blue chrome !

[cowboybob998]

Just bought a 4 into 1 header for the 79 xs, anyone have any deep dark secrets on how to get the blue off.
Been rubing with metal polish, works a bit, but man thats alot of rubing, lol

[tarzan]

Steel wool might work.Id use fine though so as not to scratch the chrome all up.

[gmlever]

Blue

I've used some stuff called Blue Job.Not easy but it works, also not cheap.Got mine on Ebay.

[cowboybob998]

I've used some stuff called Blue Job.Not easy but it works, also not cheap.Got mine on Ebay.

Useing some stuff now, it works but just takes alot of rubing, was hopeing there is some real magic out there i have not heard of

[TopCatGr58]

An act of futility!?

Hey Cowboy,

Regrettably, after you get the blue OFF, once you fire the bike up, even with the best tuning, the pipes will most likely turn blue again, because they are just thin single walled stuff!! The OEM pipes were double walled and that's what kept them looking nice and chromed. The cheaper 4-1 pipes are also single walled to cut down on weight as part of their "performance" enhancement!

SO....depending on how badly you like the look of the blue pipes, before you put them on the bike, you could send them to Jet Hot Coating to have their silver treatment, looks fairly close to chrome, not as shiny, but won't turn blue afterward! Or you can spray them with super high temp ceramic type paint both outside and inside, or even just inside, some folks have reported good results with it just on the inside, helping to insulate the metal and allow the hotter gases to flow down farther in the pipes and not affect them at the headers as badly! YMMV!
T.C.

[cowboybob998]

Hey Cowboy,

Regrettably, after you get the blue OFF, once you fire the bike up, even with the best tuning, the pipes will most likely turn blue again, because they are just thin single walled stuff!! The OEM pipes were double walled and that's what kept them looking nice and chromed. The cheaper 4-1 pipes are also single walled to cut down on weight as part of their "performance" enhancement!

SO....depending on how badly you like the look of the blue pipes, before you put them on the bike, you could send them to Jet Hot Coating to have their silver treatment, looks fairly close to chrome, not as shiny, but won't turn blue afterward! Or you can spray them with super high temp ceramic type paint both outside and inside, or even just inside, some folks have reported good results with it just on the inside, helping to insulate the metal and allow the hotter gases to flow down farther in the pipes and not affect them at the headers as badly! YMMV!
T.C.

Getting alot of the blue off, i think you are right they will just turn blue again, there is a place here that does powder coating but it would cost me more than what I paid for the headers, I am sure they will get rattle caned before it is over with, black, gray or silver.
It is a shame they did not take better care of them, there is only one small dent in the bottem of the header, I may sell or trade these, I realy like the 2 into one on each side with the turn outs, gona bag this bike and think it would look better with pipes on both sides.

[Crazcnuk]

They will blue again, but I assume if you clean them when you wash the bike, the blue should be easier to keep down?

[Ivan]

Shoot. Mine went from blue to goldish copper to just flat out gray looking. I figure that happens when you run them hard all they way through forth gear. I was riding at night and going up a hill I could see the redish glow reflected off the underside of my turn signals, so I think they might get a tad hot...

[fredintoon]

Learn to love the blue.

Just bought a 4 into 1 header for the 79 xs, anyone have any deep dark secrets on how to get the blue off.
Been rubing with metal polish, works a bit, but man thats alot of rubing, lol

Hi Bob,
you can buy specialised abrasive pastes that will remove blue from chrome.
"Blue-B-Gone" was the brand on the counter of the parts store today.
They are all very concentrated. The jar has the 10% abrasive, you supply the 90% elbow grease.
Thing is, fire up the bike and those single wall aftermarket pipes will blue right up again in just a few days. Suck it up. Pretend it's a Britbike.

[b.walker5]

Not sure if this works or not but I remember, from years ago, a british bike owner wrapped about an inch of 12g copper wire around his headers to stop the blue. The theory is that it creates a heat sink right at the hottest point, and the copper dissapates the heat before the chrome overheats. I've never had chrome headers so i've never tried it, but the theory seems sound.

[Crazcnuk]

I think a lot of the blue occurs while idling, or slow speed riding too. At highway speeds the pipes get good airflow.

There was something here tht talked about tuning causing pipes to blue or gold, lean or rich, I just can't recall which causes which.

[oldyam80sg]

My Kerker system blued when they were first installed but that was back years ago-i think late 1988.Then they kind of stopped turning color and now they are somewhat blue but not as bad as they once were.More chrome than blue and i never touched them!

[BigDick]

I think a lot of the blue occurs while idling, or slow speed riding too. At highway speeds the pipes get good airflow.

There was something here tht talked about tuning causing pipes to blue or gold, lean or rich, I just can't recall which causes which.

I'm pretty sure it's lean, they get hotter when they're lean so that'd make them blue faster.

[Guy_b_g]

I always kinda liked the bluing on my pipes, and the gold color that stainless pipes turn when they get hot. Not much you can do about it other than Jet Hot or a similar treatment anyway...unless you want to spend a lot of your free time polishing it out. Best to take a deep breath and surrender to the blue...it's one of the badges of owning a bike that actually gets ridden. I don't like fingerprints on my pipes tho...so I always wipe them clean with acetone before the first run after buying a new set..or cleaning up an old set.

I always thought one of the prettiest sights in motorcycling was an old Triumph cafe style bike all polished up and pretty with those blued pipes telling everyone she's a runner, not a trailer queen...right up there with a good flame job on an old school hot rod in my book.

[XSPastor]

Ymmv

My stock double walled system was a golden color at the exhaust ports with a fade to the silver chrome at the first bend. Even though my Jardine 4 to 1 is single walled it is exactly the same color. No blue, just a slight gold tint. I was running 110 mains and went to 120 mains when I switched the exhaust. Leaner is hotter and will definitely blue the pipes faster.