Its not right and there is a problem with the header pipes, I live near the bay and get sea air and my header piper are good, I be putting in for replacements under warranty.

Ashley

 

- Standard and expected corrosion from exposure to elements. Happens to everyone.

A Thrux S has chrome pipes, easily polished out.

 

I have had bikes for 45 years and never had headers go like that yet.

 

My XE headers look that colour after less than 1000 miles

 

It’s not the norm but I have seen a few others (at the dealership where I used to work and still fill in from time to time) that have gone that way. Street Twins and Thruxton Rs. I actually recall talk of a number of complaints about early Thruxton R pipes discolouring. Maybe it was a particular batch of brushed headers. It doesn’t look like the sort of blueing you get from excessive heat so I’d say it’s nothing to worry about. You could try to give them a polish with something like Blue Job but I doubt you’ll get much change.

 

Not sure if that's " normal" or not but it looks like crap. I would not be happy with that look and would address it, either warranty or ceramic coating.

 

Have to say I agree. As I mentioned, there were some issues with Thruxton headers so certainly worth asking the question. Ceramic coating isn’t all that expensive as a fall back.

Edit. Just noticed the brake reservoir and no heel guard, and (I think) short mirror stems. Looks to be a ‘16 model so warranty may no longer be an option.

 

That's the typical look for pipes made from Stainless Steel. If those headers are chrome(don't look like chrome to me) then that's not normal.

 

if under warranty see if they will do new ones

aside from that you can try to clean them up make sure pipes are cool

use a rag with wd 40 and clean them a few times

try super fine steel wool- clean off any residue

use bar keepers friend powder with water and a sponge--I use on stainless pipe on my Ducati and it works awesome
just polish in direction of brushed finish or you could get swirls. Also have water nearby and quickly wash everything off--the bar keeper friend could stain other parts like engine cases etc

 

use a rag with wd 40 and clean them a few times

try super fine steel wool- clean off any residue

your pipes are stainless steel NOT chrome. Stainless steel will change color with time and heat and the color they look like in the picture is completely normal. Do NOT clean them with WD40 and do not use steel wool. Steel wool will get into the micro brush marks on the brushed stainless and cause an even bigger corrosion and discoloration problem. The safest thing to wipe them down with is rubbing alcohol. The rubbing alcohol will not remove the discoloration but if there is any oils on the pipes you need to remove it with the alcohol to prevent more liver spots. Keeping all oil off the pipes is the key. If you touch the pipes with your fingers and dont clean it with alcohol it will spot with time. If you spill oil on the pipes and dont clean it will spot.

Salt fog in a seaside climate will cause pitting as you know. You could try to pin it on triumph but i suspect they wont do a thing.

If the pipes are pitted from corrosion rubbing alcohol will not fix that. The only alternatives would be heat tape to cover them or get them refinished in a different color of your choice.

 

There is more to those pipes than discolouring you can see rust pitting and for pipes that don't have many miles on the clock its not right, on my old 81 Triumph Thunderbird I had a set of Stainless steel header pipes made up for it, it got a similar discolour on the pipe but only up the top to the first bend but not down to the bottom bend and they never got any rust pits on them at all, 9 years and lots of miles clocked up on it and the pipes were as good as the day they were made with only a small amount of discolour near the head.

Ashley

 

The bronzing and those ugly liver spots are normal. I got them on the stock headers and also on my Remus H-pipes which replaced the Cat and both header pipes. On the stock ones I polished them out and ended up with shiny pipes for a while, but it all came back (though not as badly.) My Remus pipes are an entirely different color than the slip-ons. I'm thinking of sending them all to jet-hot this winter to have them all match.

 

All my stainless header bikes look like that. Tell Triumph but I personally have never seen otherwise. I do not think it looks bad, it's a machine not a statue.

 

My 2017 Street Twin pipes went the same way in the first year. Changed under warranty and no problem since.

 

Stainless will do that. My CB1100 looks the same with the liver spots too. You can buff\rub it out but it will return after a while.

 

Use Borla Exhaust cleaner. Comes right off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hi mate my 2017 Thruxton r header pipes look the same only 929 kms on mine and I live in a very dry environment no salt or damp I agree it dosent look real nice

 

My Speed Twin pipes look the same. Not concerned.

 

Discolouration is normal and should be expected. These pipes have gone more of a brown colour and this is what I was referring to as not being the norm. Blue to a blue/grey colour is more normal. I’ve only seen a few go a sort of brown colour that the OP’s seem to have gone. Not a flaw, just not the norm. Only way to stop pipes discolouring at all is never to start the engine.

 

Most bluing and bronzing on pipes is from high heat. Most bikes now running with computer controlled fuel injection run quite lean, which causes a hotter exhaust temp. You can try Blue Away & other rubs mentioned on this thread, but it will be a temporary fix. A rattle can with high temp barbecue black paint was my best option!

 

I assume that your bike is fuel injected and your exhaust will turn some color at the head but that is extreme. I agree appears you might have defective pipes. I have an older Triumph and it is carburetor I treated my pipes inside when replaced them and stop all the discoloration. But yours appears extreme.

 

Again, they are stainless. It's going to happen. Jet coat, wrap, or constant elbow grease with your choice of metal polish are the only solutions.

 

True. Before the technicians started my new bike I had them wipe the headers down with alcohol. I still do after messing around the headers. Clean them with Mothers and life is good, 3+ years.

 

My 2017 SC is my first experience with stainless header pipes and these looked bad from the get go. I'm no fan of "brushed" (deliberately scratched) finishes and so polished them a little with a dremel and some compound - the discoloration (and spots) went right away. Some discoloration soon shows up again but it looks like the better polish job you do on them, the less problem you have with that. Plus they do clean up easily. Maybe it also has a lot to do with cleanliness, as mentioned in a previous reply. They may always be a high maintenance item (if you like them shiny) and the bronze (gold) color seems to be a constant, not unlike the bluing on chrome.

 

It is completely normal for these pipes. Super hot stainless steal single walled pipes splashed with dirty water are going to spot like this. Clean cool pipes using 0000 steel wool and metal polish. Once clean, wipe with some solvent like benzine, lighter fluid or naphtha to remove the polish residue and then coat the pipes with WD40 on a paper or shop towel. The headers will smoke a bit upon first startup but will turn to a nice golden brown color over time without the spotting. After each ride, wipe the header pipes down with a bit of WD40 on a shop towel. I have had a number of bikes with this type of header and this is how I have successfully dealt with the issue. This is not a warranty issue.

 

This is the typical norm: Chrome pipes blue, Stainless steel pipes brown.

Your bike is not running lean and causing the pipes to turn brown, your pipes are doing what all stainless pipes do.

 

Does look like he's got some crud on them too. It looks like the crap that was on mine initially. Probably burn off after a long hot ride.
BTW, love your moniker. That's what I named my first cat.

 

As well my 2013 Thruxton don't have any blue in the header pipes, it started to blue up a few days after buying it new but as soon as I blocked off the AI hose it stopped blueing, they also have a nice goldy colour just around the head area to the first bend, it has 40k on it now and no blue at all.
My 16 model Thruxton has no sign of blueing as well but am running a Meerkat and opened up stock mufflers, so not all pipes blue and have never had a bike yet that has in over 45 years of riding.
Accessive heat is the biggest problem for blue pipes.

Ashley

 

I've never had chrome pipes that didn't blue a bit at the clamps on the air heads, but minimizing idle time really seemed to help keep them nice, esp in the desert summers.

 

dont know if you can buy it in the USA but in the uk quite a few of us use harpic toilet cleaner .just dont get it on the paintwork .and wipe off with water after it has removed the discoloration.been using it for about 8 yrs now first on my 865 se and now on my 2yr old street twin with no side effects