Jet Hot, Staintune Cat eliminators, sorry fer the ignerence

[jc wms]

Ok, since you are not (over there) anymore, I will pose my question here – and try to make it a bit more coherent (no promises).

Background: I have a Rockster Ed 80 on which I had installed a low Staintune can (so that I could keep my full-sized side cases) and want to put on the cat eliminator.

Being vain :icon_wink: (I mean, “Having pride in my ride”©) I also want to make the headers pretty when I make the addition. To keep the headers in a silvery glow, I'd thought of Jet-Hot coating the headers.

I understand doing so will benefit the engine (which sounds good to me) by more efficiently removing the heat, but to be honest: I am neither mechanic nor engineer and have little knowledge beyond basic engine . . . uh . . . stuff. :102:

Question . . .s: Would Jet-Hot coating the header transfer the heat so as to cause the very pretty Staintune Inox cat eliminator/muffler to discolor?

I had thought of coating the interior and exterior of the pipes and the exterior of the muffler, but that would leave the inside of the muffler unprotected. Would I still get discoloration, or is that oxidative product?

The color and finish of the Staintune products are beautiful, and if keep-able, great – I would rather ride it than polish metal (the white wheels are enough, thanks!). I guess I'm fishing for opinions to achieve the best compromise in looks and function. I 'd prefer the exhaust system to stay (essentially) uniform in color.

Since I am currently overseas and distant from my bike, it is an opportune time to gather parts and have time-consuming procedures done now. (I have people O.K., person who will do a little wrenching and mailing for trinkets . . .






and beer money:) )

Thanks in advance for the responses!

[Deans BMW]

Good questions. Removing the cat will remove a source of heat. If you tend to ride hard, ie full throttle, hi revs etc, that will cause the exhaust can to run hotter and can cause the stainless steel Staintune to turn golden, don't know what effect the coating will have.

[DarthRider]

You can coat the insides only and get a lot of discoloration protection but stainless will always turn "straw color" with heat. The hotter it is the more it will discolor. Localized "hot spots" will turn brown & purple, much like chrome. steel.
Not all coating places can do long, narrow pipe interiors. Not all can/will coat them after they are used. If you can't find someone who will do these things let me know and I will send you the phone no. for my guy and I imagine he will do them by mail. Not JetHot brand but same stuff. I've had great luck with him.
The interior coating will prevent much of the discoloration, make it blend together better and will help eliminate hot spots.
I highly recommend the interior coating - I've had it done, I'll post a pic tonight of this done to my MZ street Super Motard.
You will get a slight performance boost by coating the interior, twice that much for coating inside & out.
No exterior coating will look as good and last as well as uncoated stainless.

EDIT: Heat discoloration on polished stainless with coated interior, while minimal, will still happen. I love the look but if you don't, it is an EASY job to polish them back to "bumper-chrome white" by hand with any good metal polish. If you have the interiors done, they will come back yellow from the heat curing process. In 20 minutes you can have them back to bumper-chrome.

Go for it!
Dave

[jc wms]

okay, the other option is to go black, resulting in a matte finish.
Original:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d23/smile-maker/RXTR80unmarked.jpg

Blackened:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d23/smile-maker/RXTRblackenedpipes.jpg

Daing it -- I shoulda made this a poll :)

Which brings up another question: Does the Staintune design really decrease the frequency of backfiring during deceleration? If I am going to pay for the spit-and-polished Staintune, only to paint it black, wassa point? I could just go with a Sebring or Remus -- whichever would accept the standard muffler, and put the few extra bucks toward the coating.

Opinions?

[DarthRider]

Good grief! Why would you want to paint a beautifully made & polished stainless steel system black?
More upkeep & repair.
The black will never look as good as a stainless sytem on its worst day.
And, it's so...black!

You asked...

Dave

[jc wms]

Good grief! Why would you want to paint a beautifully made & polished stainless steel system black?
More upkeep & repair.
The black will never look as good as a stainless sytem on its worst day.
And, it's so...black!

You asked...

Dave Were I to blacken the exhaust, I'd have it Jet-Hot coated. I don't know if that would increase the upkeep or decrease it though. tough decision, because you know what they say . . .





once you go black . . . . .














it's a bitch to go back. :(

[DarthRider]

JC -
The added upkeep would be due to the nature of the black surface. A matte or even satin surface is somewhat "rough" and as such attracts and traps dirt, road grime, oil, etc. And of course it bakes on and is very difficult to remove from all the little "valleys" in the surface.

There are lots of these type surfaces on BMW's but we can "cheat" with most of them...the crud is not baked on and is easier to clean. Then when the black turns gray & ashy looking we can give it a squirt of ProPrep or something and it's better than new. This would just burn off the pipes.

If the bike is a "hangar queen" and gets ridden little the problem would probably be live-able. If it gets ridden a lot, especially in wet weather the problem compounds.

These coatings are really more "functional" than "cosmetic". Although they look good, they are harder to keep.

If you start out with the polished stainless surface and don't like it (what's not to like?) you could always have them coated later.

Dave

[jc wms]

JC -
The added upkeep would be due to the nature of the black surface. A matte or even satin surface is somewhat "rough" and as such attracts and traps dirt, road grime, oil, etc. And of course it bakes on and is very difficult to remove from all the little "valleys" in the surface.

There are lots of these type surfaces on BMW's but we can "cheat" with most of them...the crud is not baked on and is easier to clean. Then when the black turns gray & ashy looking we can give it a squirt of ProPrep or something and it's better than new. This would just burn off the pipes.

If the bike is a "hangar queen" and gets ridden little the problem would probably be live-able. If it gets ridden a lot, especially in wet weather the problem compounds.

These coatings are really more "functional" than "cosmetic". Although they look good, they are harder to keep.

If you start out with the polished stainless surface and don't like it (what's not to like?) you could always have them coated later.

Dave
Good points.

I am leaning towards the inner/outer of the headers,and the inner of the collector, and then just ride the rest of the money out of it.

I bought it in September, and was not able to put too many miles on it before I moved the next May (~4k miles) The previous bike was at a rate of about 7k/quarter, so my circumstance did slow me down some.

I don't know whether the bike will next be in CA or MS (right now it is in CO), so wil it be in rain? Will it see rain? I bought it to ride, and not as an piece (so yea, it will see more rain.):)