Polished Headers

[Timon]

Well I had posted up pictures of my bike previously and someone mentioned my headers. It was probably one of the last things on my mind to do until I looked at them.

It took roughly 4 hours to do the pipes, but some of that was because I ran out of elbow grease a few times.

Before:

During:

And after:

I started with some Meguiars metal polish, which seemed to be taking forever so I moved onto using Blue Magic. It may of may not actually work better since they had been partially polished from the Meguiars, but it felt like it took less effort.

 

[FrozenBiker]

Well done :thumbup: Lovin the gold wheels too!

 

[Yasko]

Dang... Look at that shine.:thumbup:

 

[Timon]

Thanks! It's a lot of effort, but well worth the reward. When it isn't snowing I'll get some better pictures. I already cleaned up those radiator hoses too and plan to wax the bike shortly.

FrozenBiker, thank you. I agree the wheels look awesome, and they are just Plastidip too, so I can peel back to black if I want to.

 

[JoeSTL]

Great job! I got the 2" Flitz buff ball and used Blue Magic polish. Worked like a charm and got my dirty pipes like yours in a very short time.

 

[7UPyours]

wow that is really nice job, now I want to do it as well but with the bellypan on, I think it is pointless

 

[FrozenBiker]

By the way, has anyone tried SimiChrome polish? I used that a lot on my old Honda, back in the 70's.
That stuff was amazing, and they still make:

Amazon.com: simichrome polish

 

[FZ6WA]

Someone suggested the Mother's metal polish and seems like it works well since his headers are pretty damn sexy.

 

[CdnMedic]

I usually wet sand first and then polish... It gets them perfectly mirror like, and if they are bad like mine were the first time, it cuts down on the over all time.

Now, I just polish them 3 or 4 times per season with autosol, which is the best I've found and I've tried a few!

 

[agf]

I can get the down tubes looking nice but up near the head It is still discoloured, do you manage to get them all completly gleaming?
I'm sorta dissapointed with my end result.
What I have used in the past tho is a regular kitchen scotch brite scourer and the gumption, but maybe there are better s/steel polishes that will do a better job, I just figured the combo seems to work alright on the kitchen pots and pans!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Someone suggested the Mother's metal polish and seems like it works well since his headers are pretty damn sexy.

That was likely me. I found it worked the best.

"Mothers aluminum and mag polish", red and white can. I did use a "Flitz ball" initially, but fibers were friggin ALL OVER THE PLACE!!

At the top of the header, you just have to squeeze your fingers with a micro fiber rag into the corners and just scrub.

About 13,000 miles on the bike at the time of those pictures.. Once their cleaned up initially its quite a bit easier to keep after (maybe 45 minutes).

A little on the SS Scorps just finishes up the look too..

 

[Kazza]

Nice job! Looks good.

I might get hubby onto this so he can do mine

 

[Motogiro]

I'm ashamed!!! I have one pipe in the front....You'd think I'd keep it looking nice.
The worst looking part on my SV. I know what I'm adding to my chores tomorrow.

 

[Timon]

One thing I forgot to mention, I also used "fine" steel wool as well. I rubbed in some of the polish on and then basically sanded with the steel wool. This seemed to help provide a better end result.

I just ordered Twisted Throttle risers and HVMP bar ends that will be here later this week, so I'll have to grab some daytime pictures after the installation and oil change. Regardless of daytime or terrible night-time cellphone pictures, I don't think I'm going to even get close to rivaling Townsend's pristine pipes.

 

[gottherim4]

I tried cleaning the pipes awhile ago with the mothers polish and a powerball, and also tried fine steel wool. I think the problem for most, like myself, is that it takes a very long time of rubbing and detailing work. I am waiting for a nice-weather weekend to try again. I need to take a picture of my gross pipes to show just how ugly they are.

 

[KingY]

I tried cleaning the pipes awhile ago with the mothers polish and a powerball, and also tried fine steel wool. I think the problem for most, like myself, is that it takes a very long time of rubbing and detailing work. I am waiting for a nice-weather weekend to try again. I need to take a picture of my gross pipes to show just how ugly they are.

haha i think i might be able to match you on nasty looking headers, i ride day in day out here in the UK. im sure my headers are growing a new life form of their own lol deffo gonna spend a whole day stripping bike and cleaning her up when we get some sun shine

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

One thing I forgot to mention, I also used "fine" steel wool as well. I rubbed in some of the polish on and then basically sanded with the steel wool. This seemed to help provide a better end result.

I just ordered Twisted Throttle risers and HVMP bar ends that will be here later this week, so I'll have to grab some daytime pictures after the installation and oil change. Regardless of daytime or terrible night-time cellphone pictures, I don't think I'm going to even get close to rivaling Townsend's pristine pipes.

My pipes, when I got the bike with 4,500 miles looked like everyone else's. In fact the PO, my friends, youngest son(first bike), NEVER even washed the bike the time he owned it, just wrecked it twice, on each side of course..

When I did do my header, I purposly DID NOT USE STEEL WOOL. It would certainly speed things up but your literally scratching the finish of the header. I suspect, going this route will likely promote rusting way down the road.

They can be cleaned up very nicely with a buffing ball, flitz, etc to get the heavy stuff off. A good polish, by hand and to get into the corners, IMO, is a must.

I did go back a little and clean up some of the cat/connector under the engine but didn't go nuts there, my arms were getting tired and its not nearly as noticable as the front four pipes...

(BTW, thank you for the compliments:thumbup