heat taping exhaust?

[hhgsm31]

I've seen a good bit of pics of bikes with the exhausts taped off. 1. what does this do for it besides hold the heat in. 2. what kind of tape is used and where do you get it?

[D-Day]

I've seen a good bit of pics of bikes with the exhausts taped off. 1. what does this do for it besides hold the heat in. 2. what kind of tape is used and where do you get it?

If you tape the bike from the header all the way back to the muffler, it will aid in exhaust flow and add HP, although in the case of a GS, it is a moot point.  It will also cause the pipes to rust quite quickly if the bike is ridden in the rain.  On my street GS, I did it to reduce how much heat came off of the pipe, to reduce the chance of getting burned on it, and to reduce how much heat got under the seat.

I bought mine at lockhart phillips.

[skoebl]

Jeesh...you have some low handlebars, and those are the coolest rear brake rotors I've ever seen.

[calamari]

D-Day, everytime you post that pic, it makes me want to paint my gs rims 

[budget speed demon]

Jeesh...you have some low handlebars, and those are the coolest rear brake rotors I've ever seen.

I commented on that rear rotor brefore too. I've never seen on like it for the GS. although they do have these ones on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4612303291&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

and a pic for the people too lazy to click


these are really nice, I'd like to get one, well actually two, one for the front and back, but I've got alot of  other things higher up on the list to get first.

[manofthefield]

Wow, where was that glafer rotor when i bought my ugly ass EBC rear rotor??  That looks awesome

[D-Day]

Jeesh...you have some low handlebars, and those are the coolest rear brake rotors I've ever seen.

I commented on that rear rotor brefore too. I've never seen on like it for the GS. although they do have these ones on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4612303291&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

and a pic for the people too lazy to click


The rotor was cut on a water jet.  The guy charged me $75 plus shipping.  It started life out as a stock GS rotor.

these are really nice, I'd like to get one, well actually two, one for the front and back, but I've got alot of  other things higher up on the list to get first.

[starwalt]

I've seen a good bit of pics of bikes with the exhausts taped off. 1. what does this do for it besides hold the heat in...

Another possible benefit for those with stock front fenders is reduction in the chances of the dreaded FMS - Fender Melt Syndrome.

This has been reported here in several posts and I have an ebay fender with minor evidence of melting.

FYI! 

[D-Day]

D-Day, everytime you post that pic, it makes me want to paint my gs rims 

Powdercoated.  Near Silver with a translucent blue top coat.  $100 for both wheels with stripping and priming.

[D-Day]

Jeesh...you have some low handlebars, and those are the coolest rear brake rotors I've ever seen.

I set up every bike I own with the lowest handlebars I can put on them.  I have a bad back, and by putting more wieght on my hands, I can take the pressure off of my back.  I have put 500 mile days on this bike.  My second bike, a 1977 BMW RS that I bought new and put over 100,000 miles on the first 5 years I owned it (still own it and it is over 200,000 miles now) had really low bars.  I got used to the position, and it is perfect for me now.  Here is my idea of touring bars. (Have done many 1,000 mile days on this bike.)



BTW, these are stock factory bars.

[Shemagh]

Ok back to the topic. In theory if the exhaust gasses are kept hotter (i.e. higher pressure) as they leave the cylinder, they excavate faster which leads to better breathing for the engine. Faster exhaust equals faster intake equals better performance. The other thing is the engine looses heat thru it s exhaust pipes also so if you wrap them you will modify the temp the engine is designed to work.(hotter temp and holds heat longer). If thats true, then it is the worst thing  on air cooled bikes. Any ideas? I have my red heat tape, but I want to know more, before I start wraping the tape.

[JM500]

I also want to wrap so I'm In for more info!!!

[Big Rich]

Ignore any temperature changes to the engine caused by wrapping the exhaust - you wouldn't notice anything significant. The absolute biggest concern is that your headers will rot away from rust before your engine would come close to overheating.

[Joolstacho]

+1 Resist the temptation!

1. You will get NO NOTICEABLE performance increase.
2. You Exhaust WILL rust quickly.
3. It will look TACKY.
So WHY do it?

[Shemagh]

I understand, that performance increase is marginal. Rust? I have seen pipes under tape about 2 years, and basically no rust (oil cooled bike). My logic says if oli cooled bike had no rust, then why air cooled should have? The only concern is engine overheating. Has anyone tried it on air cooled engine, or all replies are theoretical? I want that tacky look 
Thanks

[twocool]

You mean water cooled?   vs aircooled?

All internal combustion engines are oiled cooled to some extent.

GS500 F does have oil cooler..but is basically an air cooled motor, with oil cooling as all engines have..

Rust on the pipes will be caused by moisture being trapped between the wrap and the pipes..

This will happen on any bike.....in fact any piece of iron based metal, steel etc..

I suppose if you ride a lot to drive moisture out, and don't ride in rain ever, and keep bike in dry garage, you might not get rust...

If you like that wrapped pipe look....go for it...looks is all you're going to get..



Cookie

I understand, that performance increase is marginal. Rust? I have seen pipes under tape about 2 years, and basically no rust (oil cooled bike). My logic says if oli cooled bike had no rust, then why air cooled should have? The only concern is engine overheating. Has anyone tried it on air cooled engine, or all replies are theoretical? I want that tacky look 
Thanks

[yamahonkawazuki]

Can always use stove paint on the exhaust to combat our bikes love for rust, then wrap it, i wrapped the expansion chamber on my goped once, for giggles, looked like a hornets nest was following lol

[Big Rich]

I understand, that performance increase is marginal. Rust? I have seen pipes under tape about 2 years, and basically no rust (oil cooled bike). My logic says if oli cooled bike had no rust, then why air cooled should have? The only concern is engine overheating. Has anyone tried it on air cooled engine, or all replies are theoretical? I want that tacky look 
Thanks

I don't understand... how the engine is cooled has zero effect on rusty headers.

If you saw an exhaust that was wrapped for 2 years and DIDN'T have any rust, there would be some other factors going on. I'd say they were either stainless headers or powder coated, with fiberglass wrap over top.

[yamahonkawazuki]

True. To me rust was of minimal concern on the exhaust of our beloved sewing machine err gs500, used stove paint on mine. But for the most part rust issues i had were more pronounced on the hardware and chain versus the exhaust. Id pull up the frankenbike thread from 03 but the pics were hosted on a site ive forgotten about so no way to show it. Tbh i think it was uploadit.org

[J_Walker]

theres products out there thats suppose to keep headers from rusting, but mostly for cars, where they rarely get wet/see the outdoors.. so idk.

I've actually been working on the stock headers, removing all the outer rust. there's these ugly weld spots on the inside right where they connect to the top end.

been thinking about grinding those away.. bet removing those would give you a better flow-rate then wrapping exhaust.

also has anyone noticed there's a baffle on the inside where the two pipes connect to each other at that Y connection? I wonder what that's all about.. lol

also where the header wraps around the bike, those bends, the headers are slightly kinked there, and my headers haven't ever been damaged, way to go suzuki! you had one job!