Blue pipes

[Richie504]

Hi

I have a new 1200GS and the pipes from the engine have blued off nicely. What is the best way to keep them maintained and to stop them rusting etc?
Unfortunately the bike is kept outside allot although under a Oxford cover.

Cheers

Richie

 

[Timpo]

The standard pipes are stainless steel, they won't rust.
The blue occurs when hot pipes return to ambient atmospheric temperature, it can't be stopped.
You can clear away the discolouration with polishing, but wtf, it's a characteristic....... so why bother.

Timpo.

 

[John Armstrong]

Have you got "chrome" or stainless steel exhaust headers?

 

[ianran]

My dad told me if you wrap copper wire around the top of the headers this acts as a heat shrink and stops or slow downs the blueing. Worked on my Trident I mean his bonnie coz Im not old enough

 

[Richie504]

I had the chrome fitted as an option. Don't get me wrong I actually like the blueing of the pipes.

So you don't think they will rust then?

Cheers

R

 

[Schtum]

My dad told me if you wrap copper wire around the top of the headers this acts as a heat shrink and stops or slow downs the blueing.

Sink - heat sink. Your dad told you it would act as a heat sink, not shrink. I see what he was getting at but, in truth, you'd have to wrap a hell of a lot of copper wire around the pipes for it to make any significant difference to their surface temperature and hence to the rate at which they go blue, or even that nice straw colour which is usually the case with stainless pipes.

 

[laukgser]

My dad told me if you wrap copper wire around the top of the headers this acts as a heat shrink and stops or slow downs the blueing. Worked on my Trident I mean his bonnie coz Im not old enough

Sorry to be off topic ,Ianran do ya still have that mouthpiece for sax ,thought i saw it somewhere ,let me know as interested in getting.
cheers steve

 

[Brian ROSEN]

These strange topics!

Suddenly you notice that we are well distributed around the world but all keen to solve each others problems; what a pity the politicians have not the same enthusiasm. Coming back on topic; I have had ten BMW's over thirty years and they have all 'blued' their exhausts. The blue can be removed by stainless steel polish/cleaner but it will com back. I heard a theory that it happened during the running in period because the bike was running hotter and thus, if removed soon after it would not return - and i convinced myself that at least the second blueing was not so intense; but that was a few bikes ago and as has been said it is a not unattractive characteristic.

 

[Beemerman59]

I gave mine a clean up with autosol just to see if it did come off - which it did with a lot of elbow grease. Maybe I will do it every 5K miles but then again I don't really mind it. Whats left though are a few unsightly brownish marks that won't come off. They look just like drips of some sort of chemical that were on the pipes at some point and have stained the metal. Won't come off with anything I have to hand. Didn't notice it when they were blue!

 

[Sgt Bilco]

The pipes won`t rust but regular cleaning with solvol keeps them shiny.

You will never keep them like new but they are exhaust pipes so I wouldn`t worry too much

 

[JJ's GS]

Hi
Anyone know how to get rid of the brown marks?

Thanks
JJ

 

[Demongroover]

I had the chrome fitted as an option. Don't get me wrong I actually like the blueing of the pipes.

So you don't think they will rust then?

Cheers

R

Chrome will rust, regardless of the metal underneath as chrome is porous. Regular polishing will keep it at bay.

 

[elefantmanshawn]

Hi
Anyone know how to get rid of the brown marks?

Thanks
JJ

Daz on a 60 cycle gets mine out

 

[Les Wassall]

just leave them as they are, if the Chrome ones they stay like that for quite a while, you can always use it as an excuse to change

 

[GSband]

My R12GS has the optional chrome pipes. Rust will start to appear in the form of small spicks eventually, which will then grow larger. Regular maintenance (in no way comparable to the polishing needed to keep stainless steel pipes relatively 'nice') will prevent rust from starting at all.

 

[HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED]

I noticed after a long run last week one down pipe was deep blue & the other straw to mid blue is this normal or do I need mixture /throttle bodies setting up again, no obvious running/starting/tickover problems, am I better leaving well alone ?

 

[Aggy]

Hi
Anyone know how to get rid of the brown marks?

Thanks
JJ

Clean underwear and ride slower

 

[MattW]

I noticed after a long run last week one down pipe was deep blue & the other straw to mid blue is this normal or do I need mixture /throttle bodies setting up again, no obvious running/starting/tickover problems, am I better leaving well alone ?

Just out of interest was the right hand pipe the deeper blue one?

 

[HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED]

Unbalanced view

Just out of interest was the right hand pipe the deeper blue one?

From sitting on the bike it was the left one but I suspect if it is a mixture/air or balance problem it could be either, this was question I was posing, probably not very clearly.

 

[Bmmike08]

Remove blueing on chrome and tip for stainless steel

You can try this for removing your chrome blueing;
H:\Self\My MotorBikes\Blue Away (UK) - Polishing - Frost Auto Restoration Techniques.mht


For standard stainless steel exhausts as on my RT & GS I uses Wonder Wheels from Halfords - just wipe on and agitate then wash off with water and polish - removes all brown discolourorization.
See photos of my GS after 10,000 miles
Regards
Mike Davies