| Author | Message | ||
     Ridrx |
What is it that gives the header on my '0612R the gold color? I know some say the heat turns them gold, but when it was new they were too uniform to be from heat. Is it paint? Some sort of heat barrier? Lots complain about the heat from the pipes, but mine aren't that bad. I was pondering polishing them, but I don't want to undo something the factory may have done for a reason(other than aesthetics). | ||
| Uawjesse |
A bunch of people have coated their pipes. There are numerous threads on coatings, Jethot, etc. | ||
| Etennuly |
Rid, What you are seeing is the natural discoloration of stainless steel brought on by exposure to a lot of heat. It will change to a blue/gray look closer to the heads where it gets the hottest, and mine even have little blue/gray spots on them. At nearly 16000 miles they are not as pretty as they were when new. A lot of 'character'. The good news is that with some effort the pipes can be buffed right back to new. Look for some recent threads on the subject of polishing the headers. | ||
| Metalstorm |
I think they turn gold simply because they're made of stainless steel. They can be polished but unless you upkeep them they will eventually return to their goldish tone. I kinda like it. I have a black/amber bike & it kinda goes with it. | ||
| Buellshyter |
I think they turn gold simply because they're made of stainless steel I dunno..I've seen a lot of stainless steel and it's not gold colored. Perhaps, they add something to the steel during manufacture? It is true you can polish the header and it will return to gold so it can't be a coating. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
Harley does nothing with the pipes to coat them. They are nothing but stainless steel. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Isn't there some kind of coating on the 2005 and later pipes that prevents them from being sanded down and buffed up like the ones shown on this thread? | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Jon....Why in the world would they do that??? I know they do some really weird things but that is crazy. | ||
| Ridrx |
Same reason people send them to HPC/JetHot? | ||
| Hammeroid |
'06 bikes definitely have a coating. Coating itself isn't hard to remove however, the pipes are pitted and that is a B*tch to sand. Lots of hours to get them shiny. | ||
| Spiderman |
Even if you had regular steel pipes you would see a gold color before log. That color is a natural process in heat tempering. IE light yellow....440*F straw yellow....460*f brown-purple....520*F http://www.zianet.com/ebear/metal/heattreat4.html | ||
| Ridrx |
Hammeroid, Do you happen to know what the coating is for? Aesthetics, heat barrier, corrosion protection? I have no doubt I can remove it(coating) and polish the pipe, and they will turn a shade of gold. However if that coating is rust prevention or a form of heat barrier I would leave it alone. | ||
| Spiderman |
BTW it is not a coating, they bead blasted it... | ||
| Ridrx |
So, when I took possession of my bike with 3 miles on it, the header had been uniformly heated to approx. 460F... from head to muffler? I have seen many polished headers...none having a uniform gold color, it always fades from head to muffler. I don't mean to sound like a wisea$$, I just want to be sure of what I'm doing before I do it. Thanks | ||
| Spiderman |
when you polish the headers the gold color will come off temporarly but will return with heating. | ||
| Spiderman |
BTW your bike may have only said 3 miles on it, BUT after it came off the line at buell it went for 5 mile shake down then who knows how long the dealer let it idle for... PS every Buell I have seen come out of a crate has had yellow pipes and every new pipe I have seen come out of a box has been silver... | ||
| Typeone |
this topic has come up a lot in the past, and the answers are always the same, i wish someone knew... '06 and up headers can't be just SS turning color from heat, the coating is completely uniform when new. its much, much different looking than my '05, immediately noticeable when comparing the two. i'll try another search, i've exhausted myself in the past looking for the answer.. . i do know they're bead blasted but something else is coated on there, gold in color. i always said the newer headers looked like pantyhose, i prefer the raw SS of '05 and down models. i'm still curious 3yrs later whats up with the '06 and newer headers. | ||
| Spiderman |
Unless an annony shows up and says different there was no published info to say there was a coating on said pipes. After the engine is finished being built it is put on a dyno to make sure it runs properly and gets its first warming. as you can see in the pic  (Pic by Ferris Bueller) Then It goes into the rolling dyno which you can also see in the pic which brings out the gold color even further. The reason the color is completely uniform when new is 'cause the bike has only traveled a few miles it hasn't been in stop an go traffic. 100 mile romps on the freeway, etc. The reason the color looks different on the bead blasted pipes is do to the surface. | ||
| Typeone |
Spidey, i hear what you're saying, it makes total sense and i've been to the factory, BUT, the pipes look crazy different to me. they don't look like plain, bead-blasted, mildly-heated SS to me at all. not discounting your input, i just can't see how there isn't something on there. its the first thing i noticed/inspected when the '06s came out. stuck out like a sore thumb. somebody ping Annony (hey Court, hint, hint) for some info, coating or not, what's the difference in process from '05- to '06+? | ||
| Ridrx |
Spidey, Did the 04 and older bikes not get "run in" at the factory? If so, why weren't those pipes gold? I have never seen an exhaust pipe that maintained a consistent temp from one end to the other. I just don't see how it can be an effect of heat and be that consistent for the entire length of the pipe. I'm by no means an engineer, but I have enough experience with exhaust in general to think there is something else going on there. I have decided to wait on polishing for now, but I REALLY want to know what the deal is. I had hoped that Court or Blake would enlighten us as I'm sure one of them knows. As an aside...why did they start bead blasting them? To keep us from polishing off some top secret coating? Hmmmm This is EXHAUSTING...haha. | ||
| Spiderman |
The pipes are "gold" they just have a different look too them. Smooth surface VS bead blasted one. The pipe is not a constant temp, the color does vary with more heat, the chart above I listed is for carbon steel not stainless, which I do not have a chart or know the color/temper properties of. When you get your new Buell the Blueing didn;t happen overnight it took a few weeks and a bit of riding. If you polish the pipe It will be "silver" for about 10 min, it will turn a hue of "gold" not the same as the bead blasted but the same as the smooth pipe. Then the bluing will occure. | ||
| Bombardier |
I ride an 84 K100 BMW. It has stainless header pipes and after I polish them to a silver finish and go for a ride they go to a gold colour also. Not being a metalurgist I am not sure but it seems it has something to do with heat on stainless. | ||
| Spiderman |
and then did they start o turn darker and bluer towrds the head? | ||
| 99buellx1 |
I had a converstation with a guy that worked at the plant that manufactured the headers. He said that when they leave that shop they are dull silver, no coatings, just plain stainless. Once they get a taste of heat they turn to the gold color. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
After a while they will turn a cool looking purple/silver/red/to gold colors.  | ||
| Typeone |
but those don't look like '06+ headers that we're wondering about. the point that SS turns color from heat is agreed upon by everyone. what year bike was being produced when you had that conversation, 99buellx1? | ||
| Mndwgz |
My sales guy told me they were coated. I asked with what? He didn't have a clue, but will look into it for me.... sure. I'll start taking pics to follow the change from new till they burn through. (Message edited by mndwgz on June 13, 2007) | ||
| Ridrx |
I don't disagree they turn colors from heat exposure, I work in a metal fab shop and am familiar with tempering and such. I just believe there is *something* on the headers to produce such a uniform color from new, I could be completely wrong. The pipes in the pic above are distinctly different colors. Is that normal? Does the rear cylinder run that much hotter? The pipes on my 12 are blued very similar to each other.However I don't ride it all that hard and usually not for more than 40-60 miles at time(shortest rides are about 20-25 miles). I appreciate everyones input and responses. I really wish we could get someone to "prove" it one way or the other. Spidey's pic of the dyno would be proof IF you could see a bike that had silver pipes(not run yet) on it somewhere in the pic. I am not questioning anyone's integrity or anything like that, just my experiences with working around metal fab(last 10 years) tells me something else is at play. Hey Court...I'm looking for the *ROOT CAUSE* of my gold pipes, how about a little input. I'd settle for a simple yes or no answer, not looking to expose any secrets. I'll even say.....PLEASE.  | ||
| Typeone |
front cylinder is running hotter on the bike in pic above. more blueing | ||
| Nasty73z |
+1 I've never seen stainless look like titanium before lol. That is a lot of heat to make those bikes that blue. I would think the bike wasn't running properly or you live and ride in the middle of the sahara. |
