I am a little concerned if the exhaust finish will suffer under the bandages due to the heat?
The exhaust finish is going to suffer anyway. After over 14,000 miles mine look very much the worse for wear and there is no cleaning them up. I've seen them glow a cherry red at night!
The bandages may help keep the turn signal LEDs from going soft and melting as has been reported on. This only happens when you come to stop either at a light or shutting down.
My other name for the front end is "Grill Meister".
Thanks for the answer, Michael, I will reconsider to wrap up the front exhausts
Cheers, Georges
M3W, Super Dry edition, sep. 2013 ...called 'DogNose'
sounds like it could potentially include its own amount of disadvantages as well. Weakening the header metal as it doesnt get proper cooling, trapping moisture and contaminents in the wrap causing corrosion and potentially starting fires if oil or other things get superheated on the wrap.
Still, it looks cool, but seem to only really have advantages in the looks department and not much else.
b) If an exhaust pipe does not stand the exhaust temperature it should be exchanged anyway - and soon there will be an improved system with more power.. BTW: the hot exhaust gas will get faster trough the pipes as it builds up less resistance than colder gas.
c) Moisture does evaporate at 100degrees Celsius and the MTW is parked in my garage which withstands the usual rainfall... Little accumulation of moisture to be expected in the wrap.
d) Want to get a new MTW soon, so I'm working hard to destroy everything!!! -----
I have seen a lot of HD or Buell bikes with similar wraps. They obviously all want to kill their beasts as I do?
Hannes once: Green M3W; 2013 now: Red 4/4 Sport; 2011 and some practical cars for use in real life
Another plus to the wrapping is preventing the right hand side plastic indicator housing from melting. I'm planning on wrapping the headers when mine comes home from its second birthday service even though I have the black ceramic coating. Reckon the wrap will work out cheaper and less hassle than frequently replacing the indicator.
When I was running my last Caterham, a 260bhp CSR, I wrapped the manifold from new, and it was still wrapped perfectly well when I sold it 7 years later.
It is supposed to help speed the exhaust gasses, but it could contribute to a build up of heat in the cylinder heads, though as far as I know, mine was fine.
It's very much a matter of personal preference, I wouldn't expect it to do any damage.
BTW those stainless steel zip ties are available at many builders merchants for some reason, and for not a lot of money either. Failing that, I have used copper wire in the past.
sounds like it could potentially include its own amount of disadvantages as well. Weakening the header metal as it doesnt get proper cooling, trapping moisture and contaminents in the wrap causing corrosion and potentially starting fires if oil or other things get superheated on the wrap.
Still, it looks cool, but seem to only really have advantages in the looks department and not much else.
Wrapping headers is a well known and proven way to not only improve gas flow, but also control heat in engine bays and other closely mounted items that are susceptible to getting too hot.
