MNS Exhaust

[MPittma100]

What is the type of coating that was on the MNS bikes exhaust? Was it black chrome? Has anyone had any of these exhaust recoated with same coating?

Mike

[crazy steve]

Yep, black chrome....

There's several issues with trying to have these replated; one, the crud that collects inside an exhaust system over time kills the plating solution so most platers won't touch a used system just for that reason alone. Two, very few platers offer black chrome anymore and the expense is horrible. Mack here on the list restored his MNS and couldn't find anyone who would redo the exhaust at anything approaching even a semi-reasonable price...

IIRC, he used a jet-hot type coating and while it wasn't an exact match, it looked pretty good.

[MPittma100]

Black chrome

Yep, black chrome....

There's several issues with trying to have these replated; one, the crud that collects inside an exhaust system over time kills the plating solution so most platers won't touch a used system just for that reason alone. Two, very few platers offer black chrome anymore and the expense is horrible. Mack here on the list restored his MNS and couldn't find anyone who would redo the exhaust at anything approaching even a semi-reasonable price...

IIRC, he used a jet-hot type coating and while it wasn't an exact match, it looked pretty good.

That is just what I was hoping you would NOT say. I have a Kerker header/muffler that needs to be (ceramic) coated. I have used Jet-Hot in the past, but have local guys now that do the same. Going to check with that guy about the black chrome. Will post if I hear anything worth contributing.

[mack]

Black chrome

All the black chrome I looked at did not have the same deep dark black shiny appearance that the original coating had. It all was more of a grey smoke color to my eye. I finally went with a black ceramic, which needed to have a high temp. Coating added to give it a gloss. It still has a brownish tint to it but looks ok, only because it picks up a lot of the black reflection from everything else close to it.

[IanDMacDonald]

If only you had a buddy that works for Stanley, and "accidentally" dropped your exhaust in the Black chrome tank they use for those sockets . . .

[MPittma100]

MNS Exhaust

All the black chrome I looked at did not have the same deep dark black shiny appearance that the original coating had. It all was more of a grey smoke color to my eye. I finally went with a black ceramic, which needed to have a high temp. Coating added to give it a gloss. It still has a brownish tint to it but looks ok, only because it picks up a lot of the black reflection from everything else close to it.

Plating has come a long way in a short period of time. I will research this to see if I can find something that will match exactly the black chrome of the MNS from the 1980s.

[crazy steve]

There is one other option you might check out.... Porcelainizing. Harley tried it on the first-year blacked-out Sportster XLCR in '77 because of the nice high-gloss finish it gave, but switched to black chrome early in production because it was prone to chipping.