Fz6 Header pipes seem to be eroded\rusted why?

[Ital]

Hi All,
I bought a used 2008 FZ6 with 300 miles on it but the header pipes seemed to be rusted\eroded looked pretty bad but not horrible see picture below.
Anyway it seems the bike was bought new from the dealer in 2013. When I went to check out the bike, it head a dead battery. The owner told me he had recently bought a new battery and since he had no time to ride he would let it idle a lot..
I read online that it kills the battery so that made sense that the battery was dead. We went together to buy another new battery the day I went over to see the bike and it started right up.
I got the bike for a really good price so no complaints but after the first ride the bike started to misfire and it got progressively worse, after a month dealing with it and 1k miles, i decided to replace the plugs and it went away.

I changed the oil immediately to a non synthetic oil for breaking in and after 1500 miles I've put in the Motul full syntetic oil.
Now the bike runs great and it has 2300 mils, however do I need to do anything about the header pipes? Are they fine like that or could cause issues for me down the road?
Is there anyway to restore them? I do not think that is possible but I figure I would ask.



Thank you

 

[dbldutch02]

A) they are nothing like rusty, that'll polish straight off
B) don't bother with the polish, you can't see them when you're riding

 

[FinalImpact]

Not positive but the coating is super thin. If someone goes nuts with aggressive abrasives it will simply rust again.

Do search on header polishing here. Whole threads dedicated to this topic.

 

[major tom]

The pipes are stainless, will not rust. Polish and forget them, while admiring them, and thank Yamaha for their build quality!

 

[FinalImpact]

Not all forms of SS are rust free as clearly they rust if subjected to the elements even when polished. My observation is that those who got agressive in their rust removal also saw the rust return quickly when in the elements.

Hence they likely have a thin coating of nickel that looks good until its gone and the rust sets in.

Take note that the clamps are mostly ferrous metal (highly magnetic + rust quickly), as are the collectors and cats if equipped. Definitely different materials throughout and not rust or corrosion free SS.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

As noted above, don't go super abrasive or you'll do more damage.

I polished mine with "Mothers mag and aluminum" polish (red and white can) and ALOT of elbow grease.

Another member mentioned, just warming the header first, (run for a minute or two) and it's easier(but I can't confirm.)

I never took any sand paper, etc, just polish. Might re-do them every other month.

If you ride in the rain a bunch, they'll get nasty pretty quick but getting the heavy stuff off helps..(and IMO, look better)

 

[Rooster31]

Holy cow those look beautiful compared to my the golden color mine are. I'm about to try this.

 

[FinalImpact]

I bought a used S1 header off fleabay that looked as bad as OP's except the clamps were not that bad. I didn't think it would clean up but with about 3 hours of polishing it came back to life.

A few runs out turned marshmallow brown from tune and mods but I'm ok w that.

 

[IAMJUSTIFYD]

When polishing, mine are horrible, used a buffer on some parts or mostly lots of elbow grease?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

When polishing, mine are horrible, used a buffer on some parts or mostly lots of elbow grease?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Either... I just didn't use the polishing ball as it was throwing crap (buffing material) all over the bike......