Exhuast blues

[mcholt212]

OK, I know I'm opening a can of worms with this subject, but I want to throw this out for feedback: I've got an 1100S with 8k miles and my headers are nice and blue for the first 8 inches or so, then turn a lovely gold for the rest of the trip back to the cat. The other day a co-worker remarked at how ugly my pipes were compared to his Suzuki. Right away I boasted how my German engineered single wall pipes were built for function and NOT looks....but later something inside me said, "Hey man, you should polish those headers back to their gleaming glory--they would look so much better in shining silver". So I got some Blue Job, and some other polishes like Mother's, NevrDull, etc. and began the job of cleaning my pipes. 3 hours later I had cleaned them up and they looked great. I go out riding yesterday for an hour and a half and upon my return I notice my headers are already starting to oxidize again. Now it's really starting to bug me!!!

Now I know all about the Beemer Blue pride and all the old stories about German girls not going for rides with German gents unless they had blued pipes past the pegs, etc...but has anybody out there ever gotten bitten by the "chrome bug" or maybe bought an aftermarket header or exhaust system that stayed polished longer or maybe didn't discolor at all?

I have been researching aftermarket exhausts for performance reasons mainly, but now am starting to look more closely at various materials and construction in an effort to not only satisfy my performance needs, but also feed this new shiny chrome thing that's eating me.

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/blackhole/bmwr1100exhausts.html

This company's product is made with silver ceramic stainless steel and is not supposed to discolor.....hmmmmmm

[Cliffy777]

"shiny chrome thing" is a demon and needs to be exorcised. The blue on my pipes matches the blue on the cyclinders - plus I have blue eyes - so I leave 'em alone. (I did actually clean the chrome exhaust pipe last Sunday....felt like a Harley guy out there sweating over chrome).

[gnavecky]

Try High Performance Coating(HPC) (www.hpcoating.com) or Jet-Hot (www.jet-hot.com). A freind as his done and after 2 years they are still have NOT turned blue. I had the pipes done by HPC on my Honda SuperHawk 4 years ago and they still look great and they are easy to clean. I am doing my RT this winter.

[RT_guy]

Blasphemy! Sacrilege!

Why do you think BMW's colors are blue and white?
Yep. That's right. Blue for their pipes and white for their purity!

[CHPBike]

Not that it matters all that much but my 99 R1100RT-P which never had any polish on the exhaust in 5 years of service to the CHP is now sporting some pretty nice pipes compliments of Blue Away. I spent about an hour going at the pipes and what started out looking almost like rust is now a really neat looking blueish chrome. It's like it's earned it or something. Ahhh.....

I love my BMW...

Scott

[riderR1150GSAdv]

Better not lay a finger on my blue pipes dude!:lol :lol :lol

[r1dinman]

What they said!!! If the blue bugs you, check out the beautiful cherry red they become when you look at them in the dark. A clean shiney motorcycle strongly indicate faulty priority setting skills.:)

[Unyalli]

Originally posted by gnavecky
Try High Performance Coating(HPC) (www.hpcoating.com) or Jet-Hot (www.jet-hot.com). A freind as his done and after 2 years they are still have NOT turned blue. I had the pipes done by HPC on my Honda SuperHawk 4 years ago and they still look great and they are easy to clean. I am doing my RT this winter.

Couldn't agree more. HPC has a new polished aluminum and semi-gloss black. Will be a hard choice. If I trade my GT for the new 1200RT and BMW still has those old technology single wall pipes it's off to HPC for ceramic coating inside and out right away.

[MCMXCIVRS]

Shiny crap is for cruisers and Gold Wings.

[Unyalli]

Originally posted by MCMXCIV-RS
Shiny crap is for cruisers and Gold Wings.

Agreed, I like lots of black and chrome on my Ultra, that's why I lean toward the gloss black ceramic coat. On my GT everything is hidden by the plastic fantastic (aka goldwing or LT Macht nichts) so it doesn't matter.

[nrpetersen]

Chrome finished blue exhaust pipes are caused by excessive heat. Heat in the exhaust is at a maximum when the fuel-air mixture is running at a stochiometric ratio where all the fuel and all the air is consumed in the theoretical combustion process.

There isn't a surplus of either air or fuel when running at stochiometric ratio. Best power is obtained (i. e. at wide open throttle when you want to burn all the air) at about a 25% richer mixture, but at a substantial loss of fuel economy. Emissions are minimized when running at stochiometric. Rich running engines give off a lot of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons.

Most older carb engines run on the rich side of stochiometric. I can remember years ago when I got my 1975 R90/6 as new & drove it home on I-94 from Chicago, I was surprised the pipes were staying shiny. I then ran the engine to the stumble point before going to reserve and in those few seconds, the engine ran lean enough to blue the pipes.

The evolution in processors and feedback transducers came just in time to save the piston engine from emission regulations - although I don't know what could have replaced it.

[StevieWonder]

This product REALLY works. If you're anal like me and want the bike to look like BMW delivered it, go to this website. This products WORKS, is easy to use and very reasonably priced.

http://www.chrome-restorer.com/

[knary]

Originally posted by Cliffy777
"shiny chrome thing" is a demon and needs to be exorcised.

What he said. Unless you get them coated, be prepared to put in some elbow grease to get them back to 'new'...only to have them blue again...and then more elbow grease...

But what do I know. I wash my bike before each long trip (no, it doesn't make sense), but otherwise I let the grime build up.

[StevieWonder]

Well, as my mom used to say, you change your socks too and they're only going to get dirty again.:D