Topic: "purple" chrome on exhaust pipes.

[Faust]

I am looking at another 550 parts bike for my restoration project, the exhaust is fairly good with some of the chrome gone purple. Is there any cure for this? My shop is pretty fully equipped.

[Glenn Stauffer]

Bluing is caused by heat.  If you do a google search on 'chrome bluing', you'll find references to stuff that claims to remove the bluing.  No idea whether these compounds work.  If you keep having this problem, it could just be something to be expected or could be cured by adjusting the carbs to enrich the mixture and lower the exhaust gas temps.

[mutters]

I've been told you can reduce the bluing by lining the insides orf your exhaust with vht paint ,and by building a carbon layer up inside  to protect the chrome from heat .
 I've heard various methods for doing this but it all sounds a bit science fiction to me .
Good polish can save the pipes if they're gold but I trhink purple may be too far gone

[toycollector10]

I just use Autosol Chrome Polish and elbow grease....works for me...cheers

[bryanj]

If they are aftermarket pipes just live with it you will never cure it. Honda used double wall pipes to stop this

[seabird]

Somewhere at the back of my mind (and I'm going back 25 years or more for this) I seem to remember a "cure" for discoloration to the pipes - especially when they're new (-ish)....Heavy guage Copper wire bound in tight turns around the pipes, as close to the cylinder head as possible. It would need probably 6 inches or so for each pipe.
The theory being that heat is transferred to the copper wire more easily than to the steel of the pipe(s), thus dissipating the heat more readily and keeping the pipes at a cooler temperature.  This (supposedly) stops the pipes from discoloration until a few hundred miles have been put on them (can't remember just how many - 500 or so?  I guess it would look like hell for as long as the wire was wrapped around the pipes, but if it worked, they'd be no problem thereafter.

Anyone chime in on this, or have tried it?

Seabird

[Jim Shea]

I have heard the copper wire solution and seem to remember people trying it, but I don't believe it worked as the practice died out.
Personally I think the bluing looks good? it gives the bike some character..
My exhausts are blue, but I do not think the bike is runnning lean, not by looking at the plugs and the black deposit on the end of the silencer? Will all (single skin) exhausts blue under certain amounts of heat?, therefore the bike might be running fine??

[dusterdude]

yea,tell em jim.

[mylittleho]

www.eastwoodco.com

Cure the Chrome Plated Header Blues - Blue Away, long time favorite of the motorcycle industry, removes discoloration from chrome and stainless steel exhaust pipes. 2.5 ounce bottle goes a long way. Just apply a little to a clean soft cloth and buff away discoloration. Imported from Germany.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1033&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=blue+away

[ProTeal55]

The "Blue Away" product is prob. the best in what you are looking to do. NO product will restore a "blued" pipe
to new condition. A pipe that looks to be copper , is just one step away from becoming blue. The blue away will make
the pipe look better , but not restore....

Double walled pipes are the best defense aginst blueing , as is having the inside of the pipe ceramic coated to
prevent the heat from getting to the chrome...

[heffay]

the blue is simply a sign that you have no idea how to tune your carbs.... "you" being whoever tuned those carbs... but, clean them off... tune those things right and the blue should stay away.

if you cant get the blue off... it will forever be a reminder of the leaps and bounds you've made in the world of mechanics 

[HondaMan]

A rich-running engine (like misjetting or late timing or weak ignition spark) causes the bluing. The fuel is still burning as it exits the engine, because it did not burn well inside. Get the tuning right and the blues will stay away.

[Jim Shea]

I have seen almost new bikes that are well tuned(and fuel injected) that have bluing on the exhausts. I had always been told that 'hard riding' of a bike can blue the exhaust??

[scott_cb650]

There's another product call "Blue Job" (I think).
It's a white powder like flour that you put on a damp cloth and scub.

IT SUCKS!

I've rubbed Blue Job on my pipes until I was blue in the face and it still didn't work.

[dusterdude]

blue job,i aint touchin that with a ten foot pole.oh #$%* i said pole too.damnit

[Faust]

blue job,i aint touchin that with a ten foot pole.oh #$%* i said pole too.damnit

It is easy to get confused with Poles, I have met a few that I thought were Czechs.

[HondaMan]

Folks who ride too long with their choke on (Kawie LTD injecteds were famous for this) also turns the pipes blue from the over-richness.

[Faust]

I think the purpose of this thread was misunderstood. I know where the purple/blue comes from. My question concerned removing it if it was still light.

[IndianRider]

what wrong with a well tuned engine with slightly colored headers (blue, golden and other tans) .. it looks beautiful to me ..  but of course beauty lies in the eye of the beholder ..

[736cc]

Blue Away or Blue-Job works best IF you apply w/ 000 steel wool. It does dull the chrome a bit from all that abrasive rubbing.

[736cc]

Blue Away or Blue-Job works best IF you apply w/ 000 steel wool. It does dull the chrome a bit from all that abrasive rubbing.

[HondaMan]

The drool you see running down those pipes is mine... 

[Derek B.]

When did Honda make a 12 cylinder engine? 

[Faust]

When did Honda make a 12 cylinder engine? 

It was a Formula 1 car from the early seventies.

[Rsnip988]

ceramic hi heat paint as a last resort or you can wrap them.....


i have heard good things about blue away from other sources though,