Header heat protection.

[VTRsquid]

Yeah thats what they say, keeps the energy in, thus the gas velocity, but like you say, probably not really measurable.
The t-bolt clamps do look nicer.
Slight derail; had right side link pipe of yesterday, seems the stock pipes are kind of restricted.. wher the two headers merge, then merge off again to the two mufflers, it seems rather than a clean merge they left the tubes protruding... to the point it looks like the left pipe gets much more flow. So its almost like a 2-1 or 2-1-1.5 rather than a 2-1-2 system. Did Honda do this intentionally? Didnt have the presence of mind to take a pic.

Over the years the general consensus I've read is, the "blockage" is either designed in, or in any case, not detrimental to power or torque production.

IOW, no measurable difference if you take a die grinder and burr to that overlapping bit of tubing

Thanks. Yeah i would have guessed the same. Had a Yoshimura Titan full system on my last bike, and they did something similar on the crossover on that too, so i made up my own with 10degree mergers, net result was the most incredible placebo effect all across the rev range lol.

[Chris58]

Yeah thats what they say, keeps the energy in, thus the gas velocity, but like you say, probably not really measurable.
The t-bolt clamps do look nicer.
Slight derail; had right side link pipe of yesterday, seems the stock pipes are kind of restricted.. wher the two headers merge, then merge off again to the two mufflers, it seems rather than a clean merge they left the tubes protruding... to the point it looks like the left pipe gets much more flow. So its almost like a 2-1 or 2-1-1.5 rather than a 2-1-2 system. Did Honda do this intentionally? Didnt have the presence of mind to take a pic.

Over the years the general consensus I've read is, the "blockage" is either designed in, or in any case, not detrimental to power or torque production.

IOW, no measurable difference if you take a die grinder and burr to that overlapping bit of tubing

I took the grinder to mine, also ground out the bulky welds right inside the header entrences.

Although wraps in theory could increase preformance by a very small amount..to me they just arnt worth it and end up looking ugly after a while. Things like grinding out the ports a bit, and freeing up the cans, are much better preformance mods for exhaust.
But really, unless you improve the intake side as well you wont likley notice any gains from modding the exhaust

sometimes I use a wrap for protection

[E.Marquez]

Although wraps in theory could increase preformance by a very small amount..to me they just arnt worth it and end up looking ugly after a while.

Yup wrap does look ratty after awhile (or the other types I have used do, we will see about this new stuff )

Im all for good looks and such, but Im more for function. The need for heat control exists, so what are the options?
Wrap the header?
Ceramic coat the header inside and out?
Wrap the shock, coolant hoses, motor, radiators?

I have not had good luck with Ceramic coat in both looks after use for a year and it never really insulated much heat anyway.
Wrapping the shock and coolant hoses is possible, but deflecting heat away from the motor and rads not so much..
So for me, that leaves wrapping the header to get what I want... less heat from header to shock, cooling system and motor. If I have to redo the wrap every 3-4 years I can live with that.. It it starts falling apart the first year, not going to be ok with that.

Im very open to other options...lets hear them please.

Thanks

[Beef]

I had my Buell exhaust ceramic coated internally as I really hated when the headers turned blue.
The coating did the trick, they now only go a lovely gold colour all the way to the can.
No idea about any performance gains - it’s an air cooled sludge pump so I guess every little helps!!

[VTRsquid]

Im wondering what a set of pipes cleaned up to a brushed finish would look like with a coat of clear flame proof paint...