Exhaust Polishing ??

Andy Hird · Aug 30, 2005

Hi All,

Decided to take my exhaust off my R1100GS and polish it with a polishing kit from Heine Gericke. The kit just wouldn't touch the blueing, it was totally crap. I don't know if it was because of my slow hand drill speed ?

Anyway, I thought the only way to tackle it was with emery paper and successively finer grades of wet and dry down to 800 grade, then wire wool. This did the job just fine and it certainly removed the blueing. Only when I came to give it the final polish it with solvol, I couldn't get a brite chrome type finish, although it is shiny, but just a dull shine.

Anyone got any advice on how to get a brite chrome finish ? I know a lot of you will think GS's shouldn't have shiny exhausts, but I spent all Bank Holiday Monday doing it, and so I would like a decent result after all the effort.

Cheers
Andy

ELIMINATOR · Aug 30, 2005

Sorry to disappoint you, but the action of heating the exausts results in the blueing you have. Even if you buff them to a chrome like finish it will not last long. But, it may keep that horrible skanky brown / rust looking surface at bay, if you polish regularly.

komatias · Aug 30, 2005

I used Autosol with a buffer disc on my F650's exhaust, did a really good job

Andy Hird · Aug 30, 2005

ELIMINATOR said:
Sorry to disappoint you, but the action of heating the exausts results in the blueing you have. Even if you buff them to a chrome like finish it will not last long. But, it may keep that horrible skanky brown / rust looking surface at bay, if you polish regularly.

I knew the blueing would come back after polishing, but I still decided to do it anyway, I've just got a bee in my bonnet about getting the bas**rd really shiny before it goes blue again.

cookie · Aug 30, 2005

seem to remember from distant past, that polishing with aluminium foil was the way to go with blued exhausts.

it'll come back straight away though.

B Murr · Aug 30, 2005

can't help but to wonder what freud would have made of all this exhaust polishin

Wizard · Aug 30, 2005

Since my mother never had a GS, I don't think it'd be very accurate :confused:

Deadskin · Aug 31, 2005

Andy
Keep going with the solvo
try a jean type cloth then something softer..
I use a dremmel with polishing soap
after a while turns a lovely gold

pomm001 · Aug 31, 2005

Andy

As mentioned in an earlier thread
The polishing kit I used had three grades of mop and compounds
the results were great, almost as good as new with now 'blue' or brown left on , I can only guess that the kit you have did not have the 'sisal mop'
in it , this is the hardest and first stage, which gets rid of all and leaves a matt but clean finish. the next mops get the surface to a brilliant shine.
If yours has not gone as smoothly as this I can only suggest you have the wrong tools, or your doing it wrong , you wont be able to do this with a cordless drill! not strong enough.
I understand your frustration but its a job you only want to do once , as 500 miles later the 'brown' look is back .

There is nothing you can do to stop the 'brown' returning ( other than don’t start your bike ) for the really sad people out there I have picture charts of stainless steel changes in colour over temperature and time
:beer:

silentwitness · Aug 31, 2005

I quite like the blue actually :confused:

Tobers · Aug 31, 2005

Just worked some "Wonder Wheels" onto my exhaust using the supplied brush. Washed it off 3 mins later and the exhaust was shiny and new looking with no brown bits. Amazing. Sort of off-putting smell as it works, but no probs other than that.

John Armstrong · Aug 31, 2005

Tobers said:
Just worked some "Wonder Wheels" onto my exhaust using the supplied brush. Washed it off 3 mins later and the exhaust was shiny and new looking with no brown bits. Amazing. Sort of off-putting smell as it works, but no probs other than that.

Will that work on a 11xx exhaust as Andy originally asked? Being that the thread isn't in the 1200 area.

Nostromo · Aug 31, 2005

Obsessive/Compulsive polishing Harley owners use this stuff -

http://www.compacc.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=6997&CFID=371129&CFTOKEN=23458574

But its only for new exhausts before fitting.

There also is some other stuff called Blue-Shield.

Andy Hird · Aug 31, 2005

pomm001 said:
Andy

As mentioned in an earlier thread
The polishing kit I used had three grades of mop and compounds
the results were great, almost as good as new with now 'blue' or brown left on , I can only guess that the kit you have did not have the 'sisal mop'
in it , this is the hardest and first stage, which gets rid of all and leaves a matt but clean finish. the next mops get the surface to a brilliant shine.
If yours has not gone as smoothly as this I can only suggest you have the wrong tools, or your doing it wrong , you wont be able to do this with a cordless drill! not strong enough.
I understand your frustration but its a job you only want to do once , as 500 miles later the 'brown' look is back .

There is nothing you can do to stop the 'brown' returning ( other than don’t start your bike ) for the really sad people out there I have picture charts of stainless steel changes in colour over temperature and time

The kit I got only had two mops one sizel with brown compound and one polishing with blue compound. The problem is I don't have a bench grinder, maybe they would have worked a little better used on the bench grinder. I might try 1000 grade and then 1500 grade wet and dry, and then someone suggested 't' cut after these two grades ?

I must get a bright chrome finish, I must get a bright chrome finish !! (I know very anal, but I've started, so I'll finish). Any more info would be really appreciated - I'll post pictures when the jobs finally done.

Cheers
Andy

Mel · Aug 31, 2005

What the......look - they want to be brown - they will go brown - eventually you will realise that brown is best and you will spend less time polishing and more time riding. Look at the money Michael Jackson spent on getting rid of the brown....be warned!

Mouse · Aug 31, 2005

Andy Hird said:
I must get a bright chrome finish, I must get a bright chrome finish !!

Perhaps you should have bought chrome pipes then?

Personally, I'm with Mel on this, brown is fine, not that you can see it under the mud

Fanum · Aug 31, 2005

Mel said:
What the......look - they want to be brown - they will go brown - eventually you will realise that brown is best and you will spend less time polishing and more time riding. Look at the money Michael Jackson spent on getting rid of the brown....be warned!

Yup...keep polishing your brown away and your beak will fall off as well

Mel · Aug 31, 2005

Looks v familiar Mouse - brown and muddy - personally I think a shiny GS looks rather out of place - but oh what I would give for a pair of wire wheels and knobblies. I cover 90 miles a day - 60 on the M4 - 25 on B roads - and if it's dry, a short stretch of the Ridgeway drops me into the village - but on Bridgestone Trailwings which have served me admirably - I'm on my 3rd set - it's just that I want the real thing.....

Mel · Aug 31, 2005

Hey Mouse - are you anchoring your bash plate with cable ties? - Nice....Jeez I must do some work.....

Mouse · Aug 31, 2005

Mel said:
Hey Mouse - are you anchoring your bash plate with cable ties?

Only since the original rubber mounts inexplicably broke

It was a hasty repair while going over the Wayfarers Pass in Wales last weekend.

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