pipes are blue and so am I

[garyahouse]

Thank you, mad mike for your reply. Once again, the pipe leading into the muffler is as deep blue as it could possibly be, even a little purple. the cans are gold, not a slight gold tint, but gold. I've seen other feejers with the slight gold tint you speak of, and if that's what I had, I wouldn't be concerned about it at all. At this point nobody has done any testing on the bike, with the exception that the service manager listened to the bike run, asked if it decelerated smoothly, and if it backfired at all. With that done, he declared it to be "nothing to worry about," and suggested I try premium gas because it's hot in Florida. I'm not convinced that everything is fine. The bike nas 4,500 miles.

Gary in Tampa

 

[madmike2]

I was in the garage today working on the bike and noticed that my header, ahead of the catalytic box, is quite blued. My mufflers aren't "gold" but have the slight tint. However, I do polish them occaisionally....

 

[garyahouse]

Thank you, mad mike for your reply. Once again, the pipe leading into the muffler is as deep blue as it could possibly be, even a little purple. the cans are gold, not a slight gold tint, but gold. I've seen other feejers with the slight gold tint you speak of, and if that's what I had, I wouldn't be concerned about it at all. At this point nobody has done any testing on the bike, with the exception that the service manager listened to the bike run, asked if it decelerated smoothly, and if it backfired at all. With that done, he declared it to be "nothing to worry about," and suggested I try premium gas because it's hot in Florida. I'm not convinced that everything is fine. The bike nas 4,500 miles.

Gary in Tampa

It took awhile, but I finally got a pic of the pipes. I ended up using steel wool and bar keepers friend on them. All the gold came off the cans, but the pipe came out kinda multi-colored. What you see now is after they were "cleaned" up, and the pipes are beginning to turn nasty again. The bike now has 7500 miles.

I've never seen another FJR with pipes like mine. Now you can actually see why I'm so concerned.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[SockMonkey]

I've never seen another FJR with pipes like mine.

Well, maybe not an FJR, but I've seen plenty of well-ridden sportsbikes with pipes that look exactly like that. In an earlier post you say this bike was previously owned by a doctor. That doesn't necessarily mean he was the proverbial little old lady that only rode it to church on Sundays. Yes, these bikes do tend to run lean (more so the Gen II), but that only contributes to pipes bluing up to an extent. Best guess says that those original ~4,500 miles were some hard miles and your bike's already got one really well broken-in motor. Hey, they pay extra for that in Germany, so I'm told...

Now you can actually see why I'm so concerned.

I wouldn't be. If the bike is running well and you're not getting any surging at steady highway speeds, she's probably just fine.

Now go ride..!

 

[HaulinAshe]

Those pipes certainly make me go hummmmmm...

I would invest in a non-contact laser thermometer and take some readings. Go out and ride for 10 minutes, let the bike idle for 3-minutes, then measure lower crankcase, header pipes, ahead of the cat, aft of the cat, header pipes at the seams, and finally the cans. Then compare them to another FJR at similar conditions.

That bluing is significant to make me wonder what's going on (if anything).

I don't have an '05 anymore, but I'll compare the '06 with you if you need my help.

 

[SacramentoMike]

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My GOD, Gary. Your bike looks . . . used!..... :dribble:

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[kolonial72]

Ah, Gary, thanks for the pic. I see what your problem is. It's that stupid car tire on the rear wheel! Car tires throw off little bits of blue rubber, and some of it has stained your pipes. (Busta and BG can be such dummies when it comes to these things - blaming the brake reservoir or water in the carburator? Puh-lease!)

Looks kind of distinctive to me. If you're worried about the exhaust being to hot from a lean mixture, you may wanna try a PC3 or PC5, or some other after-market farkle that adjusts the mixture. I might actually have an extra PC3 laying around somewhere....

 

[TomInPA]

Made me look. I bought my 05 in December with 6477 miles, and its up to 11,700 now. :yahoo:

Pipe color is light golden where yours are dark blue. Since the heat bluing is after the catalyst, maybe you're running in a way there is more hydrocarbon available for combustion in the cat? How is your fuel economy? Back in September when you started this thread, you said this could be figured out pretty quickly by going to the dealer. Why not just do it. You're about due to have the plugs inspected, and that will tell a story. It might be worth synching the carbs while it is open as well. You would not be looking at huge money for that, and you might even be able to save by removing some fairing before taking it.

 

[Fred W]

I agree with TominCA.

Here's a post I made in another, very similar thread (which led me here) with some ideas for things to check.

Clicky