Exhaust coatings?

[AL]

Hi all, I,m looking for some info as to how well the Ceramic exhaust coatings hold up on the header pipes of our Roadsters. I've found a shop that applies the coatings close to my home. Wanted to know if the black satin finish stays nice looking after a few k miles of heating and cooling. I think it would look sharp with my black motor. Hope to hear from anyone that has done this. Thanks

[owldaddy]

AL,
There was some discussion on this topic not long ago. Most of the folks just polish their headers, and clean them now and then. They say the discolored pipes, is part of the charactor of the bike. However there are a couple of guys who did coat their headers, and at least one said it was the best $200 he spent on his bike. He had them for a few years and reported that they seemed to hold up well. I believe he used the Jet Hot treatment. My pipes have turned a brown color, I can deal with the blue and gold, but the brown is just beyond what is acceptable, so I sent mine in to Jet Hot last week, I should get them back soon. I won't be able to answer your question as to how well they hold up over time, but they can't be worse then the caca brown color.
Don

[owldaddy]

AL, I found the thread you are interested in.
http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?p ... ght=#55276
Don

[AL]

Thanks for the reply Don, I think they will look great on your RR. Preformance coatings are the guys close to me. I think black pipes are in my future. Thanks again.

[crousos]

I know some one that use this place. The pipes looked great.




Tinos

[beemerphile]

I had mine coated by Performance Coatings in satin sliver. It very closely matches the engine color (mine is not a black engine). I had the header pipes coated inside and out and had the catalytic converter coated outside only. $150 including shipping. I hope that coating the cat will keep it from dissapating as much heat to the bottom of the transmission and to my ankles / lower legs. I don't have any time on them yet, but the coating looks solid. While the pipes are gone for coating, find yourself an exhaust pipe swaging tool and a tube of silver 1600 degree antisieze. Otherwise, you may be challenged by the reassembly process. The coated surface has more friction than the bare pipe so sliding two close-fit pieces together is a bear. If you open the female ends back up to where they were before the clamps were first installed and apply the anti-sieze as a lubricant to both pieces, then the reassembly is fast and sure. As an additional benefit, the anti-sieze helps to seal the joints from air leaks while aiding future disassembly. Some of the joint sealers folks use make the inevitable future disassembly a mess. DAMHIK. I recommend the paste stick form instead of the tube. The thicker base provides a better air seal and is easier to apply.

Everyone ought to have a swaging tool in the toolbox anyway to reopen the exhaust pipes with after they have been compressed a time or two by the pipe clamps. The tool opens them out uniformly round instead of the egg-shaped mess you get trying to open it with the back end of a screwdriver or some other crude tool.

[AL]

Thanks for the install tips Lee. I'll bet your bike looks nice w/matching pipes & motor. Boy, this site and the members are great! Thank to all.