Exhaust Pipe Polishing

[OneTrack]

That looks great only a half an hour really. Mine are so bad that it is a definite 2 hour job!!! I ride a lot in the winter so won't be putting my beauty up anytime soon. One thing is could someone tell me what these "Cancer looking" spots are on my pipes!!! Do you think they will polish out or they there for good? Sorry kinda a crappy picture. The spots are a darker color than the pipes not quite black but a definite discoloration from the rest of the pipe. Also there are now 10,000 miles on them and I have really never gave them a good wipe down (laaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyy)

View attachment 6409

That's pretty much what my pipes were starting to look like, "cancer looking" spots and all. Really, it only took me half an hour of elbow grease to polish them up. It's the very fine steel wool that does all the work. :thumbup:

 

[mdr]

Thanks! I'm scheduled for lower spine surgery (it was to be tomorrow, but I had a call this afternoon postponing it...), so I won't be riding again this year, I'm sure.

Here's wishing you a speedy recovery postop.

 

[OneTrack]

Wow! Those look great. Wanna drop by Austin and polish mine???

Thanks, Top!
I'd do it if you'd find me a pair of those really neat Yankee fatigues...

 

[OneTrack]

If I had to guess I'd say the spots are iron oxide. AKA rust.

Ah...good point you've raised there, mdr. Be sure to use stainless steel wool, otherwise particles will get in the stainless of the pipes and rust.

 

[OneTrack]

Looks awesome!!!

Thanks! I also rubbed in some "Sheath" when I'd finished, which is (of course) what I use on my guns to keep them from oxidizing.

I bet you could start charging people to clean their pipes.

Heh heh...:thumbup:

 

[OneTrack]

Wow. That sure is purty! But I think the blue is faster ... :steve:

Not faster than this one. :Flip:

 

[OneTrack]

Nice job!! Goes along with the rest of the bike. I was wondering if the liquid used to clean silverware would work as well but it just couldn't be that easy

Thanks...I thought about using silverware cleaning liquid as well....wouldn't that be nice if you could just wipe it on and wipe it off, revealing the original gleaming shine.

 

[OneTrack]

Awesome work. A little elbow grease and Autosol did the job. I will keep this in mind in the near future. Thanks for the post.

Ares

You're most welcome!
The secret's in the steel wool, I'd say. :thumbup:
Don't be shy with the Autosol. I used a blob the size of a large blueberry for each section that I was polishing.

 

[OneTrack]

Here's wishing you a speedy recovery postop.

Thanks mdr...very much appreciated! I was quite despondent when I had the postponement call this afternoon, as I've been in considerable pain for about 12 months now. I still enjoy my FZ6, however...it's almost like a placebo for the pain.

 

[Sawblade]

I just pulled my header off and polished it with a buffing wheel on my bench grinder. Looks great and is way easier on the back than crouching down and wasting precious elbow grease. I've got pics, but I'm too tired to mess with them.

 

[mdr]

Nice job!! Goes along with the rest of the bike. I was wondering if the liquid used to clean silverware would work as well but it just couldn't be that easy

Assume you mean "Tarnex" for cleaning sterling silver? I've got some so I'll give it a try. That would be really nice if it works though Tarnex isn't exactly cheap IIRC.

 

[fz6nick]

If you want, I can store your bike in my garage. It might have a few thousand more miles on it, but it will be stored none-the-less

 

[OneTrack]

I just pulled my header off and polished it with a buffing wheel on my bench grinder. Looks great and is way easier on the back than crouching down and wasting precious elbow grease. I've got pics, but I'm too tired to mess with them.

That'd be the way to do it, for sure. :thumbup: But where's the fun in doing it the easy way?

 

[Wolfman]

Autosol rocks! Use it religously on both my bikes (have been for 15 years)...your more you polish, the better the shine...is only product i know that if you work long enough on something with it, you will truely get a mirrored finish! Is cheap too.

Tip, for really stubborn rust, use it with a light scourer, it performs miracles!

Great post, the whole world should know about this product!

:rockon:

 

[OneTrack]

If you want, I can store your bike in my garage. It might have a few thousand more miles on it, but it will be stored none-the-less

Heh heh...:thumbup:

 

[Sawblade]

Ok, here's my pics...


Before with 11,000 miles of never maintaining the finish.

During.

After with perfect positioning of the sun.

 

[OneTrack]

I always liked the all-silver finish on an FZ6. That's one fine looking bike! I don't think I've seen one silver one here in Vancouver. Lots of blue ones (in my mirrors, of course )
(Time to get those stickers off the left swing arm, though)
Quick questions for you without derailing this thread (I hope):
-Do the gel grips make any real difference in feel/vibration etc?
-How do you like the Pirelli Diablo Rosso's?

 

[GodSpeedLuc]

i only have almost 200 miles on mine and already I can notice the discolor into golden brown forming. does polishing with this autosol stuff prevent it from discoloring so fast? does it keep the polsihed look in for longer? I was quite surprised seeing as I havent really even pushed the bike over 6-7k rpms yet (as im breaking her in gently) and thought that this would on ly start occuring after many more miles and or after riding in the rain.

 

[Sawblade]

(Time to get those stickers off the left swing arm, though)
I know. I'm just too lazy.

-Do the gel grips make any real difference in feel/vibration etc?
Not in a direct sense, I don't need to keep as tight of a grip because they're very sticky, so less vibration that way.

-How do you like the Pirelli Diablo Rosso's?
I'm a bad person to ask, I haven't ridden on any other tires except for my stockers with a flat strip down the center. They haven't felt squirrelly at all which is wanted though.

 

[blitzcraig]

how difficult is it to remove the pipes? not being mechanically inclined whatsoever, i would be scared out of my mind to try and do something like that if i didn't know what i was doing. can it just be done with a screwdriver? any tips, etc. please? they really need a cleaning and being able to take them off would make it a helluva lot easier :thumbup: