply a dab to the steel wool and polish until shiny. The steel wool will turn black as you polish. Keep moving to another (clean) part of the steel wool as you polish. Work a small section of the header at the time, and DON'T leave the polish residue on the header for too long. Make sure you apply to cold headers, not warm. I do this to the Tenere probably once or twice a year and it works great and will keep the headers a nice light gold color for a good while unless they get wet or mucky. This technique if done correctly will remove any bluing and brown spots too.

I rode through some magnesium chloride (or maybe it was brine?) in a road construction area in Wyoming a couple of summers ago and the headers instantly corroded and turned a crusty white color with texture to match, and also instantly rusted the header attachment bolts an ugly orange rust color. The technique noted above, and much more than the usual amount of work, had everything looking like new again a few hours later. The attached photo is the results I had cleaning the mag chloride corrosion off -- sorry I don't have a 'before' picture, but trust me, they looked really bad. I took the photo to show the friend I had ridden through the mag chloride with how my headers had cleaned up, as he was whining about how bad his headers looked on this Tenere.

 

[Dogdaze]

I like that people like to keep things nice and polished. I for one, have given that labour of love up. After years of having cruisers and custom bikes some with chrome some with lots of chrome, I am so over that. I will wash it and dry it, spray ACF-50 on it and that's about it. If and when the time comes for a trade in, I will certainly give the sales rep an earful if they mention the tarnished header pipes or the spokes and I will lay the blame squarely at Mr Yamaha's door, "they all do that Sir", to quote BMW sellers.

 

[Scoobynut]

I like that people like to keep things nice and polished. I for one, have given that labour of love up. After years of having cruisers and custom bikes some with chrome some with lots of chrome, I am so over that. I will wash it and dry it, spray ACF-50 on it and that's about it. If and when the time comes for a trade in, I will certainly give the sales rep an earful if they mention the tarnished header pipes or the spokes and I will lay the blame squarely at Mr Yamaha's door, "they all do that Sir", to quote BMW sellers.

I don't get too carried away on the Super Tenere. I just usually give a good once over after a long trip, but otherwise don't worry about it too much. My CB1100 on the other hand gets the fussy detailing and I get to clean 4 header pipes instead of two!

 

[Nig5]

As mentioned very fine wire wool and solvol autosol stainless steel polish ::012::

 

[Don in Lodi]

Re: Cleaning header pipes?

Mr. Pete, I use Honda aluminum polish (the stuff that comes in a tube) and .0000 steel wool to clean up the headers. Just apply a dab to the steel wool and polish until shiny. The steel wool will turn black as you polish. Keep moving to another (clean) part of the steel wool as you polish. Work a small section of the header at the time, and DON'T leave the polish residue on the header for too long. Make sure you apply to cold headers, not warm. I do this to the Tenere probably once or twice a year and it works great and will keep the headers a nice light gold color for a good while unless they get wet or mucky. This technique if done correctly will remove any bluing and brown spots too.

I rode through some magnesium chloride (or maybe it was brine?) in a road construction area in Wyoming a couple of summers ago and the headers instantly corroded and turned a crusty white color with texture to match, and also instantly rusted the header attachment bolts an ugly orange rust color. The technique noted above, and much more than the usual amount of work, had everything looking like new again a few hours later. The attached photo is the results I had cleaning the mag chloride corrosion off -- sorry I don't have a 'before' picture, but trust me, they looked really bad. I took the photo to show the friend I had ridden through the mag chloride with how my headers had cleaned up, as he was whining about how bad his headers looked on this Tenere.

Stunning! You've gone beyond just the clean metal I went after. Wow, very nice. Thanks for the picture of what they could look like. ::008::

 

[mrpete64]

Thank you for the insight. I will buy some...get some cold Heinekin...and sit and polish it. Again, thanks to all of you for your help.

Mr.Pete
Aging Hipie

 

[zzzzip]

FWIW--I've had good luck with "Mothers Mag & Aluminum" brand polish on all my bikes from the S-10, FZ1 and FJRs, to Vstroms, BMW and Kawasaki. It's not recommended for chrome and it won't clean up already stained pipes (other than to make the stain shine) but if you get on them early it works pretty good.

 

[Xt1200zsupertenere]

Best way to clean / polisch headers ?

Winter here in Sweden .... The headers are Brown ::007:: ::007:: , even if it is A adventure bike i want it all clean before season 2016 .
Autosol ? Blue Job ? Maguairs metal polisch ? Elbow grease or mashine ?

 

[Dogdaze]

Re: Best way to clean / polisch headers ?

Elbow grease, for me Autosol with 1000 wire wool, looked really good, the first 10cms, then I gave up, life's way too short and I have better things to do with my time. Also, went back looking the same after the first ride through damp roads. ::016::

 

[bnschroder]

Re: Best way to clean / polisch headers ?

Mine look like crap and I like it that way. If I needed shiny pieces on my bike I wouldn't have sold the Harley


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[JRE]

Re: Best way to clean / polisch headers ?

Hide them with a large skid plate

 

[Checkswrecks]

Just merged several of the threads on this subject and gave this a sticky, so you can find it at the top of the Power and Exhaust Sub-Forum.

 

[doc187]

That blue job is good stuff. I asked my wife to pick me up some but ever since we got married she stopped giving me blue job. ::025::

 

[Millman]

Ok. I know this is old but I wanted to share my experience. I couldn't find autosol or stain Magic but I did find the mothers. I used the 000 steel wool and it took about 45 minutes to do. What I noticed was that as the paste started to turn black, that was when it was cleaning the best. It probably added more grit from the breakdown of the varnish and steel wool. I then polished with a clean rag using the cross-over method, pulling on each end of the rag in turn. I tried using the Velcro pad from my head light restore kit that attaches to a drill and then stuck the steel wool to it. It didn't do any better and in fact hand rubbing worked better. Here is the before and after pictures. Some spots got minimized but didn't come completely off. I think those are actually pit marks from rocks. Having the Matte grey paint and flat black fairing, having the pipes look shiny makes the stand out, of course until they turn orange again!

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[Don in Lodi]

LOL, you wound up with the installer's hand print burned in too. ::010::