Rust on stainless downpipes

[Slaninar]

So it would seem your pipes are "chromed" and not "stainless steel" which should not rust, its good getting the rust off but if you go wild you will remove more chrome and expose more steel to go rusty, go careful.


Mine are discoloured, i think i will leave well alone,,but saying that i have wire wooled them.

Stainless steel can definitely get surface rust, i think a combination of heat, water and salt certainly helps things along!

 

Stainless steel should be re-named to "rust ressistant, not rust proof" steel. Because that is the truth. If you ride it in summer, not too much rain, salt etc, they will not rust. Otherwise - yes. There are also different kinds of stainless steels with different levels of rust ressitance.  Some are harder, some less hard, some more heat resistant, some less - you can't have it all.

Anyway, I'd get some balistol and let it soak for a few days. Then use fine polishing paste and lots of time.  Even better - I'd just ride the damn bike, not looking at the pipes, just the scenery. 

[darrsi]

I'm gonna try that evil spray stuff then go over the system with Meguiars Metal Polish which not only shines like hell but should give it a little bit of protection.
In an ideal world you should clean the exhaust system weekly, but, to be blunt, one cannot be arsed!

[Slaninar]

I'm gonna try that evil spray stuff then go over the system with Meguiars Metal Polish which not only shines like hell but should give it a little bit of protection.
In an ideal world you should clean the exhaust system weekly, but, to be blunt, one cannot be arsed!

Regular steel pipes on mine. 2001. NEVER cleaned, painted - nothing. But we have lots of sunny days and it's only ridden in warm, fair weather months (April through October). I change oil, clean brakes, calipers, grease brearings - but CLEANING pipes I can not be bothered. Let them rot away and get new ones in 20 year time. 

[darrsi]

I'm gonna try that evil spray stuff then go over the system with Meguiars Metal Polish which not only shines like hell but should give it a little bit of protection.
In an ideal world you should clean the exhaust system weekly, but, to be blunt, one cannot be arsed!

Regular steel pipes on mine. 2001. NEVER cleaned, painted - nothing. But we have lots of sunny days and it's only ridden in warm, fair weather months (April through October). I change oil, clean brakes, calipers, grease brearings - but CLEANING pipes I can not be bothered. Let them rot away and get new ones in 20 year time. 

We have such long winters over here, and they grit the roads with salt for months, so it just eats into things.
The salt plays havoc with brake calipers as well.

[darrsi]

You can see the left pipe in the picture has rust spots.
I gave it a good clean up today with the Meguiars polish but it didn't touch the rust at all, so i'll see how good the Optiglanz stuff is when it turns up?

[darrsi]

So, this was the result of using Optiglanze!
I just sprayed it in small amounts on a little piece of Scotchbrite pad and started scrubbing.
I probably scrubbed each pipe for 5 minutes before rinsing off then moving on to the next one.
It removed some of the rust but not all of it but i wasn't expecting miracles, as it's the result of long crappy winters with salty roads.
And i couldn't get right to the top of the middle pipes as i was scared of messing up the new paint job, but that's no problem, they're pretty much hidden away.
You don't need to use a lot either as it foams up like washing up liquid, so even though the bottle is only 250ml i reckon you'll easily get 10 goes out of it.
After a full rinse i gave it a quick wipe over with the Meguiars polish and......shiny silver pipes again


I'll be gutted when it rains next though

[darrsi]

By the time i'd ridden from home to work yesterday the pipes had gone from silver to a slight tint of gold again due to heat, which was a tad disappointing, but they still look nice though!

[Soapy]

Hell of an improvement for little effort. Impressive.

[darrsi]

Hell of an improvement for little effort. Impressive.

Yeah, took me no more than 30mins in total with no hard work involved.
 
I forget to mention before i used a black bin bag to cover the engine behind the pipes and taped it up, if it does that to metal then i can only presume it's not too friendly on paintwork.
And i used a pair of washing up gloves for a bit of extra skin protection along with safety glasses.
You really don't want that stuff in your eyes! 

[notoriusb.e.n]

its when you get it on the concrete and it fizzes away you can see just how corrosive it is. be really careful, it does sting if you get it on your hands.

Wonderwheels is also a really good way to do it, you can just paint that on with a brush, leave it overnight, then clean it off with a quick rub of scotchbrite and autosol the next day to really make them shine. if you do it regularly you can keep on top of it - best to do it regularly in winter though as that's the worst time for burnt on crap - summer not so bad.
 
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_195615_langId_-1_categoryId_255235
 
if you let them get really bad, then start with scotchbrite and WD40, then move on to wirewool and WD40, and then onto the autosol and a fine grit wet'n'dry. Do not use powertools like sanders etc, as you will roughen the surface and then the rust can really set in.

[tommyardin]

So it would seem your pipes are "chromed" and not "stainless steel" which should not rust, its good getting the rust off but if you go wild you will remove more chrome and expose more steel to go rusty, go careful.


Mine are discoloured, i think i will leave well alone,,but saying that i have wire wooled them.

Stainless steel can definitely get surface rust, i think a combination of heat, water and salt certainly helps things along!

There are different grades of stainless steel, Marine Grade SAE 316 is the best as it hardly ever rust at all, although some pitting in sea water use can be detected on seams and joints/welds .
Stainless steel motorcycle down pipes are often SAE 303 or SAE 304 which is a lower grade S/Steel, 303 is softer and easier to machine so it is often used but the 304 is slightly better but harder to work. it's all to do with the proportion of carbon steel in the stainless steel.
Keep them clean from the start and Solvo Autosol will polish all the heat marks out and tar stains, WD40 for stubborn tar staining. shiny shiny 


Ask me how I know all this ... Good old Google

[fazersharp]

a simple stainless test is with a magnet which will not stick to a higher quality stainless steel, and the lower the quality the more the magnet will stick. Some kitchen sinks will be a higher quality in the bowl (no magnetty sticky ) but the to save money the drainder will be a lower quality (magnet will stick )
Get your magnets out fellas and report back.

[tommyardin]

a simple stainless test is with a magnet which will not stick to a higher quality stainless steel, and the lower the quality the more the magnet will stick. Some kitchen sinks will be a higher quality in the bowl (no magnetty sticky ) but the to save money the drainder will be a lower quality (magnet will stick )
Get your magnets out fellas and report back.

Anyone tell me how to get this f-----g great magnet off my exhaust pipe

[misterjayb1]

A mahoosif front mudflap for the winter.. Remove it in the summer.. Function over style 

[Carter]

I used Birchwood Casey rust and blue remover to eat the rust on mine. It's for guns but is pretty strong stuff. There's pits and all sorts once you get the rust lumps off so hit that with files and fine emery until it was flat enough to polish , then got cracking with the polishing mops and autosol for the hard to reach parts. They'll go yellow/gold again soon enough but I can keep on top of that.
It'll get thinner and thinner where stubborn rust has been removed so keep this in mind while you're working on them. A scraper will help loosen things if they won't budge.
It's not a high grade stainless on the systems, that's a cost thing. Once they're presentable they're a lot easier to keep looking good and they're definitely better than mild steel headers , chromed or not.
Another thing I haven't tried is spirits of salts, it's hydrochloric acid based (I think) so may not be the best stuff to be splashing around. It's gets corrosion off fast tho.

[fazersharp]

I haven't tried is spirits of salts,

spirits of salts !!! Are you Gandalf

[tommyardin]

I've got a few rust patches that have formed on my stainless downpipes that i'm finding hard to shift.


I did a bit of Googling and decided to try a combination of Coke, Vinegar, Baking Soda and water and tried scrubbing them with scrunched up tin foil but to be honest it did bugger all.


Anyone got any tricks they can share with me, bearing in mind that the rust spots are in limited spaces?

That's where you went wrong, drink the coke, vingar for your fish and chips, your Mrs makes a cake with the baking soda and throw the water at the cat if it pisses on the tomato plants again, then go buy a tube of Autosol. Jobs a goodun

[fazersharp]

I've got a few rust patches that have formed on my stainless downpipes that i'm finding hard to shift.


I did a bit of Googling and decided to try a combination of Coke, Vinegar, Baking Soda and water and tried scrubbing them with scrunched up tin foil but to be honest it did bugger all.


Anyone got any tricks they can share with me, bearing in mind that the rust spots are in limited spaces?

That's where you went wrong, drink the coke, vingar for your fish and chips, your Mrs makes a cake with the baking soda and throw the water at the cat if it pisses on the tomato plants again, then go buy a tube of Autosol. Jobs a goodun

 
+1 for autosol