What's the pros and cons of wrapping the header pipes? What problems can it cause?

 

Besides ruining your headers due to corrosion and the fact that wrapping steams when it's wet .......... not too many negatives.
If you're trying to reduce heat, jet coating your headers with ceramic in and out is not only better for the metal, it's also more efficient, that's what I've been told.
It's obviously more $ than wrapping them so it all depends of your objective. If it's for looks, then wrap them but check carefully if the headers don't deteriorate.

 

"Besides ruining your headers due to corrosion and the fact that wrapping steams when it's wet .......... not too many negatives"....au contraire, mon frere....here is my experience with header wrap. 1996 Fat Boy. SE 2-1 pipes (Kerkers). I wrapped them with the header wrap. Stuff worked great. Does exactly what it says it does. No debate there. But....approx 2 years of riding (25k miles, give or take), bike is in shop getting serviced. Tech notices something funny...long story short, pull the tape and the pipes were falling apart at the welds. The cure was new pipes. Still have two boxes of header wrap in the basement. I would imagine if you only put a couple of thousand on the bike per year, it would take you longer to obtain the same result. But if you rack up the miles, watch out. Especially with the "new" bikes, running as hot as they do. The header wrap is very effective, but there is a downside. If you are wrapping stock pipes, what the hell, they are cheap to replace but if you choke up for some aftermarket pipes.....current ride has RB Racing LSR 2-1 Blackhole pipes. Black ceramic coated. I am not wrapping those. Can't afford a repeat experience. Caveat emptor.

 

My "not too many negatives" was kind of a joke, especially after I wrote "thermal wrap will ruin your pipes due to corrosion". Your testimony proves my point.

 

Frenchbiker: I hear you. I loved the stuff when I slapped it on the pipes. I figured that when it "wore out" I would simply re-wrap. Wrongo.....it was kind of funny when they unwrapped the pipes on the dyno....the looks I got from the tech were priceless....the stuff definitely does what it says it does. But the pipes take a hell of a beating.

 

"Steam and corrosion" are non issues. The wrap dries out in minutes after starting the bike so it never has a chance to corrode anything, however the finish will be permanently destroyed. The true problem with wrapping the pipe is it makes the metal become brittle due to the extreme heat build up and the pipe will eventually crack.
Link to my cracked pipe thread.