Hey there guys, I got a 05 GS500F and the exhaust pipes are a little rusted and the paint has come off of them was wondering what you guys suggested to make them look better since they're kind of a ugly color and just want it looking a little better. should I get some high heat paint and just spray them? whats the most cost effective way to handle this?

painting them with a good high heat paint would be the most cost effective.  Make sure to prep them good first so that the paint will stick and last.

any suggestions on the paint? not sure what to get.

Sand em good, then paint it with VHT high temp, available @ pepboys. I do a little flat black, but they also got silver.
BTW BBQ paint even ones done by hand work great, under a fairing you dont see much and the hand paint goes on thicker and is better. Thar you get from HD/Lowes I guess.
Cool.
Buddha.

Flat black Barbeque high temp paint works well and dries fast and pretty smooth. Pepboys, autozone, o'reilly's, wally world.

I just repainted mine with the high temp spray paint. It was a flat black, but after it dried I rubbed it down with an old rag and it gave them a nice shine. It's expected that you'll have to redo it every couple years, but the whole process doesn't take long and it's not a lot of work. I heard grill paint is really good for this, but I already had the normal high temp paint, so I figured I'd use what I had first. I'm lazy with painting too, so I sanded off most of the rusty looking spots, but i didn't go crazy on it. I'll have to see how it holds up. I'm thinking about doing the front and lower frame rails in black as well to see if they blend in with the engine and exhaust to give it a little more modern look, but I'll see how I feel.

Don't forget to buy new exhaust gaskets if you're going to pull the exhaust off.

Naaa exhaust gaskets can be reused ... just cant torque the thing till it turns blue ... of course that causes a big list of its own problems.
Cool.
Buddha.

I went the lazy way out, Rutland stove & grill polish. Leave the pipes on and sand off the rust. Rub on the polish and let it dry, then start up the bike and watch it smoke until its cured. Leaves a nice flat black. Ace/Handyman stores carry it for around $5. I did this last year on my 07 and have been caught in the rain a few times since and it still looks good.
Painting would be the preferred method but I didn't want to pull the pipes, sand, and tape off the chrome.

BBQ black spray paint - I used the semi-gloss version. Looked into the VHT stuff but didn't bother to track it down - the instructions (IIRC) really wanted it baked between coats, and that seemed a bit beyond my bother level - also it costs a lot more.

Masking is not difficult - use paper for larger area with tape around the edge.

Clean, sand or brush, degrease carefully.

Put on enough coats - then put on another.

Let them dry long enough, then them them dry a bit longer. A couple of days in a nice hot garage really helps avoid issues with handling while the paint is soft.

Re-install carefully (I prefer new gaskets and using high-temp anti-seize on the bolts - DWYL)

Give it a couple of warm up cycles in the driveway to smoke off and cure further before going out and riding it hard.

You can cut corners on all this and have the job done faster, but it may not last as long - your choice.