Downpipes

[seb421]

hi spent a good 3 hours cleaning the bike yesterday and its now looking proud again, took forever get all the muck sh1t and salt off the real wheel

noticed that my downpipe is looking realy shabby now and coroded.

has anyone replaced there orginal mild steal one with an aftermarket?

ive found these for £190 there stainless steel



http://www.sandybikespares.co.uk/produc ... storm_sc36

is stainless steel lighter than mild steel? if any one has them do they know if they flow more freely i noticed when i changed my cans last time that the right hand side exit of the downpipe doesnt alow as much gas to flow as the left because of the way its joined to the left, are all orignal pipes designed this way?

[tony.mon]

Stainless is pretty much the same density and therefore weight as mild steel for the amounts that'll go into a header system.
The only thing that will make a difference is the wall thickness, and without info on both you won't know until you compare them side by side.

A titanium system is lighter, but various different types of steel are all about the same, except of course that SS won't oxidise , or at least, it won't rust, which is what you're after.

But as the weight's low down and under the COG, I don't think you'll notice any difference either way.

[sirch345]

Seb,
Ifaik the standard Firestorm header pipes are stainless steel, but not that high a quality.

Get yourself a polishing kit for your electric drill (around £20-£25) and do what I did with mine
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... ase#p49654

Chris.

[seb421]

i was told they was mild steel? any one confirm this?

[seb421]

Sirch just had a look at your thread, Fook me your pipes look good!

can you show me ruffly what kind of kit i would need via an ebay link, cheers mate!

Mine look pitted and crap fingers crossed they turn out half as good as yours!

[sirch345]

Sirch just had a look at your thread, Fook me your pipes look good!

can you show me ruffly what kind of kit i would need via an ebay link, cheers mate!

Mine look pitted and crap fingers crossed they turn out half as good as yours!

Seb,
This kit is similar to the one I purchased. Mine didn't have the lime with it, so be very careful not to get that into your eyes. Also I had a drill stand that I took apart and was able to mount the drill horizontal (with the clamp part of the drill stand) in a vice on my work bench, this I found was easier to use, but no absolutely necessary.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Metal-Polishing-K ... 45ed84dae6

Note: in that link of me polishing my headers, I mentioned that mine soon turned to a gold-ish colour, although I quite like it myself. read it for yourself

HTH,

Chris.

[seb421]

cheers mate, can you tell me what drill you use? as ours is like 30 years old and is a beast so can see the eltricity inside arc'ing scares the sh1t outta me, been wanting a new drill for ages.

[tony.mon]

Yep, I bought an old drill at a car boot sale just for use in polishing, grinding and wire brushing.

That way I can keep the good one for lovely clean jobs like......drilling holes in walls.
Oooops.

[sirch345]

cheers mate, can you tell me what drill you use? as ours is like 30 years old and is a beast so can see the eltricity inside arc'ing scares the sh1t outta me, been wanting a new drill for ages.

Seb,
My drill is quite old now too, but I remember the very old ones like you're talking about At least mine has the plastic body so it's double insulated. Mine look very similar to this one:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Black-and-Decker- ... 3a566184e8

For a brand new one something like this one would do the job:-
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/85256/Pow ... Drill-240V

HTH,

Chris.

[r4vtr]

nice work there will give this a go myself

[davros]

I've had to replace my headers as the clamps at the exhaust port were corroded away. Generally they were in pretty poor condition. If the standard headers are Stainless they must be very low grade. I bought the headers off ebay for £190 but not got them yet. I was told the stainless pipes were thinner than mild steel as they don't have to allow for rusting.

[seb421]

Seb,
My drill is quite old now too, but I remember the very old ones like you're talking about At least mine has the plastic body so it's double insulated. Mine look very similar to this one:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Black-and-Decker- ... 3a566184e8

For a brand new one something like this one would do the job:-
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/85256/Pow ... Drill-240V

HTH,

Chris.

mine looks very silmilar to this, only mine is more exposed showing off the inside more and has chipped away black and yellow paint, i hate using it the noise is haunting!

[tony.mon]

If you're buying an old drill for use as a polisher/grinder head, get a metal-bodied one. You can grip it in a vice firmly.

The plastic bodied ones, like old Black and Deckers deform, and if you grip them tightly the stator touches the rotor windings- no more drill.

[seb421]

i dont want an old one at all mate hate the wombles its scarry!