| Author | Message | ||
     Sparky_494 |
I am still rather new to this forum so forgive me if this topic has been beat to death already. I purchased my new to me XT about 3 weeks ago and have been riding the heck out of it and loving it. When I bought the bike it was in really nice condition except for the header pipes. The pipes have a brownish blueish color to them and look almost pitted/corroded in places. I did a little research on this forum and the XB forum to see what the preferred polish is. I read on one of the forums that the 08 and newer models have a coating on the pipes and one should not polish them. Is this true? If so what do you use to clean them up? Next question: When I purchased the bike the PO threw in a spare stock muffler. Both mufflers are rusty and I know this is a Buellism that I am going to have to deal with, however, since I have a spare I figured I would clean it up and shoot it with some quality exhaust paint and maybe get a season or two out of it. I have access to a sandblast cabinet and am wondering if this is the best route to clean up the muffler. The only thing that concerns me is the exhaust valve, is there some kind of bushing or bearing in there that I could potentially damage in the sandblasting process? Thanks, Sparky | ||
| Arry |
That would be the ideal way to clean it up (muffler). I would mask off the actuator, and not blast that area directly. Also, plug the inlet and outlet (obvious). I've used Rust-oleum High Heat (2000F). Available at hardware stores. It holds up pretty well, and with the sand blast prep it should work even better. (Message edited by arry on June 20, 2016) | ||
| Hughlysses |
AFAIK, the is no coating from the factory on any of the headers. I polished the headers on my 2007 last year. I used sandpaper, starting with about 320 grit and working up to 800 or so, then I used metal polish. I've tried several different brands over the years.and I don't really have a favorite. There are lots of old threads here on polishing headers if you want more recommendations and examples. One unexpected benefit of polishing headers is that they will radiate noticeably less heat. On the muffler, sandblasting will not hurt the valve, you just should watch out for the quadrant that the cable attaches to, and avoid blasting it too long. | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
Steel wool and WD40 will give good results. | ||
| Poppinsexz |
Sandblasted mine and shot it with caterpillar muffler paint. 3rd year now and no rust. | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
Stealing from Cat eh? Tsk..tsk... (Message edited by figorvonbuellingham on June 20, 2016) | ||
| Crempel |
How is it that the world has come to this? Now we are using the word "polish" in connection with a Uly?!? Egads. | ||
| Sparky_494 |
I hear what your sayn' Crempel..... but lets face it, the only off-road my Uly will be doing is a few logging roads in northern Wisconsin. My 400EX quad never gets polished or washed. I'm hoping to do the sandblasting and painting on the muffler next week. The headers may have to wait until this winter. | ||
| Hughlysses |
The headers may have to wait until this winter. If you can get them off the bike then I'm sure they'd be much easier to do. You could even use sanding and buffing wheels and knock them out in 1/10 the time it takes to do them by hand, and it'd be a better job. | ||
| Sparky_494 |
That's kinda what I was thinking, but it looks like removing the headers is a PITA! | ||
| Griffmeister |
Removing them is not too bad, it's getting them back on that's the real pain. The pipes are one piece yet the ends kind of face one another, and the gaskets seem impossible to get back where they belong without doing some damage. There must be a secret, I just haven't found it yet. |
