I've been toying with the idea of getting my header coated and I am curious about what some of you guys who have done it think about it. Mostly I'd like to know the aproximate cost and if you are happy with the results.

The main reason for doing this is cosmetics. I think the stock header is pretty ugly. I've had it wrapped and painted for quite some time but I now would like to go to something more maintanence free.

I've looked at their website a little and it looks like they offer different colors. Flat black, however, is the only color I would settle for.

I would also like to hear other ideas if you got em. I've heard of high temp powder coats but I don't know how good it is.

Thanks in advance for many help.

 

It IS the good stuff. Hawkrider runs his in wet look black, mine are super sterling, you want low maintenance this is it. It's NO maintenance and they always look great. Since I had mine done they have sold local franchises so you might check around. Mine were done at the Pascagoula plant in MS and their customer service couldn't have been better. Plan on some shipping expense because headers take up a lot of room. The return trip home is a deal because they get such a good deal as a volume shipper. I packed the **** out of mine and it cost me $60 to ship the header to them. They shipped it back for $28. It's all a little spendy but you will never regret the investment.

 

**** it, few cans of bbq paint and your in the same boat, just shoot some on the inside of the header too

jet hot is good ****, i have ceramic coating on my turbo stuff, but for a daily bike, meh, i wouldnt bother

 

The rattle can idea has crossed my mind. I've used high temp paints on the mid-pipes and on other projects with fair, but not great, results. Durability is the main concern. Sand and other shrapnel off the road doesn't take long chew through.

I've read about people using bed liner to paint things like tanks and plastics. I think something like that would work well if it could handle the heat.

It sounds like jet-hot may be a little out of my price range for now. A cheaper alternative till "some day" comes is probably going to have to work for now.

 

Yeah, you're right. Next time I'll buy a $170 worth of stove paint and go through the bullshit to take them off the bike every two months to slobber some more trailer paint on a $10k bike.

 

Ceramic coating is about the only thing that will hold up to the temps near the head.... the paint will work for most of it, but at the real hot spots, I think it maybe problematic.

I've got the Jet Hot... it's pretty cool... if you do some searching there are a bunch of companies that do something similar... may be a way to save shipping costs.

Your other option is the fiberglass header wraps.... for 30-50 you ould probably wrap the whole thing.... you can do the off white, or black...

J.

 

I had it wrapped for about two years. I did the black and it quickly faded to gray. Then pulled the header off and soaked it high temp ceramic paint. This added a lot of durability to it and I really liked the look. It would still be on there but I managed to drag the header on the track and it had to be removed. The dragging issue has since been resolved.

The wrap is alright. It's a real PIA to make it look nice. It is still on my list of options.

 

I recently got an estimate from High Performance Coatings which turns out to be the same company as Jet-Hot. $184 for the coating. $50 to strip the nickel plating that is on stock pipes plus the shipping back. Add in the shipping to them and $300 is about what you'll get tagged for.

 

Well that confirms it. Thanks NH-Raptor. The jet-hot will definatley go on the back burner for now.

 

My 2 cents...I bought a used tbr header that was jet hot coated. I imagine it was an older coating because even it dulled pretty good near the head. It still looks nice and like was said is basically no maintenance. Don't they warranty their stuff now? My personal preference as far as what looks best is to sand any tooling marks and imperfections out of the metal, wet sand it and polish it. It'll look just like chrome, but as soon as you run the bike you get a golden chrome look that I think looks killer. And once you polish the metal it'll be much easier to maintain because it's smooth. You'll still need to maintain it periodically though. I'm **** about that kind of thing though, and don't mind the effort. I like my vehicles to look brand new. Most people don't really give a **** and prefer to just ride.

 

I think they have a full warranty for three years.

 

Mboe if you just want it to look nice it's pretty cheap in materials to polish the header, it's just a bit of work and if you've never polished metal before may be a little of a pain in the ***. It's not really hard, but it will require periodic maintence. The more time you spend/the smoother you make it the first time, the easier it'll be to keep up though.

 

Scratch that sorry I just read you wanted flat black...

 

I have mine Jet-Hot coated silver, and I love it.