Exhaust Header pipes - are they dry fitted?

[Michael R1150GS Adventure]

Exhaust Header pipes - i want to remove them to give my header pipes a polish...
Are they dry gaskets at the cylinders etc or will I have to replace something if i remove them?
Wanted to ask as A) i have never hadreason to remove them and B) dont want to not be able to put it all back together straight away.

Thanks in advance for any assistance that may be offered.

My bike is as my name suggests by the way!

 

[slaphead GSER]

Exhaust Headers

Just had mine of for the same (sad) reason and no joints or anything else just metal to metal and on start up no blow outs , hope this helps !

 

[Packer]

+1 off several times over the years for cleaning. No gaskets, seals or anything else in sight. Goes back together without a problem.

 

[Welshman]

My headers had gaskets when I took them off, they are a 99 model so very early, but yes definitely gaskets

 

[Grizzly]

Yes!

Hi,
Yes there are dry garkets at the head which would need replaced - also the biggest problem removing them just for cleaning is the studs which may shear due to "necking" caused by corrosion,
No great advantage to cleaning with them off - the top flange is fixed to the pipe & can't move anyway, so it's just as easy to clean them in position - the chrome eventually wears/corrodes off the pipes - leaving natural stainless steel which can be polished with fine wet & dry or Scotchbrite pads etc

Cheers.....................Grizzly

 

[motobiker]

Aye.. if they've never been off then you risk opening one very nasty can of worms by trying to do so. best advice is to leave them strictly alone. Only take them off if you absolutely must for some mechanical reason. Simply to clean them isn't reason enough in my opinion.

 

[MattW]

They do have gaskets (or at least 1100's do and I think 1150's are the same). They're a hard asbestos-like material.

I bought a set of gaskets when I had to take the exhaust off to remove a head. However after 14 years in place, the old gaskets were so compressed and stuck in the exhaust ports that it would have been a major operation to remove them. I left them where they were and used a smear of exhaust jointing paste.

As others have said, be prepared to snap an exhaust stud if you remove the exhaust - the domed nuts corrode away and they weld themselves to the stud. I snapped one each side on mine (three each side on an 1100). The ones that didn't snap wound their way out of the head with nut still in place.

 

[MikeP]

Whether or not it's worth taking them off, I'll leave to others to decide but this seems to suggest that there is a gasket/seal:

5 is described as "exhaust seal."

 

[Welshman]

Mine were more like two sheets of shim stock (meant to have asbestos between probably), no stud corrosion and its 99 model, but Jo,burg isn,t the mud island

 

[Grizzly]

1150 gaskets not asbestos-type composite joints

The 1150 gaskets are as descibed above "two sheets of shim-stock" but one has a raised embossed edge which does the sealing when flattened

Cheers.................Grizzly

 

[Michael R1150GS Adventure]

cheers guys, lots of different answers though!
Appreciate the input.

 

[Colban]

Polish it....!!! Bloody nancy-boys.
Its a GS,a proper 11xx too....its supposed to be grubby.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to use some pentrating oil on the exhaust nuts and then attempting to loosen/ease the nut them before retorqueing them.

 

[Michael R1150GS Adventure]

ha ha, the best bit is getting them dirty!

Just a bit too much build of crud from green laning that seems to have baked on...

I've managed to get hold of a workshop manual and am browsing this very mo.

Mine's a 2003 model.

 

[Michael R1150GS Adventure]

answer found!
Mine are dry fit.
Unbolt, bolt back on.
Just the worry of shearing the bolt heads off now...

 

[sockpuppet]

answer found!
Mine are dry fit.
Unbolt, bolt back on.
Just the worry of shearing the bolt heads off now...

Penetrating oil, loads of.

Apply it once per night for a week before taking them off. Smack the bolts with a hammer to help crack the thread to help it seep in.

If that doesn't work run the bike then try it (wait for the pipes to cool down which will a lot faster than the head).

 

[MattW]

Penetrating oil, loads of.

Apply it once per night for a week before taking them off. Smack the bolts with a hammer to help crack the thread to help it seep in.

If that doesn't work run the bike then try it (wait for the pipes to cool down which will a lot faster than the head).

I soaked me nuts in penetrating oil for a week sadly it didn't help - snapped two, unscrewed four out of the head with nut still firmly affixed (subsequently changed for stainless studs and brass nuts). That said mine is as old as oilheads get so a newer 1150 might have less corroded nuts (ooh 'er missus).