Thanks a Jay, always thought stainless was better?
There's a lot of discussion about this Tex, but stainless steel can cause problems.
http://www.estainlesssteel.com/gallingofstainless.htmlI've only replaced the OE studs on my bike once in 100,000 miles and 14 winters of salt, and I wonder if I"d used stainless steel whether it wouldn't have eaten the aluminium cylinder head away more quickly or made them really difficult to get out.
It's surprising how easily hideously corroded OE studs come out with a bit of heat.
I stick with OE for a lot of items (oil filters etc) because they were designed to work with other parts on the bike and not cause problems, and even though they get into a right state, OE studs will last a long time. They're cheap and sacrificial and no one really looks at exhaust studs so there's no bling factor really. What I mean by sacrificial, is like my discs were still good up to 120,000 miles because I used OE brake pads. Harder pads eat discs. Sure if you're racing, you change them but you don't expect discs to last when racing ...