Polishing Exhaust Headers

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Deleted by author.

 

[KingY]

I got sick and tired of cleaning mine after riding day in day out in the great British weather so i wrapped the exhaust headers in that exhaust wrap stuff, so its all black, well was going funny colours now due to bad weather. I'm scared to take it off because i have herd reports of headers corroding and rusting :O

 

[FinalImpact]

I found that an OLD PAIR of Denim Jean legs worked great for this. Cut them off below the man area leaving the legs whole. Now you don't have to be under the bike to get the job done, just wrap through a pipe and do the old double pull shoe shine action. You can even reach the opposite header pipe with ease!!!!

 

[Baci]

I didnt realize how much they could shine! I will keep up on mine and go get some supplies, with only 2500 miles mine are not terrible.

Thanks for all the tips

 

[FinalImpact]

I didnt realize how much they could shine! I will keep up on mine and go get some supplies, with only 2500 miles mine are not terrible.

Thanks for all the tips

Mine Took a plastic bag to it in the wind and some melty occurred. This finally got that out of view!

What's funny is then I attacked my polished aluminum bicycle doing the same process. Its no longer safe to ride w/out sun block and dark shades! :rockon:

 

[trepetti]

Did mine with Flitz and a buffing wheel last weekend. I have an 05 with 11k and the headers had that dull yellow patina with leopard spots.

Worked great! I had a fellow Yamaha owner pull up next to me in traffic and ask if they were aftermarket headers.

Thanks to all in this thread for giving me the idea by showing off their work. It was really easy and is one of the most noticeable things I dd to the bike.

 

[Yasko]

Did mine with Flitz and a buffing wheel last weekend. I have an 05 with 11k and the headers had that dull yellow patina with leopard spots.

Worked great! I had a fellow Yamaha owner pull up next to me in traffic and ask if they were aftermarket headers.

Thanks to all in this thread for giving me the idea by showing off their work. It was really easy and is one of the most noticeable things I dd to the bike.

:needpics:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Think I created a monster!

 

[Gelvatron]

So chinny like my Cheby

 

[Yasko]

Think I created a MONSTER!

Luv it!

:Sport:

That's why this is a great site.:cheer: We all motivate each other.:rockon:

 

[outasight20]

We will all be checked into mental hospitals in the near future with OCPD. Obsessive Compulsive Polishing Disorder

 

[FinalImpact]

I got sick and tired of cleaning mine after riding day in day out in the great British weather so i wrapped the exhaust headers in that exhaust wrap stuff, so its all black, well was going funny colours now due to bad weather. I'm scared to take it off because i have herd reports of headers corroding and rusting :O

Kingy, you might just keep an eye open for used set. Wrap is kind of OK in the DRY but long term coverage while getting wet will rust them out.

So chinny like my Cheby

Throw a pic up somewhere - lets see!

Think I created a MONSTER!

Luv it!

:Sport:

Perhaps! Although most of us had it in us already...

Scott, Just an observation; you really need to get better use out of those tires! Looks like the center section is toast and you still have tire t i t i e s on the side!!!! :BLAA:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Scott, Just an observation; you really need to get better use out of those tires! Looks like the center section is toast and you still have tire t i t i e s on the side!!!! :BLAA:[/quote]

Put your glasses on.

 

[Frakes Overdrive]

Tools:
Mothers Mag Metal Polish (10ish bucks)
Circular Terry Cloth Pads (3 pack - 4-5ish bucks)
Microfiber Cloths (2 pack - 4ish bucks I think)

Worked on them for about 1 hour to and hour and a half, and I'm singing the praises to Mothers Mag. Only thing is the middle two pipes. You can still see some crud in the middle and I went after it with some steel wool for about a half an hour and it was kinda hard to see any improvement. Any suggestions?

Edit: Also thanks everyone for this post, wouldn't have known where to start. And nothing motivates more like looking at other folks awesome pipes and getting a little embarrassed whenever I looked at mine.

 

[FinalImpact]

Tools:
Mothers Mag Metal Polish (10ish bucks)
Circular Terry Cloth Pads (3 pack - 4-5ish bucks)
Microfiber Cloths (2 pack - 4ish bucks I think)

Worked on them for about 1 hour to and hour and a half, and I'm singing the praises to Mothers Mag. Only thing is the middle two pipes. You can still see some crud in the middle and I went after it with some steel wool for about a half an hour and it was kinda hard to see any improvement. Any suggestions?

Edit: Also thanks everyone for this post, wouldn't have known where to start. And nothing motivates more like looking at other folks awesome pipes and getting a little embarrassed whenever I looked at mine.

Nice Turn around - keep it up! :thumbup:

 

[Yasko]

And nothing motivates more like looking at other folks awesome pipes and getting a little embarrassed whenever I looked at mine.

All the kool kids are doing it.:rockon:

 

[darius]

So much pressure. :surrender:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Quite an improvement!!!

As for the middle pipes, just keep at it. Some of the real stubborn stuff (spots especially), I put some on the header and just rub hard with a microfiber cloth in a very small section. You should see black crap on the cloth if your rubbing hard enough. I used a "Flitz ball" for a bit initially (it just tends to throw fur all over the bike and the polish where your working.

You have to remember, right now, your where its likely the thickest, from years of road debris melting/cooking on the pipes. Keep rubbing, it'll come clean. Once your up to snuff, it'll be considerably easier to keep after.

 

[Frakes Overdrive]

Quite an improvement!!! :thumbup:

As for the middle pipes, just keep at it. Some of the real stubborn stuff (spots especially), I put some on the header and just rub hard with a microfiber cloth in a very small section. You should see black crap on the cloth if your rubbing hard enough. I used a "Flitz ball" for a bit initially (it just tends to throw fur all over the bike and the polish where your working.

You have to remember, right now, your where its likely the thickest, from years of road debris melting/cooking on the pipes. Keep rubbing, it'll come clean. Once your up to snuff, it'll be considerably easier to keep after. :Sport:

Thanks for the compliments and advice!! I was just thinking to myself last night 'if it only took an hour to get them that much better, I should just put another few hours into it and see how that works'. So after work today I'm gonna ditch the steel wool and get back at it with the microfiber cloth.

 

[outasight20]

Thanks for the compliments and advice!! I was just thinking to myself last night 'if it only took an hour to get them that much better, I should just put another few hours into it and see how that works'. So after work today I'm gonna ditch the steel wool and get back at it with the microfiber cloth.

Try wet sanding with some 1500-2000 grit sandpaper. It takes off the tough stuff pretty quickly.