Ceramic coating for exhaust? Your thoughts

[MortiisMachine]

Hi,

I got talking to someone yesterday and then threw in the idea of having the pipes ceramic coated on the Super Ten, for my bike I would look to do them in Black. Just talking about the manifold / downpipes up to the start of the end can.

Never had any experiance of this and would like to know if anyone else does, what's the pro's and con's etc.

 

[KSH]

I would also like to know the advantages for the bike, other than it looking great when new.

My experience with Ceramic coatings is on two cycle snowmobile exhausts, it helps reduce under hood heat and helps keep a constant temp to the can for tuning purposes. If you are getting to much heat in a certain area it's a way to lower the heat.

The down side is it's a coating and it can be hard to keep looking good "the lighter colors" and it will slowly be removed with polishing. And of course road grit will chip it.

JMO

 

[tubebender]

I'm not a fan of ceramic coatings on exhaust pipes. The Tenere's pipes are stainless which already has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity (9.8 BTU/ft-hr-F versus 26.98 BTU/ft-hr-F for mild steel) If for any reason you have to make a repair, you would have to grind off the coating.

Aesthetically I can see your point, so if you have it done only do the outside of the pipe and make sure that the Oxygen Sensor threads and the slip-joint sections are masked off. Ceramic is a brittle material and if the inside of the pipe is coated and it starts to fracture it will head down the pipe and start to clog the catalytic converter in the muffler. Of course, if you have an aftermarket muffler that doesn't apply.

JMHO

 

[Waspworks]

I'm not a fan of ceramic coatings on exhaust pipes. The Tenere's pipes are stainless which already has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity (9.8 BTU/ft-hr-F versus 26.98 BTU/ft-hr-F for mild steel) If for any reason you have to make a repair, you would have to grind off the coating.

Aesthetically I can see your point, so if you have it done only do the outside of the pipe and make sure that the Oxygen Sensor threads and the slip-joint sections are masked off. Ceramic is a brittle material and if the inside of the pipe is coated and it starts to fracture it will head down the pipe and start to clog the catalytic converter in the muffler. Of course, if you have an aftermarket muffler that doesn't apply.

JMHO

Some very good points, but, the cat is not in the muffler on the S10. It's in the collectors just before the tailpipe and muffler.

Greg.

 

[HoebSTer]

i am going to have the portion of the pipe done before the carbon can i just got from Wasp. Would painting work as well?

 

[tubebender]

.... the cat is not in the muffler on the S10. It's in the collectors just before the tailpipe and muffler.

Greg.

I learn something new everyday. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Swagger]

Can't see the point of coating the pipes on this bike. I had it done to my blade track bike but only because I'd had custom headers built. I'd not be doing it.

 

[TEN YC]

Hi,

I got talking to someone yesterday and then threw in the idea of having the pipes ceramic coated on the Super Ten, for my bike I would look to do them in Black. Just talking about the manifold / downpipes up to the start of the end can.

Never had any experiance of this and would like to know if anyone else does, what's the pro's and con's etc.

hell yeah

I'm getting a set of cat-less headers and wasps exhaust. I plan on having the headers and the pipe before the exhaust can ceramic coated black. It's really just for aesthetics.


I've had ceramic coated headers before on other bikes. What's important is that you have it done by people that know what they are doing. There are some ceramic coaters that use a poor quality coating that turns gray. Fortunately i know of a place near me that has a good reputation.

 

[MortiisMachine]

hell yeah

I'm getting a set of cat-less headers and wasps exhaust. I plan on having the headers and the pipe before the exhaust can ceramic coated black. It's really just for aesthetics.


I've had ceramic coated headers before on other bikes. What's important is that you have it done by people that know what they are doing. There are some ceramic coaters that use a poor quality coating that turns gray. Fortunately i know of a place near me that has a good reputation.

how did you find the colour was over time, also how hard wearing is the external finish, not sure how it will hold up against stone chips etc.

 

[Firefight911]

I've had it done. Here's a thread showing the results, etc.

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=126380

Over time, it wore great and I had no issues. I would do it again with no hesitation but I will echo previous comments that you MUST make sure you have a good shop do the work. Everything about being successful is about the prep work.

 

[TEN YC]

how did you find the colour was over time

The largest color change occurs during the first few times you ride after installation. This is why it is important to find a good quality ceramic coat. If they stay nice and black after a few rides, that color should remain mostly stable for years.

also how hard wearing is the external finish, not sure how it will hold up against stone chips etc.

I never got any chips in my ceramic headers. However one time I tried to clean high temp RTV off of a ceramic coated muffler with a scotch brite pad and I wore some of the coating off. It is not very durable to abrasive rubbing. the only reason i tried it was because someone told me it would be ok, but it wasn't. But the durability is something else that varies with quality.

 

[stevepsd]

On my TDM850 the exhaust headers are up front and exposed to all the grit, grime, sludge that the front tire throws up. Most of the time the headers are a mud/rust brown from all the crap that gets on them. It was a real chore to keep them clean - almost have to take a brillo pad to them every month.

So I did some research and had them ceramic coated, inside & out by Performance Coating in Auburn Washington. http://www.performancecoatings.com/index2.html

The headers turned out great, made it so much easier to clean - all the grime just seemed to wipe away, possibly helped by the fact that the headers were much cooler (around 100F). I had no issues with flaking, chipping or discoloration. The finish was their Satin Titanium.

Cost me around $75 back in 2005.

I don't know if I will have to do the XTZ or not...waiting to see what header options will show up....

-steve

 

[Waspworks]

i am going to have the portion of the pipe done before the carbon can i just got from Wasp. Would painting work as well?

Jeff.
I painted that first hand made prototype tailpipe with Septone heatproof 650c with great success.
I followed the instructions and baked it in the oven @ around 200c for about 1hr I think - Much to the wifes disgust.

I have a production tailpipe fitted now obviously and I did not bother to coat that at all. I honestly dont think it needs any finish mate, but thats just a personal opinion.

Greg.

 

[ptfjjj]

i am going to have the portion of the pipe done before the carbon can i just got from Wasp. Would painting work as well?

Jeff, I just bought a can of flat black BBQ grill spray paint at Wal-Mart. It is good to 1200 degrees and should be pretty durable. Also cheap and easy to refresh, if needed, later on.

 

[Chadx]

Cleaning exhaust pipes on dual sports is something I just don't do. I really dislike the look of dirty, mud brown, crusty pipes but I dislike trying to clean them even more. Hence, all my off road and dual sport bikes always have crappy looking pipes. My main concern, about my lack of pipe hygiene, is pipe life. Since I've never had a pipe corrode/fail, I guess that isn't too much of an issue. But it sits in my mind. Since the ST pipes are stainless, there will be even less issue. That being said, if there was some type of coating that made it quick(er) and easy(er) to clean the pipe, I'd be all for it. Not sure if ceramic is it, though. I understand the benefit of coating the inside, but again, not sure if that's a big benefit on this bike. I guess if the price was right and there was a color that I thought looked better than the nekkid pipes, I'd try it. ...But then, they'll probably still just end up coated in dirt so color doesn't matter.

 

[justbob]

I had the exhaust on my R1200ST silver ceramic coated by HPC and was very pleased with the results.

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x118/bm1327/?action=view&current=DSCN3384.jpg

 

[MortiisMachine]

I had the exhaust on my R1200ST silver ceramic coated by HPC and was very pleased with the results.

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x118/bm1327/?action=view&current=DSCN3384.jpg

Looks pretty smart, how was the coating over time, also how did you clean it?

 

[justbob]

I dont remember what I used for cleaning and polishing but just something I had in the garage.
I'm thinking "simple green" to clean and "never dull" to polish.
HPC sells a cleaner/polisher product.
I only put about 8000 miles on it after the HPC coating. It lost some luster in the first 8" or 9" from the cylinder head but they still looked great.

 

[MortiisMachine]

I dont remember what I used for cleaning and polishing but just something I had in the garage.
I'm thinking "simple green" to clean and "never dull" to polish.
HPC sells a cleaner/polisher product.
I only put about 8000 miles on it after the HPC coating. It lost some luster in the first 8" or 9" from the cylinder head but they still looked great.

Thanks for the info Bob

 

[markjenn]

I don't think there is any significant performance angle with ceramic coatings on a bike like the S10, nor does an exhaust like the S10's needs a coating for durability reasons. If you do it, it's for cosmetic reasons.

I had it done on a BMW R-bike (by Performance Coating also) and it turned a fairly grungy set of headers (that are very prominent on this particular bike) into a very nice-looking set that continued to look pretty good and be easier to clean. They did tend to dull a bit over time, but nothing like stock. On the S10 where the pipes aren't very visible, you'd need to be a little more vain to justify the trouble/expense and you'd have to be willing to get in there and keep them reasonably clean - coated or not, the headers are going to look like crap unless you keep them clean.

It's not something I'm going to worry about for at least a year or three. You can do it anytime you think they start looking bad.

Another option which is looking very good on my S1000RR's cat after a year:

http://www.vhtpaint.com/flameproof.html

- Mark