Exhaust pipe blues

The top weld on my header pipe has an intense little blue patch about 1/4" wide going along the weld for about 1". It's on the under side of the pipe, no other changes to fuel or timing, just bolted on new header pipe on the right side. Pipe that came off was a nice straw/neutral colour, its not like when pipes blue, rest of the pipe is normal colour as expected, it's just a small little area, any ideas what could be causing heat just in this one spot??

Its the hotest part of the motor so I wouldn't worry about it, if the bike is running good, could just be the chrome reacting to the heat, who knows.

Ashley

Not all chrome is created equal. Likewise, weld thicknesses can create hot spots. You can chase the perfect header pipes for years
and still never get stable slightly golden header bends, and to be fair, no one does header pipe chrome as well as was done for
vintage Brit bikes out of the factory. Ride the mo fo and quit worrying about color unless you think you are running
too hot. Don't like blue? Put new pipes on it and just trailer it to shows. Now, given that diatribe, I have used a product called
Kreem Blue Shield to coat the insides of new header pipes on a '70 Triumph Tiger. 5000 miles later the chrome is perfect and
the bend just out of the head is a subtle shade of yellow/gold almost perfectly matching the stock paint color of this bike. There
are services to ceramic coat the insides or new (not old and dirty) pipes. It's not cheap.
Another factor to consider is the alcohol laden fuel we use. If you don't modify your carburator(s) to account for the alcohol, you
bike could be running too hot.

Yes, does look like a dodgy weld perhaps, it hasn't stopped me riding it, just dulls the thrill a bit when you're waiting for that hairline crack to appear at the infamous spot on the header. Not much works as it should straight out of the box anymore!

Has anyone tried ceramic paint on the inside of the pipes?

Seems like a great idea to me, but I guess you'd struggle to get decent adhesion/key on used pipes.

I have some new ones for my project, and wondered if it's worth doing?

To remove the blue from the chrome, try Silver Dip , preferably applied onto warm/hot pipe.

My worry is why it's in such a small localised spot, It's not like they are all blue, like when your too advanced or lean etc. Just one small spot, wondered if anyone else had seen this.

gtiller said:

Has anyone tried ceramic paint on the inside of the pipes?

Seems like a great idea to me, but I guess you'd struggle to get decent adhesion/key on used pipes.

I have some new ones for my project, and wondered if it's worth doing?

Click to expand...

I used Kreem Blue Shield on my new pipes and after 1000 miles they have no discoloration whatsoever. Now this could also be due to the quality of the pipes (Commando Specialties), and/or my impeccable engine building/tuning abilities. On used pipes I'd try to bead-blast the insides first.