[collateral]

I noticed the aluminum pipes leading to my ehxaust can dont weather very well and arent looking too pretty, I was think of using a graphite or black colored exhaust wrap for the whole entire system excluding the can of course, is there anything I should be careful of? is it just as simple as wrapping it on and fastening it down? I have seen weird spray on coatings to seal on exhaust wraps that im not so sure about.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[rearviewmirror]

IMHO.. don't do the exhaust wrap.. it looks tacky on anything BUT a purpose built race bike. If the pipes are aluminum take them off and spend some quality time with a high quality polish, you'll thank yourself later, it'll look great.

 

[galaxy]

Good thing for us the "looks tacky" comment is an opinion...

 

[rearviewmirror]

Good thing for us the "looks tacky" comment is an opinion...

point taken... thanks for proving me right.

 

[duc995]

The exhaust wrap looks great...it's the "ducati mechanica" decal that looks tacky! ;-)

 

[Jus_Livin]

IMHO.. don't do the exhaust wrap.. it looks tacky on anything BUT a purpose built race bike. If the pipes are aluminum take them off and spend some quality time with a high quality polish, you'll thank yourself later, it'll look great.

I think what he is saying is the wrap that looks tacky is the white (fiberglass type). It gets dirty easy, turns an off white color, and traps in moisture. It is very effective of keeping temperatures down. I use this on my son's winged sprint car.

* But you have to change it religiously and it can get costly.

I've never used the black grapghite, how does it hold up and how long have you been using it?

 

[Jus_Livin]

* it kinda looks like a cast. What about "glow in the dark" or "camo"?

 

[QuiChenKane]

Why not get it JetHot coated?

 

[rearviewmirror]

I think what he is saying is the wrap that looks tacky is the white (fiberglass type). It gets dirty easy, turns an off white color, and traps in moisture. It is very effective of keeping temperatures down. I use this on my son's winged sprint car.

* But you have to change it religiously and it can get costly.

I've never used the black grapghite, how does it hold up and how long have you been using it?

Well said! I was giving our good friend "galaxy" a hard time. When I pictured exhaust wrap, I pictured poorly wrapped white exhaust tape that would really only have a place at the track. The picture above really doesn't look bad at all.

 

[galaxy]

Hey rearview...no offence taken. All kidding aside, anything like this is going to be opinion based and yes, I like the look. I didn't go with coating for two reasons...cost, and trying to detract from the look of that oval funny shaped pipe on the newer full systems. If you take your time and do it right and tight, the wrap stays in place just fine and holds up just fine. The key is to be meticulous in your work. The black colored wrap looks good but it will fade. Mine's already fading in spots but I still like it. It's been on for a couple thousand miles so far with no problems. Moisture is not a problem with this stuff if you crank up the engine and let it dry out if it gets wet. It will also last if done correctly. I don't know where you get that it has to be changed religously??

 

[mig1221]

Where did you get that stuff. Also, I am assuming you have to remove the pipes to do it correctly?

 

[Jus_Livin]

I don't know where you get that it has to be changed religously??

The white does, my son races dirt sprints.

 

[galaxy]

It's made by ThermoTech and you can get it at any speed shop. Comes in standard white, black (like mine..but it still fades) and some other copper color. No, you don't remove the pipes. Just start at one end, clamp it down to hold it in place and start wrapping. It's a tedious job but if you take your time and do it right...well.. you can see the results. As per the directions, you only want your wraps to overlap barely 1/4". I guess on a stock pipe bike you could do it with the pipes off since they only connect at the head & muffler. That would have been impossible with the full system the way it fits together.

 

[kingsnake1650]

Jegs mail order is a good place to buy header tape. Like most mail order thier price are really good

 

[moto]

We have it in stock:

http://www.motowheels.com/italian/myProducts.cfm?parentcategoryid=405%7CMisc%2E%20%26%20Universal&CategoryID=405|Misc%2E%20%26%20Universal&vendoridtodisplay=0&filterFor=&startrow=21&collection=

 

[scottrwilliams]

The new software makes it really easy to post links just click go advanced then the little globe entitled "insert link" replace whats in the box with your url by copy and pasting then click ok.

http://www.motowheels.com/italian/myProducts.cfm?parentcategoryid=405%7CMisc%2E%20%2 6%20Universal&CategoryID=405|Misc%2E%20%26%20Universal&vendoridtodisplay=0&filterFor=&startrow=21&collection=

 

[galaxy]

I think you guys are just using a term but just to make sure you know...this stuff is not a "tape". It's a fiberglass type wrap. There's nothing adheasive about it. You have to use a clamp or something on each end to hold it in place.

 

[fraz]

I just broke down and bought some black as well. My bike is older and the pipes have a little surface rust so I was going to pull them off and sand, paint (ThermoTek paint), wrap them. Instead of using big ugly clamps you should be able to use stainless safety wire on each end.

 

[Jus_Livin]

I think you guys are just using a term but just to make sure you know...this stuff is not a "tape". It's a fiberglass type wrap. There's nothing adheasive about it. You have to use a clamp or something on each end to hold it in place.

Wrap is used for exhaust to keep heat in. Tape is used for wire, lines, etc. to keep heat out.

* If you don't want to use typically hose clamps for the wraps you can use "Stainless stepless ear clamps" it's a cleaner install.

 

[Synergy]

FWIW- I have never used the stuff, but have seen chopper guys use it. They will soak the roll of wrap in a bucket of warm water. Helps stretch it to get a tighter fit and keeps the fiberglass dust off you and your arms...Anyone thats layed fiberglass home insulation, knows what I mean.

I looked into it in the past and Thermo-Tec has a black high temp coating that you spray over the fiberglass wrap to seal it and that should lock in the color.

http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/full.html