Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Let's talk about exhaust wrap....

What is the differance between the $75.00 roll of wrap in a cycle catalog, and the $25.00 wrap at summit racing that looks identicle? Paying more for a name brand?

How stain resistant are the wraps to mud and road debris? Will it repel most of that off or does it stick and look like gabage?

your best bet is to contact grzegorz, as he had the pipes wrapped for some time. I have no idea what he used all that I remember is they had to wrapped very very tight.

That and you soak the wrap first then wrap the pipes,it shrinks as it dries to make it very tight.

I can't understand the look. It looks like you have a hole in the exhaust and wrap it with tape cause you're too cheap to fix it!

Im with you Rich....don't quite understand the concept...why would you want to "wrap" your exhaust, and make it "tight".....

I like the look on some bikes, it all depends on the style. I think it looks really good on those flat black hot rod type bikes.

I personally don't like the idea of keeping extra heat in an air cooled engine.

Plus if you remove the hot gas faster it will keep the engine cooler.

For our bikes, if you get the cheap stuff, your boot will, over time, wear through the wrap just by lightly touching it. The more expensive stuff with a goodly layer of the hi-temp spray will last a lot, lot longer.

Heh, ask me how I know this.

And yes, I'll be re-wrapping my headers this spring since my old ones are in tatters.

--Jaeger

so, what do you soak it in? water?

i literally JUST bought some black wrap from AutoZone this past weekend. i plan on wrapping it soon when i get the pipes high temp powdercoated.

what did any of you use to hold the ends? will a hose ring work or will it get too hot?

thorn

The hose clamp (worm clamp) should work just fine. However, a slightly more "elegant" fix would be to find some steel zip ties, which work perfectly and aren't quite as obtrusive.

Yep, to wrap it, just have a bucket of water nearby to dunk the wrap in. I highly suggest getting someone to help -- you CAN do it by yourself, but it's a lot easier with another pair of hands to keep it good and tight.

When you're done, make sure to spray it down with the high-temp sealer. Do not make the mistake I've made. :P

--Jaeger

better yet are the crimp clamps used on the small end of a front wheel drive drive axle for the small end of the boot.

Soak it in water.

they had the s/s zip ties at O'Reilly auto parts but those mfers were expensive. where as the hose clamps were like 2 bucks a pair. i may paint the clamps black to be less visible. still waiting till i have all the pieces to do that and the fender chop.
thorn

Do you have to remove the pipes or can you wrap them on the bike?

I would imagine you could do it on the bike but I bet it would be a HUGE PITA! I would remove them to wrap them.

I wrapped mine on the bike without any trouble. It would be easier with them off the bike if you were going to use the spay on coating for the wrap. I didn't didn't coat mine. I just got the wrap wet and pulled it tight. It's been on there for a year and a half now without any issues, but it has faded quite a bit.

has anyone on here tried to use red header wrap? I was thinking about using it but I'm not sure whether the color will keep or not. i know that black usually ends up looking more like gray once its been on for awhile

probably turn pink if you can keep it clean.

Like Dog said, if it's anything like the black I'd say it would turn pink in short order....

ugh that's what I was afraid of...probably won't try it then

i've seen red wrap somewhere on this site before. click around through the photopost, you may find it.
thorn

well I found some really inexpensive red wrap that claims it won't fade...so I jumped on it...we'll see what happens!

Any pics out there with wrapped headers & Chrome pipes?

Here is one

This is what mine looks like.

wow that's a sharp looking bike! Did you paint the forks yourself? Where did you get black handlebars?

The forks shrouds aren't painted, I made some leather covers for them. The bars are a set of black powder coated "prison bars" I found on ebay for about $30. I have more pics in my gallery, but she'll look a little different soon. I'm finishing up a new custom seat for her, and she's currently getting her big bore kit installed (that won't look different, but it's still fun!).

wow I would have never guessed that they were covers.Wanna make me some? look forward to seeing the new and improved!

Wrapped my headers tonight after trying the blu-buster. Blubuster did not work but then my headers were near black nearly all the way down..

I used DEI black 2". I wrapped the headers up to the chrome shields just past the lower bend. I tucked the wrap under the front edge of the lower chrome shields. Not the easist stuff to work with. I dunked it in hot water then started to wrap. I cut 18' for each pipe and that was about right. my overlap was about 3/8 to 1/2. I started at the head flange and worked my way down. I wrapped them outward aka top middle out then down around and inward, if that makes sense. The stainless tie wraps were difficult to get real tight. If I were to do this again I would use your basic screw style clamps. I pulled the wrap tight and squeegeed the water by hand as I went. Do this where you can get the floor dirty because the color does wash out. A tad messy plus it's all fibreglass residue. I'll let em dry and then I will use the DEI silicone paint and spray with a couple of good coats.

If I were to do this again I think I would cut all the shields off from the block to the bend and grind the pipes smooth...

I can take a few pics if anyone is interested with follow ups once their back on the TBA...

gb

Just finished the first coat of sealant (paint) they were grayish before hand but look much better now... I will hit them with the sealant (paint) again tomorrow and then I'll be putting them back on the bike. The stainless tye wraps seem to be much more secure then they appeared to be last night...

I'd like to see those pictures if you got 'em...

Pics in photo album. do not know how to add to a thread,,,

hyg:

If you are doing this for HP, don't waste your time. Its a looks thing. ThermoTec is full of #$%^ hot air. Junk science to say the least.

Ever wonder why Kawasaki, Honda, and Suzuki don't do it at the factory? Millions in R&D and 50 years of engineering experience at the track. Bare steel at speed will shed heat at a huge rate from the wind shear. Fabric traps it. Heat travels from hot to cold. Ever notice the cooling fins? The heat radiates from the motor out and is shed in the wind.

It looks cool but its a cosmetic thing only in my humble opinion. I love the look of some of the bobbers with it.

cosmetic for my purpose........

Be prepared to repaint or seal them just about every season,
I had the on my HD and had to redo them 1X a year , they fade pretty quick. You might fair a little better with double wall pipes like ours. Love the look though..

I can pull the entire exhaust in less then 10 minutes..

Piece o'cake...

Especially compared to the Vic... That is truly a PITA>...

I don't really get all that shiney stuff I see on a lot of bikes, I guess everyone taste differ. Anyway here's mine with cheap wrap (Summit)$40.00