A How To - Refresh Your Rusty & Crusty Header Pipes

[Twisted]

Sick of the tired old crusty looking headers on your GS? Is this you?



I was so I will share a little trick with you guys. The end result will leave your headers with a nice golden patina like old school cafe racers and the such. And guess what? Its cheap! I know GSer's love that word so I thought I would share.

Things you will need -

- Some elbow grease.

- 220 grit sandpaper. If your headers are really corroded like mine were you will need this. 120 can be made to work but make sure you take the edge off it on some concrete (rub it on your driveway/footpath)

- A wire brush. Preferably one of those skinny ones. You will need this for around the welds on the crossover piece and closer to the engine.

- An air compressor. Not essential but it helps in getting rid of the dust. A blower vac works as well or if none of them are available just a dustpan brush.

- Some steel wool and green scotchbrite pads. Go raid the missus' cleaning gear. 

- WD-40.

- Paper towels.

- A cold GS500


Ready to get messy? Start by spreading some cardboard or newspaper under the bike. Proceed to sand if you have to (and I am guessing most of you will). This of course will be easier if the headers are removed from the bike but I did them with them mounted. Take your time and get all those hard to reach places. Lying down helps with getting to the pipes under the bike. The best way I found to do the pesky crossover pipe was to wire brush the welds and joins and then sand it by using the twist the throttle motion to get the rust off. This will be the longest task to do. Took me about 45mins to clean them up to this stage.



Next step it to blow away all the dust. Remember to do this before you start spraying the WD-40! Now take your WD-40 and spray your header pipes and scrub it with the scotchbrite pad. Do the tricky bits with the steel wool. Wipe down with the paper towels. Repeat as many times as necessary and until you are happy with the result. Remember that they won't be perfect but that's the look we are going for anyways 



The next step can be done a few ways. It all depends on the patina finish you want. If you want light I recommend spraying WD-40 on your headers and wiping it down before starting. For a heavier look which is what I went for, Spray the WD-40 on then wipe down. Then coat them lightly and don't wipe it off. If unsure start light first. Back your bike outside if you are in a garage before you start it as there will be a bit (a lot) of smoke from the WD- 40 when the headers heat up. You should end up with something like this.



For the first 4 or 5 rides, wipe down the exhaust with a paper towel and WD-40 before starting the bike. (Make sure the headers are cold) After this the result should last for 3 -6 months depending on weather and riding conditions.  Just repeat the method when pipes get grimy again. Enjoy!

Update -

If you want different look Adidasguy suggested to use stove polish -



Just do the sanding then apply this for black headers.

P.S - When doing and oil change you can wrap your headers in aluminium foil to stop drips ruining the finish.

[Janx101]

Neat!! ... Onya Sir!

[linker]

You're freakin' awesome!  I was going to look this up, mine look horrible.  Thanks a bunch! 

and you did pretty similar to what I was already thinking would be a solution, I did similar to an old rusted bicycle once and it looked brand new when I finished. Steel wool, sandpaper, scotch bright, and I think I remember using some kind of rustoleum product of some kind. I think I'll hold off on the wire brush unless I can't get the nooks and crannies, wire brushes tend to scratch too much.   If I do this, I'm going to try to remember to take photos or video.

[slipperymongoose]

Now I can keep my headers all shiny and rust free

[m_melen]

This should be stickied
Awesome

[Gaffer]

Wow this is cool. Thanks for the info

[adidasguy]

If you want them black, apply this:

[Mechmech]

adidas, do you mean apply it instead of doing what Twisted did, on top of what Twisted did, in the middle of what he did... ?

[jestercinti]

Someone I work with used electricity and water (like electrolysis) to remove rusty headers from a GS700ES.  Worked well.  Google it, I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

[adidasguy]

adidas, do you mean apply it instead of doing what Twisted did, on top of what Twisted did, in the middle of what he did... ?

Use it instead of WD40.
It is a high temp wax like stuff for wood stoves. It can handle the heat. So if you want black, it is great. Wipe a little more on once in a while as necessary. It won't chip because it is not paint.

[peteGS]

Nice one Twisted, that's a good tip! 

Someone I work with used electricity and water (like electrolysis) to remove rusty headers from a GS700ES.  Worked well.  Google it, I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

Wouldn't you use a spanner to do that? 

Me thinks a typo here...   

[mustangGT90210]

Would it be possibly to clear coat the pipes with a high temp paint to keep them looking that good even longer?

[Twisted]

Would it be possibly to clear coat the pipes with a high temp paint to keep them looking that good even longer?

You would have to find that out. I am sure there are a few routes you could go. The way I posted is just a way that is quick, easy and cheap to keep your headers looking reasonable without having to unmount them. Thanks for the other option Adidasguy.

I just realized looking at the photos that now the headers look clean I will have to clean the rest of the bike 

[jestercinti]

Wouldn't you use a spanner to do that? 
Me thinks a typo here...   

So I tried looking on Google...nothing.  Consider it a typo.

[adidasguy]

Would it be possibly to clear coat the pipes with a high temp paint to keep them looking that good even longer?

Any clear coat means removing them. Not sure what clears are high temp.

Using the WD40 or stove polish can be done without removing the exhaust.

[weedahoe]

Too much hand work. I just put them in my bead blasting cabinet

[slipperymongoose]

You mean the cabinet at your work. Cause that's a fair sized cabinet to fit your headers and pipes in

[weedahoe]

I work for myself so I have a small cabinet and a big one. The small one I bought which is around 3ft^2 but the larger one I built due to the cost of a larger manufactured one.

You could easily buy a cheap hopper or even a portable blasting canister and use it outside. I wouldnt unless I was going to use it all the time but you could if you wanted. Just wear PPE.

[slipperymongoose]

We have several cabinets at work plus an entire shed large enough for railway locos

[weedahoe]

Damn, a loco? Now THATS a cabinet