heat wrap for exhaust

[reef]

Hi I have question,about heat wrap on ex.pipes.I saw heat wrap on pipes on some h-d or sport bikes.When I ask what are these for I have been told that they increase horsepower due to hotter ex. gas flow.Does anybody know anything about these wraps?It is some sort of tape like made from carbon.I was wondering if is true about increase HP,and if I decide wrap the pipes would I do any damage to co2 sensor or catalytic convertor in long run?What exacly are the pros and cons of this conversion? Thank you for your input. Mark

[KHaynes]

I would be uncomfortable with keeping the exhaust gas hotter than necessary. There are a few reasons:
I'm not sure but I would think that it could cause premature failure of the the system and risk a fire by sending the heat further down the pipe.
The next thing is that the volumetrics of a good exhaust system should be engineered to accommodate reduction of volume due to cooling. If you prevent cooling, you may disrupt the extractor effect at the y-pipe and flow through the rest of the system.
The sound of the exhaust will also be less subdued. Exhaust noise reduction also relies on cooling of the gas to reduce gas volume and pressure to subdue the exhaust pulses.

One positive to keeping the gas hotter is to promote complete burning of any fuel as it exits therefore producing less hydrocarbon emmissions.