| Author | Message | ||
     Cgocifer |
Just wanted to share some feedback about polishing your headers. Well, it started out easy enough. Things were going well until I got it out into the sunlight. I can't believe how many gouges, scrapes, and scratches are in the stock pipes! Stainless steel is a very hard metal and doesn't sand easily. By hand, I spent hours trying to get out all of the nicks and gouges. Some were so deep, I just couldn't get them all the way out. Anyway, I used the usual grades of emery cloth and finished it off with some Mother's metal polish. The stuff works great, but also highlights any scratches you don't get. I finally gave up and just polished the things. They don't look too bad actually. As they heat, they start turning gold. Matches the wheels nicely. I'll use a dremel next week to finish off the hard to remove scratches.Yes, the bike is dirty, I haven't washed it yet. It's still covered with the dust from sanding.    | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Nice looking set of polished headers you got there, Dale. There was a very recent and totally fascinating thread on the very same subject that you might care to peruse as you get more initiated into the holy secrets of the highly polished pipe. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/272308.html?1177038318 PS: It appears that many brothers are still unaware of how effective the Google search of this site is. If you had clicked on " Google BadWeb" on the top of every page, and simply typed in "Polished Headers" in the first box, you would have found this link, and several others in no time flat.  (Message edited by gentleman_jon on June 08, 2007) | ||
| Cgocifer |
Yep, I read some of those. I just wanted to share my take, show the fruit of my efforts, and dust off an old subject. Oh yeah, I remember that post. I just posted over there. Sorry for the duplicate thread!!  Thanks, Dan (Message edited by cgocifer on June 08, 2007) | ||
| Xb9ser |
Instead of polishing mine I had them HPC coated.  | ||
| 07xb12scg |
They look pretty darn sweet! | ||
| Bads1 |
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| Buellinachinashop |
Dana, do you sand/emery your pipes before using Eagle One? | ||
| Obiewan |
Now look what you've done. I'm gonna have to do mine now. That looks SWEET! I was going to put a new floor in the kitchen this weekend, but now I have to polish my pipes. The wife is gonna love that. LOL!! | ||
| Bads1 |
Nope I use Eagle 1 and apply with paper towel. The paper towel and the Eagle 1 work together to polish out the medal. Then I buff with very soft cotton terry clothe. Took me about 4 applications to what you see starting with a new pipe. A older one will clean up also but just alittle more work. After you get it where you like it takes 5 minutes to clean them up. I do mine about 3-4 times a year and thats it. So I have 20 minutes into my header a year..... BIG DEAL RIGHT ?? | ||
| Cgocifer |
I don't know what magic Dana uses, but I used 180, 400, 600, 2000 grit sandpaper and I still couldn't get out all of the tooling scratches and gouges. It was a pain in the arse, and I still have gouges that I can't get out! | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Dano, I agree with you. Never could figure out how Dana does it. That's why I used the Scotchbrite Finishing Sander fine wheel. Gets those deep tool marks and scratches and splotches gone! NOW! The Luster Lace just finishes the job. Forty days later, my pipes are looking golden, and still pretty shiny.  | ||
| Ridrx |
CG, Polished pipes look soooo nice. Good job. Does anyone know if the '06 gold pipes on a 12 polish up like that? Most i've seen are coated not polished. I vaguely remember someone posting that the gold pipes on '06 and newer 12's would not polish. Possibly due to some factory treatment? I'd love to do mine but have been sort of afraid I might ruin them, they still look good, no dents, stains, scratches, etc., just a bit of the usual blueing(sp?). (Message edited by RidrX on June 09, 2007) | ||
| Bads1 |
No magic. Just applications. Eagle 1 digs into the medal and so does Flitz. Paper towel gives the abrasive. Terry cloth to buff. | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
Just polishing the headers with whatever your favorite or recommended metal polish will be a nice improvement, and in photos here they won't appear much different from the ones that a lot of time has gone into sanding smooth. In person there is no comparison - one is shiny metal, the other almost looks plated (I call it poor man's chrome)! There is no comparison really - so just know what to expect beforehand, you get back what you put in.... The smoother you get them the longer they will stay looking good too. Without sanding the metal it will revert over time to almost the same way they looked before you did anything. When they are sanded smooth, the color gets darker and darker, but they stay very shiny. HPC looks very good and probably lasts forever, but just doesn't look as nice as polished metal or chrome (IMO). Nice job Dan | ||
| Bads1 |
Even the sanded will go dull over time. They won't stay that way but once you have cleaned up the header to the point of whats above.... upkeep is a breeze. | ||
| Cgocifer |
HPC looks nice, but I like the gold color. Looks good with the black and orange. Once a metal is polished it only takes a few minutes to get them shiny again. Thanks for the comments and tips! | ||
| Donutninja |
I had HPC do the headers on my Hawk GT, and they came out looking FANTASTIC. I'd definitely deal with them again, and they have many color options. |
