Yellowing Exhaust Pipes and Cans

[rushes]

*snip*

'89 GB500 - 5,000+-

Still own it?

Ya got any pics?

 

[Concourier]

*snip*

'89 GB500 - 5,000+-

Still own it?

Ya got any pics?

Yeah - I still own all the bikes on that list, although the Zephyr, Connie and FJR are the only ones still on the road, the others all need something (usually battery and tires). The GB needs tires and a new petcock (the screens were cut when it was briefly raced with a 650 kit back in the day). I don't have any pics here at work, but have a nice one of it I could retrieve and post (still haven't taken the time to learn how to post photos without them being online somewhere else first). It used to have a supertrapp on it, which both looked and sounded nice but it wasn't the stainless version and rusted terribly back before I had a garage, so I've put the stockers back on - too heavy and too quiet but the right price...thanks for asking.

 

[Concourier]

Ah yes... The COG forum. I was a member there too, when I owned my 2001 Smurf Blue Connie. It was the forum with decorum.

IOW boring, sorta like the bike was. Here is a video representation of the COG forum back in 2005.

I suppose things may have livened up since the New Connie came out though...

There are a few 'nomes here on the FJR Forum that will never "synchronize".

(and no!! I will not give you your 4 minutes back)

Yeah, I guess that's me - pretty boring usually, I just ride and not really looking for a social outlet. Like many I started out riding Honda's, that's probably it.

But I'm glad I gave folks a wee little excitement and something to do from their boring cubicles today...

~Frances

 

[BikerGeek99]

(still haven't taken the time to learn how to post photos without them being online somewhere else first)

The way this forum is structured, pictures must be hosted.

Not to give you **** about the search function or anything, but with a coupla pokes here and there you can find some really helpful information.

For posting pictures, ionbeam put together a pretty good how-to for using PhotoBucket - ionbeam's PhotoBucket How-To.

But I'm glad I gave folks a wee little excitement and something to do from their boring cubicles today...

~Frances

THAT'S the spirit!

That's weird, though - how did you know that my cubicle is boring?

Are you related to Petey or some **** like that?

 

[Bungie]

Are you related to Petey or some **** like that?

Ya know the guy that free fell from 120,000 feet and was the first human to break the sound barrier? That was Petey. He jumped through time. True story brah.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Are you related to Petey or some **** like that?

Ya know the guy that free fell from 120,000 feet and was the first human to break the sound barrier? That was Petey. He jumped through time. True story brah.

NICE try, idjut.

Petey broke the sound barrier when the world was flat.

Sheesh. SOME people around here think they know EVERYthing...

:lol:

 

[Concourier]

(still haven't taken the time to learn how to post photos without them being online somewhere else first)

The way this forum is structured, pictures must be hosted.

Not to give you **** about the search function or anything, but with a coupla pokes here and there you can find some really helpful information.

For posting pictures, ionbeam put together a pretty good how-to for using PhotoBucket - ionbeam's PhotoBucket How-To.

But I'm glad I gave folks a wee little excitement and something to do from their boring cubicles today...

~Frances

THAT'S the spirit!

That's weird, though - how did you know that my cubicle is boring?

Are you related to Petey or some **** like that?

I've just not taken the time to look into this yet - I have to pretend to work sometimes, but much thanks for the link.

And yeah, I just assume cubicles are boring by definition. My little windowless room full of computers gives me plenty of incentive to get out and ride.

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, I guess that's me - pretty boring usually, I just ride and not really looking for a social outlet. Like many I started out riding Honda's, that's probably it.

Hey!! The nicest people ride a Honda. (So I've heard) Got one in the garage right now, so it must be true.

But I'm glad I gave folks a wee little excitement and something to do from their boring cubicles today...

~Frances

I have a boring life, perhaps, but (unlike the Geek) I have no cubicle, working in the room over my garage mostly. I like it, it smells like motors and stuff. But maybe "cubicle" is a metaphor for life? In which case surely it applies to me. But hey! At least your name really is Frances, so when the Geek told you to "lighten up, Francis" he really was on target (mostly)!

Yeah, you know... we wander around through this life and aren't always looking for what happens. I had been through literally dozens of bikes, buying, riding, selling. Some were good, some not so much. I always sought out the best information possible for them. In the early days that was usenet mail lists (remember them?) later on the forums cropped up. I was always a perennial lurker, glomming up as much info as I could and always afraid to post anything for fear of being "flamed" and knocked down a peg or two. Then I came here. It's different. A lot different.

On here, people goof around with each other, push their envelopes and their comfort zones, just for fun. Sometimes I still get caught off-guard and think they are being serious, but it usually turns out to be me that has the panties just a bit too tight. Hang around. Ask more questions. Don't worry about Iggy (and others) who tell you: "Achtung!! You must search first!" That's just old forumite curmudgeon-ism. I mean, really? We'll talk about anything and everything, or absolutely nothing alot of the time. So what if it has been discussed ad-infinitum? Maybe something new will be discovered? It's happened before.

There is one, ahem... unique tradition on this forum that you may want to be aware of. You may have already stumbled into references to it. And that is "Dog Pile Friday". Just be extra careful on Friday, or have your Nomex suit on and a full tank of obscenities to fire back. It's all in good fun. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time. And like it or not, you will probably find you actually enjoy this place.

Oh yeah, and I still clean my bike occasionally, regardless of what the other lazy ***** on here have to say!!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Sometimes I still get caught off-guard and think they are being serious, but it usually turns out to be me that has the panties just a bit too tight.

This thread is NOT worthless without pics, Fred.

Just sayin'. (Before beemerdons gets in here to say that.)

Oh yeah, and I still clean my bike occasionally, regardless of what the other lazy ***** on here have to say!!

Weirdo. Must be something in that New England water.

I washed my bike before NERDS. NERDS 2011, that is.

 

[beemerdons]

Sometimes I still get caught off-guard and think they are being serious, but it usually turns out to be me that has the panties just a bit too tight.

This thread is NOT worthless without pics, Fred.

Just sayin'. (Before beemerdons gets in here to say that.)

Oh yeah, and I still clean my bike occasionally, regardless of what the other lazy ***** on here have to say!!

Weirdo. Must be something in that New England water.

I washed my bike before NERDS. NERDS 2011, that is.

Brother Geek, I guess this is as good a time as any to insert a photograph of our Bustanut joker anally penetrating an Eskimo (odot-Ray)!

 

[Fred W]

Weirdo. Must be something in that New England water.

I washed my bike before NERDS. NERDS 2011, that is.

You're not foolin' anyone corn-boy. Any FJR that shares garage space with a Hardley gets washed (way) more than once a year...

 

[Concourier]

Against my better intuition, I'll add one other piece of info:

In the original post, I only alluded to this concern: "I don't do a lot of stop and go traffic, no long idle's, no hooliganism, fuel system Stock (as far as I know)".

This is my first bike with EFI, or stainless exhaust. Heck, I wasn't even sure it was stainless. So, I asked cause I didn't know. My fault for not owning a shop manual yet.

So beyond the pipes turning yellow in the 6k since I had the bike, (they didn't come from the PO that way with almost 12k on the clock), I was also wondering if they were running hotter due to something I did/was doing (ie - incorrect riding style, tuning whatever). The snatchy EFI is way different than carb transitions, and I admit I'm STILL getting used to trying to be smooth with that. As I do a lot of two-up, being smooth is even more important.

I guess you can call me a nancy for trying to be smoother on the throttle now.

The PO also hadn't done any of the recalls over the years , so I had these done soon after taking possession and didn't know if the ECU swap would affect this as well (I thought it was just a timing change, and not fuel mixture). You don't know what you don't know. Maybe they all turn yellow on their way to blue and the PO just polished it a lot.

So I guess my concerns could have been expressed better from a tech POV regarding the "why" of coloration, rather than just leaving it cosmetics only.

Although, hey, while I'm not fanatical, I do like to wash the machine every now and then. Its not a dirt bike, and on my salary (ha) I need my machines to last as long as I can. I've even been known to (gasp) wax a few bits.

But so what if I like clean pipes? My bike, my rules. I was just askin'.

I tend to be a tech minded kind of guy, not socially oriented online, so I was thrown by the overly familiar ball-busting right off the bat. Still not sure I'm down with that. I was at least careful to say that I had searched for related topics before asking outright.

I've since learned from kindly others that the classic discoloration is still due to heat cycling, and since the bike is meant to run very lean, might be addressed by either a power commander or the barbarian mod. I'm more interested in the bike running optimally than what color the pipes are, but the change in color since taking possession did worry me.

The older Hondas(60s, 70s) all came rich by comparison, I guess to keep the aircooled engines cooler. We used to always go down a jet size or two to squeeze a little more out of them.

~Frances (for girls, its spelled with an "e")

 

[rushes]

I think the 07's have some kind of cam action on the throttle tube that causes the smooth throttle problem. Aftermarket has options, but I think an 08 or newer tube will work too.

 

[Concourier]

I think the 07's have some kind of cam action on the throttle tube that causes the smooth throttle problem. Aftermarket has options, but I think an 08 or newer tube will work too.

Thanks, I've seen some info recently on the G2 throttle ($75+-) and thought I could just go with an '08 or later tube ($25+-) but someone (geez, I forget) here said that the '08 and later fixes were to the cam at the throttle body not the throttle tube. When I can spare the change, I do plan on getting the G2 to see how that feels, I've seen good things about that mod elsewhere here.

 

[Concourier]

*snip*

'89 GB500 - 5,000+-

Still own it?

Ya got any pics?

This is my own '89 GB500 back when it had the supertrapp on it, shot on film back in 2000 or so:

 

[RedPorscheKilla]

Thanks to those who really gave thoughtful feedback. And thoughtfully critical feedback is welcomed too.

While I was a bit concerned about appearance, I was more curious as to what might be going on, as I've seen plenty of high mileage FJRs with silver pipes that certainly weren't garage queens, wondering if I was doing something wrong as this is my first fuel injected bike.

.....

I hope my questions and travails lend to help others who might ask the same questions, whether deemed stupid or not.

I think you have and had a very valid point. I indeed have a large compliment of cleaner and polish stuff, together with the Mother's polish balls/cones.... I've put about 8k's on my bikes this season, as I was mostly out of town for biz, else I had more run up.

Now my take on blue pipes.... to be frank, I haven't seen a bike with chrome/polished pipes, which doesn't turn blue... unless you have a heat shield, like on my Suzuki C90T and her Cobra pipes, you wont get rid of it, unless you apply some elbow grease.

When I got my FJR she had bluish / yellowish pipes, yuck, so I got my mother's polish ball out, and polished them pipes..... tada shiny and silver again.... yet the "secret" (which isn't a secret at all, only discipline) lies in the fact that after every ride, I wipe my bikes down PERIOD. My bikes ain't Garage Queens, but I've paid a TON of money for them and so I tend to keep my investment at least maintained. Nothing ***** a piece of machinery up like depriving it from its maintenance, cleaning a bike is part of the maintenance!!.... So who ever says, I have too much time at hand, is off point. I just happen to manage my time different.

My $.20 to this matter.

PS:

Nothing is more rewarding when fellow bikers give you compliments for a new bike and than learn, it ain't new, it's already 5 years old!!! Their faces... priceless!!

 

[rushes]

This is my own '89 GB500 back when it had the supertrapp on it, shot on film back in 2000 or so:

*snipped the pic*

Very nice. Another bike on my list.

Thanks!

 

[Concourier]

snip>so I got my mother's polish ball out, and polished them pipes..... >snip

I've seen others use the Mother's ball, but I've had no personal experience. Good to see it works for you - I may try one now.

 

[Concourier]

Very nice. Another bike on my list.

Thanks!

Wow - I had no idea the pic would show so large - I even previewed the post and it was like half that size.

Sorry if a faux pas - I'll work on reading up on posting photos for my next assignment.

Then after that, I'll work on getting some BT45's and a petcock for the GB...

 

[Bungie]

This is my own '89 GB500 back when it had the supertrapp on it, shot on film back in 2000 or so:

*Love it*. I just had to google that. Never brought into Canada. Explains why I've never seen or heard of it before.

That bike is flippin gorgeous. Jealous.