So, I'm itching to do something to the bike. I will be installing some accent LED lights soon, but want something else in addition. Seems I can never work up the funds for the apes, or to even complete my stage one upgrade. Anyway, I still have the stock exhaust with Rush slip-ons right now. Would it be a good idea to remove the heat shields and cover the headers with a heat wrap?

If it would be a good idea, I'm also curious on colour. Seems that everything fades...and I do NOT plan on doing the maintenance of spraying the pipes every few weeks. One option I've looked at is going with the Heatshield Products Lava Wrap. http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/p_lava_wrap.php
It seems to look cool for now, but I'm not sure how it would wear...

Any ideas, suggestions, etc?

Thanks!

 

Just my opinion, I would be inclined to buy some take-offs at a good price and wrap those...save your stockers.

 

once you go with wrap, there is no going back to chrome, so any ideas of going back.... throw them out. I have had my pipes wrapped over a year with black wrap. The wrap isnt gonna last another season for sure, but i have only resprayed them once. I agree with what hdgzr, id buy some cheap pipes on ebay or something before messing up yours.

 

It all depends on what you want to do. The chrome will get toasted under the wrap. But if you like the look go for it. I had some wrapped pipes fora few months. I used black and it faded bad. I changed the pipes again before I went to spray it a second time. The collthing about wrap is that you can literally touch it with your skin while at full operating temp and not get birned at all. I love the look of wrap, and if my pipe ever gets to grungy Looking I will wrap it.

Drew

 

I wrapped mine black a couple of months ago and used the silicone spary as well. They have faded a little bit, but I think it adds character.

 

+1 on the Character with Fade, but also Tan/white is looking good.. I wrapped my stock heads and would never put the shields on them again.. I love the look.
It is 'hotter' than with the shields, but not to much.

 

I also went with cheap pipes and wrapped them. My previous were also wrapped with high temp spray. They were on there well over a year and I did not notice much fading. My current set up has no spray. It is just a personal thing. I love heat wrap and if it fades I still like it. Kind of a cool contrast of the rough looking wrap up against a clean motor.

 

Thanks for all the advice. This is definitely sounding like something I WANT to do. Looking at Heatshield Products' website, there are different levels of quality on the wraps. Black is basic, but premium is an option if I went with tan/white. Does this really make a difference? Of course, there is also the lava wrap. I guess I did not expect there to be a large quantity of decision making outside of colour choice.

Any opinions on this?

 

That shows you how the wrap black fades near the Engine (hottest parts),
I kinda like the look, I will repaint it all comes spring.

 

Mine is DEI which I think is a good brand. I haven't had any problems with mine and if you do decide to wrap your pipes make sure you start from the end of the pipes and go towards the flange. Mine has faded in one spot and that was from my leg rubbing up against it during a rain storm trying to stay warm.