Header coating
 

I have a Arkapovic exhaust system that I'm wanting to send off to get coated. The surface of the headers have "stains", for lack of a better term, on them. I have wet sanded and had a friend bead blast a small section (hidden) and while better they still don't look like what what I can live with.
So the question is: What color? I've narrowed it down to the bright polish or this bronze. Waiting for a sample of the bronze to make sure I like it. The cans are titanium and are a similar color to the bronze, but?? Thinking KISS and just go with the polish.
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Had mine done in the black coating. IMO, chrome doesn`t belong on a sportbike (again, IMO)...

Well what a surprise! Mr. Carbon Fiber doesn't think chrome belongs on a sportbike. Who'd a thunk?

Personally, I think I'd try to match the cans unless it ends up looking like a poor attempt to match 'em. If too far off, I'd KISS too.

Thanks for the verification, exactly my thinking.
Pretty sure Mr. Bling Kenmore would disagree about the shiny bits.

As color matching dissimilar products is a WAG at best and not likely to happen, I would go with a contrast color...not color match.

I had my headers done once in a brushed stainless steel color ceramic coat and it looked nine.... not "chrome" at all.

Last time I had them done in a dull gray / green tint color, not for the color, but for the advertised properties of the coating

Looks wise they were ok,,,, not impressed though.

Exactly, but it seems he's getting a sample, so as long as it's an accurate representation, maybe a match is a viable option in this case. Though, I may be biased as I like the color of the Akro cans.

Bead blasting isn't going to make them shine, and if the stains aren't coming off you're just not polishing them correctly/enough(meaning you need to start with something coarser). If you wet sand them correctly (yes it's a bit of work) they'll shine like mirrors. They'll also turn gold as soon as they get hot. Still looks awesome in my opinion, but they'll require periodic polishing to stay super shiny. Yes it'll be easier because once sanded and polished they'll be smoother than they probably were new (this definitely applies to the stock header). And being that not all parts of the header are accessible when it's mounted it's going to be a general pita if you're wanting them to be shiny all the time and you ride your bike on a regular basis. The newest Jet Hot, etc coatings are pretty shiny and would probably be your best bet as far as appearance and ease of maintenance. I don't think they look QUITE as good as polished but that's just my opinion and again the ease of maintenance will probably outweigh that.

Here's an old pic I took of a pair of Two Bros headers I had. The one on the bike I polished, and the other is Jet Hot coated. Both are stainless like I'm assuming your Akrapovic is (I've never seen a full ti exhaust for a Superhawk from Akrapovic).

That's a pretty Jet-Hotted TBR pipe. What ever happened to it?

Idk I think some f'in guy on here bought it ;)

Correct, based on my research, Akra never made a full Ti exhaust for the VTR (though many others did, namely exhaust builders out of Japan)

Agreed.
I stopped sanding when it didn't appear that I was gaining ground on the stains. Maybe I gave up too soon. The bead blast was to see how deep the stains were. Plan was to follow up with sanding and polish if the blasting worked.
I have access to an industrial grade buffer/polisher so that part of the equation is covered if I go that route. I like the patina that polished stainless has after a few heating cycles and would put up with the eventual dulling, but don't know if the stains will show through once dull if I can't get them out more than I have.
The idea of having an easy to maintain and attractive finish that would hide the stains was the motivation to go with a coating. That way it's done once and forever. I really hate doing things twice, more than throwing money at something that I already spent a lot on.

Agreed. I too prefer the look of the polished stainless, and once heated up the golden hue they turn really looks awesome. But yes, they're going to require periodic upkeep to stay that way. The coating is definitely much more of a one and done deal...