I am restoring a B31. I have fitted an Armours Stainless Steel Exhaust Pipe and Silencers which fitted very well. However the exhaust note is raspy and the exhaust pipe gets discoloured to an almost golden colour. I have polished it out reasonably well but it returns on starting the engine. The advance and retard settings appear to me to be doing what the should with a fast tick over on advance and a slow tick over on retard. To me this would indicate that the ignition timing is about right.
Am I running too hot and if so what might be the cause. The bike is not yet ready to run on the road so it remains stationary while the engine is running.
Keith
Unfortunately you will have to live with the colouring on the exhaust pipe as this is what happens when they are made of stainless. If the silencer is stainless as well it will tend to give a different sound to a chromed one.
If ignition timing is ok, it would be worth checking the mixture via the colour and condition of the plugs - you might be running a very weak mixture leading to a very hot exhaust temperature which will then brown SS pipes.
Too hot tends to blue the exhausts.
Both stainless silencer and stainless 2 into 1 pipes on my A10 quickly go straw coloured after polishing back to a shine.
I have had a few Ducatis over the years, and still have two, all of which have had stainless pipes and they all go brown. I have polished some of them to a mirror finish but they still go gold/bronze quite quickly. Wonder Wheels alloy wheel cleaner removes it but must be kept well away from zinc plated nuts and bolts etc. as it removes the plating and encourages rust.
Hi,
If you are prepared to take them off and get them clean inside, then a good coat of high temp. exhaust paint may help.
This definitely works with chrome. Some spay can nozzles can be modified to fit a thin tube so that the paint can be sprayed further down the pipe. I have not tried this on a silencer but it may be worth a try.
Another issue with silencers is if they have a perforated baffle plate. This is usually near to the inlet/engine end and can create a discoloured hot spot on the body of the silencer. Sometimes it is quite easy to knock them out.
Dave.
I think the amount of discolouration can also depend on the quality and type of the stainless steel used. I have 3 x bikes with stainless steel exhaust systems and none of them have discoloured to any great extent, even after 14 years for one of them.
Wow. Thankyou all for your replies. That sets my mind at rest. Very grateful. Keith