Looking after your exhaust (pipes)

[dallasStreet]

I just got my St3R on Tuesday and it's been pretty cold and raining so I’ve only racked up 50kms

My question is . . before i put more k's on the bike, is there anything(product) i can apply to the exhaust to protect the pipes.

Also is there something i should do to the exhaust system after i come back from a ride to keep them in good condition ?

Cheers

What material are the exhaust made from ?

[andtex24m]

windex after cool down... maybe not understanding the question.

[charoli]

go to Bunnings, buy a can of INOX $10.

http://www.ppc.au.com/access_inox1.htm

give all the metal bits a good spray/wipe down with it - do it when bike is cold. When you start again, the exhaust will smoke a bit, it's just the Inox burning off.

standard exhaust are stainless steel.

[dallasStreet]

Thanks for that charoli, might pick some up this afternoon.

Would you recommend ACF50 over the inox ? I know you can get it from Vic for $30 + $35 dangerous goods shipping.

[charoli]

haven't used the ACF before as it was too hard/expensive to get in Oz. Know that everyone raves about it, especially in the UK. On face value, Inox promises to do similar things and it looks like it's pretty much safe on most materials/finishes and readily available.

[AaronP220R]

Soapy water and Zippo liter fluid (to remove road grime) here. Looks perfect.

[j0e]

On the official Triumph website, under the technical tab you'll find a write up on how to clean your bike. It is recommended that "Motorex645 Clean and Protect" be used to clean your exhaust, while use of "silicon based products such as WD-40" are discouraged.

I had a look at the MSDS sheets for both WD-40 and Motorex645 and found something interesting...

The ingredients of Motorex645 are White spirit (aromatics <25%), Corrosion inhibitors, Paraffin oils, Propane/butane (propellant).

The ingredients of WD-40 are white spirit 45-50%, paraffinic distillate heavy solvent-dewaxed 15-25^%, isoparaffins petroleum hydrotreated HFP 12-28^%, carbon dioxide 2-3^%.

They seem pretty similar to me, but I'm not a science wizz. Any ideas on what sets these two apart? What is the silicone component in WD-40?

I use WD-40 to clean up the rims of my bike (being carefull not to get any on the tyre). It'd be good to know what else it can be used for on the bike, but I guess that should be left to another thread (no doubt it is already written somewhere else on this forum and I just haven't searched well enough lol).

[MacBandit]

There is ZERO silicone in WD-40. WD-40 is a solvent and as such would not be compatible with silicone in anyway.

[amanger]

To get rid of any staining or marks "Blue Job" is the go, if rather expensive. You can get it from most "Two Wheeled" tractor stores, they use it to keep their chrome shiny.

[aprilian]

On a lark, I brought the Motorex product, it is probably good for a solvent and wax single step product, but overall I was not impressed. There are better products out there (and I like Motorex). It left the can a bit greasy and streaky.