Exhaust Wrap
 

Has anyone used exhaust wrap for a period of time of at least 1-2 years? I was thinking of going this route to help protect my lower fairing. I did some research and was reading where the wrap can cause the exhaust gases to melt the metal in headers from trapping the heat in the pipes. This was about automobile type headers but was wondering if the same thing happens to motorcycle exhaust.

Go for it and also wrap around the rear header adjacent the shock. I used Therm-TEC 1" held with SS hose clamps & safety wire and painted it with black high-temp paint (to protect against moisture). Hint, soak it for a few minutes in water to make it more pliable and lap about 1/4 to 3/8 inch.

Maybe under a hood...not in the wind, even with a lower...not even close.
+1 on the soak in water.

wrap = http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/11001/11001.html or
http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/11031/11031.html

also you can line lower fairing with this http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/14002/14002.html adhered with this
http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/12005/12005.html

or just get this instead http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/13500/13500.html

Thanks for the replies. I already had planned on using a heat barrier, but I had seen other lowers that had spider cracks in the paint/gel coat caused by heat where heat barriers were only used. I am hoping the exhaust wrap and the barrier together will keep the cracking at bay.

Anyone who has experience...

How many feet should it take with the 1"? And does 1" look better than 2"?

1 inch wrap
1.5 inch diameter pipe
1.5 x 3.14 = 4.71(call it 5)
if I overlap 1/4 inch a 50ft roll should do 90 inches of exhaust

sound right???

exhaust wrap
 

a 50ft roll of 1" will work. The 1" works better then 2" getting around the bends. Much smoother when you are done. Mske sure to let the wrap soak overnite in water. Makes for a better and tighter wrap.

close enough for the girls we go out with...

do not soak overnight IMO, 1st it does soften it much more and 2nd it takes longer to dry before you can paint it.. just afew minutes worked for me.

I was told you have to rejet if you wrap your pipes... is that true?

KG

50' x 1" roll is exactly what you need. I wrapped mine years ago and it lasted a long long time. I just now re-wraped it.

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...hlight=thumper

YOu only need to soak it for 5 or 10 minutes and pull it as tight as you can.

I do not use ugly ass water hose clamps. Instead i use to bands of safety wire, of course this is easier if you have SS safety wire and the Safety wire tool to to the works.

BTW, they make this stuff now in lots of colors. I did the same thing to my Dirt bike years ago and painted it with High Temp heat paint. It eventually looked like crap and i removed it.

Myself i wouldn't paint it, but to each his own. The pre-colored wrap looks pretty nice thou.


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So I did this project last weekend, turned out pretty well. I did black wrap and then black high temp paint on top to seal it a little.

It smoked like a (insert expletive here) for the first 5 minutes after install, but then seemed to clear up. I've ridden it everyday since and can still smell burning/melting when I'm stopped. Is that normal?

I've checked everything up and down and can't seem to find anything to cause the smell except the wrap.

I've had the wrap on my bike for about six months now, and although it's not as bad as when i first put the wrap on, it still has a little smell that comes from it.

I've had super results with the sheets of heat barrier thermo tec makes. I glassed in a few pieces on the inside of a sharkskinz lower on a gsxr600 I used to have and the results were VERY impressive. The header was maybe an inch away or less where the barrier was and it was warm to the touch on the outside of the fairing. Where the header was 6 inches away or more where there was no barrier was HOT. I'd definitely recommend it.

I've never used the black colored & don't know if you should even paint it because there could be a compatability issue even with carbon black impregnation. Plain 1" Thermo-Tec and Hi-Temp paint still needs to be cleaned and touched up occassionally. Hose clamps work great at either end though safety wire is fancier. A special tool for wire hose clamps is available http://www.aerostich.com/product.php...cat=347&page=1 if you want the trickest. The sheet stock is not in contact and does not get as hot without conduction. You can get burned on wrap.

The odor and smoke should go away and/or the wrap will deteriorate. Live and learn.

Smell will linger for some time until the stuff kinda burns in. The high Temp paint will make it smell even longer or at least it did on my dirt bike.

It will also steam and smell when it gets wet. Don't worry about getting it wet. It is not big deal.

Simple green sprayed on and hosed off will clean it up better than anything i have found. Do not rub it as this will cause it to wear faster.

AND do not hit it with the pressure washer.... it will tear it right off..

Good to know, cleaning the bike was on the agenda for later today.

:!: A pressure washer is a big No-no...

It can get into all stuff where you don't want water... the seals on the engine, ball bearings and such... Don't use one!!!

I'm color matching my sharksinz lower and just bought the header tape and a thermal barrier sheet for this same thing. I only have 15 ft. of 1 inch tape so it looks like I need to pick up some more.

Yep, it took about 48 of my 50 feet to do the headers.

I can probably do the front header for now ?

I'd order the wrap and do it all at once. I don't think 15ft is long enough for the front.

You might get the rear exhaust down tube with the 15 feet, but it for sure will not go very far.

50' is all you need to do the whole job.

I am about to exhaust wrap my superhawk after i pull some dents out "This will be interesting if it works" But for the myth of melting your exhaust is not true. I have been putting exhaust wrap on my cars and also use it on my diesel truck turbo down pipe. My DP gets hotter then the exhaust on the SH will ever get.

Well we will have to agree to disagree on this one. :rolleyes:

My 30 or so years of riding/owning bikes and washing same, have proven as long as you are 10% smarter then the equipment you are using :p, a Pressure washer can safely and successfully be used to clean a bike, car, truck, ect.. You just have to understand where not to point the end where the hi pressure water comes out:D

The same thought process goes for a TQ wrench and a hammer.. used correctly they both do the job designed for.

Now that's funny, I haven't been here forever, and here we are talking about heat wrap. I was cleaning up the other day and discovered part of a role of heat-wrap from another bike. I wrapped just the front down-header, to get heat off the water-crossover hose. Two ticks off the temp. gauge, just wrapped to the bottom of the bend! You can bet I'll be wrapping the rest, especially near the rear shock. BTW, that's some wrap job up there. I'll try to make mine half as good. Nothing looks better, or smells better, than a wrapped exhaust, and it sounds better.
BTW, I just, finally got my Haynes. Wow, I new I made the right choice of bike! Nearly as easy and as unitised as my old airheads! Oh! So that's how the fairing comes off- as one piece with the lights! Gosh, it's so much easier when I know what the hell I am doing. What a time I've had with this bike, but finally, it's running right and roadworthy.

Besides my Hawk, I've got a '93 Duc SS, and a '93 VFR. The VFR needs an electrical system. The Duc needs tires, probably Dunlop 220's.

And a torque wrench works good, as long as you hit the nail with the side of the wrench.

How about we agree to agree? :D

Used correct it's a great tool...:) and yes for some parts of a bike it's usable...

But dang it I never laughed as hard as when the neighbour a few houses down that polishes more than rides (not a friend... I know him but refuse to call him friend...) had to have his entire engine rebuilt after crackin a gasket on a cylinder... And the comment from the mechanic... "That's what happens when you clean a bike more often than ride it..."
The bike in question is a 05 Shadow... And he's about to go through the crome and start to polish the bare metal any day now...