Exhaust discolouring..........

[oldrascal]

I am the brilliantly happy buyer of The Stig's previous mount, a May 2008 GSA with lots and lots of goodies - amongst which was listed 'chrome exhaust'.

As the picture below shows, at 3,000 miles, the said exhausts are showing a lot of blueing and browning which seems to be gathering pace and heading rapidly back down the pipes..

Now although I don't want to treat this great bike as a 'trailer queen', I am nevertheless a bit concerned about how far this will go and whether it is normal for such a young bike.

Also, what does a chromed exhaust add to the situation, presuming that the 'chrome' bit referred to the headers. The Stig added an Acropovic can so I am a bit puzzled.

And if I decide to clean up the pipes, what is the best way?

Cheers

 

[Account removed]

They all do it, it's a BMW thing.

 

[oblertone]

You haven't ...

... been riding it have you tut, tut tut

If your previous steeds have been Japanese you'll find that they generally have 'double-skinned' exhaust headers; these still discolour, but you can't see it. The ones you have now are single skinned, therefore you can

 

[Davy F]

As reply above, the chrome headers will go blue. It's not so much a BMW thing, more a heat thing. My '05 had about 14k on it when this pic was taken. Now at almost 21k and much the same. If you are really really fussy, buy Blue-Job, it takes the blueness out of the pipes. Well, that is until you start riding again and it comes back.

 

[oldrascal]

Davy F's photo has just compounded my confusion.

I am not concerned about the fact that the pipes 'blue' or 'brown', but the speed at which mine have got worse.

Looking at Davy F's bike at 14K and mine at 3k just makes me wonder if my Akrapovic can might be making the system run hotter, hence the deeper discolouration.

Or is it [erhaps the difference between Davy F's 1150 and a current 1200?

 

[Davy F]

my Akrapovic can might be making the system run hotter, hence the deeper discolouration.

Wouldn't think so as the Akra would be less restrictive than the stock exhaust.

Or is it [erhaps the difference between Davy F's 1150 and a current 1200?

Mine's a 1200.

 

[oldrascal]

Whoops

Then that's no help as a theory then.

 

[Our Gee]

Just a comment on Davy,s suggestion of Blue Job which is advertised as "The Worlds Best Chrome Polish". Well, in my experience having spent hours and serious elbow grease, its rubbish.

 

[Mr K]

44,000 mile in and my 1200GSs' pipes are brown for about a foot from the pot..

Not rusty, just brown....somebody told me it was due to BMW using single skin pipes - You get to see the discolouration..

Anyway...badge of honour innit?

 

[magpie]

08 bike pipes went brown the first 100 miles .........IMHO who needs chrome

 

[Davy F]

Blue Job which is advertised as "The Worlds Best Chrome Polish". Well, in my experience having spent hours and serious elbow grease, its rubbish.

I actually bought Blue-Job and have found it quite good at taking the discolouration out of the pipes, but you do need to put a fair bit of elbow grease into getting the required results. But as i said, shortly after running the engine again, they start to go back to blue. Maybe it's good if you're selling your bike and want to make a good impression. Otherwise, it is a waste of money and effort.

 

[oldrascal]

Anyone got any experience of how WonderWheels works on the stains? Its brilliant on alloys but is a mild acid so I am not sure what it does for chrome.

 

[GeorgeH]

My gs is 2 years old today.......happy birthday to her and all that.....
Heres a few pics of my chrome headers, I bought the bike new and I would regard her as very well looked after, she has done 19k and is stored in a dry garage each night...I'm now getting used to the rust look.

 

[swissrob]

that looks bad..... guess you dont wash it down after winter rides???

 

[gipsymagpie]

Cleaner

Cripes! My GS has done about 27000 miles and the pipes still shine. Must be doing something right.

I commute every single day and wash occasionally. No corrosion at all except a tiny tiny bit of the dreaded front engine cover corrosion. I use FS365 every night and wash each month or so with the SDOC 100 Gel cleaner (really really good).

Also, I occasionally use a hein gericke product for cleaning stainless steel for the downpipes. Brown, but not too bad at all.

Douse it in chemicals....works for me.

 

[swissrob]

wash each month or so with the SDOC 100 Gel cleaner (really really good).

i tried it but thought it was shite, strong mix of dish wash does about the same and a good rinse off after.

 

[Bmmike08]

Stainlees Steel exhaust cleaning

Two products work on normal stainless steel (not chrome)
1. Optiglanz from Hein-Gericke. Acid base, wipe on wash off shine restored.
2. Wonder Wheels from Halfords. Acid based, wipe on, wash off.

There is a product for chrome pipes but I have mislaid the name.

Photo of my R1200RT at 30,000 miles using Optiglanz and Autosol.

Mike Davies
R1200RT
R1200GS

 

[GS TRV]

Way tooooooo clean dude

 

[John Armstrong]

Way tooooooo clean dude

Needs to do some work on the drive though

 

[jonnie comet]

2006 R1200GS...12,500 miles......Just 'Autosol'.......