Exhaust coatings

Right, having gone O/T on the swingarm topic (plus others) and started discussing exhaust header coatings, I thought it best to start a new thread on the subject.

There is some debate about what might be a good thing to do to exhausts to (a) keep them looking good and (b) help keep heat inside the system rather than soaking into various sundry parts (i.e. battery, oil pipes, rear shocker etc).


Options people have tried so far....

Gregz has taken the initiative and heat wrapped his headers. This does a great job, but may not be to all tastes.

SiamJim has taken the ceramic coating route. Possibly less effective than heat wrapping but arguably better asthetically.


DrF and I are now looking into a similar coating process done here in the UK . The website is a bit out of date but the process appears to be sound and should cost IRO £65 - £80 +VAT for a pair of SD headers plus freight. All in, then, about £100 and no more discoloured headers (plus, as F would claim, if you go for black.....yeah, we all know )

Anyone else treated their headers to a wrap or ceramic coating? If so what can you report of longevity and quality of finish (and does it actually work?)

Anyone else considered doing this? Discuss......

Titanium -- blueish

Titanium -- blueish

Titanium -- blueish

Ad lib till fade.

Surely the gains are microscopic so it's purely cosmetic, and nothing beats the colouring of a titanium exhaust that's really been used?

Or am I old and just a bit perverted?

Mitch

Actually its not all cosmetic...... i have done some heat managment improvments to my impreza in order to keep the hot bits hot ( exhaust gasses flow faster the hotter they are ) and the cool bits cool ( intercooler mainly to keep charge temps down ) i have exhaust manifolds and turbo uppipe and downpipe heat wrapped with insulation tape,and there was a slight increase in spool up of the turbo,hundred or so rpm sooner on boost....so presume the exhaust gas speed from the headers was reaching the turbo blades faster thus reducing lag slightly...... also temp probe i have between intercooler and throttle body now shows a reduction in temp when driven,so the underbonnet temp has been reduced due to keeping he hot exhaust heat away from the intercooler,thus reducing heat soak when stationary,and reduced charge temp when on boost


only results i have as i have not tried any heat reduction methods on bikes due to the air flow around the exhaust made me think ant gains might not be so beneficial,and the heat wrap is ok when not visible,as it does degarde over time and needs re wrapping at some point ( though it can be painted to extend its life somewhat)...... though would look taty sooner rather than later exposed on a bike....ceramic coating does the same job,though the insides if the pipes can be coated also as an insulation to raidating the heat..... some members on the buel forum i used to frequent used camcoat with some succes i recall


mainly its looks though

I know of two guys who ceramic coated the in & outside of their headers of a Buell and Yam MTR01 and both started to look bad and cracky after some 6/7 months.

I am curious though what the 'great job' is that the heat wrapping does on Gregz' bike. Not in theory but on the road riding the bike. Both guys I mentioned didn't notice any difference, not on the road and not on the dyno. I do know one thing heat wrapping does in the looks department...

Another coating link

http://www.zircotec.com/

and camcoat
http://www.camcoat.u-net.com/

martin

Hi Guys,

I have some experience with wrapping heat tape and I like the look very much.

Has it done anything - I will not be able to answer, I have modified everything in one hit.. so a Dyno run will not show each bits improvement.

I expect that there will not be any noticeable power increase in heatwrapping, as turbo's use exhaust speed and bikes use tuned (or untuned) pulses. (I have owned a Lancer GSR and EVO1 both heavily modified and heated wrapped).

It does reduce heat dramatically! I hope now not to melt things... as out Aust temps do get up to 40 deg celcius in summer. My main aim was to avoid a battery meltdown or explosion. Also to do this cheap, and I have the wrap spare from my EVO days, so it only cost me AU$10 bucks for heat paint.

Heatwrapp fitted to the bike:


Exhaust removed and wrapped, prior to painting:

Hey 750hp,

I have not been pulled over for years so I cannot comment + I am in NSW... but the NSW laws are as follows:

"For motorcycles and trailers it should be put in a special holder and fixed on or adjacent to the vehicle’s rear number plate without obscuring the vehicle’s number plate characters."



Try looking for a similar article in QLD - but their site is considerably crappier than NSW - Sorry. This means I am illegal anyway.

just for the look i have used AUTOSOL the best metal polish in the world
or almost

OK Fellas, here are the pics. Sorry about the quality, but I think you can make out the detail well enough.

I've ridden the bike hard for about 100kms and you can see there's no discoloration.

Looks great SiamJim!

I prefer my looks..photo's coming... of the heat wrap. I think it looks hardcore! Plus I can actaully hold the exhaust for a few seconds with my bare hands after a hard ride

Do u know if you can touch the ceramic coated ones? Is it that much cooler?
(Oh if it's hot.. don't burn yourself for my sake)