Total Motorcycle Community Forums

My pipes are becoming discolored.

I've had this bike bought it brand new. Vstar 2004. I bought it brand new from the dealer in April 2005, So i've had a little over a year. I've got right at 5000 miles I've put on it.

1. Does piple discoloration mean anything is wrong with the bike?
2. Is this natural
3. Is it generally considered unsightly?
4. Can it be removed?

You may be leaving the choke on too long. Are the pipes stock?

The pipes will colour naturally. A lot of riding in traffic can make it worse due to more heat in the headers due to a lack of air flow over them. I have heard that mothers polish can get rid of the majority of the colour but I am rather partial to the look.

If you never want to worry about discolouration, get a set of Hard Krome pipes for that beast -- they're basically a pipe within a pipe, therefore guaranteed to never discolour.

Discoloration comes from heat. It's hard to say whether or not you have a problem, because it depends on how thick your pipes are and how well they were chromed. In the olden days of the 70s and 80s, pipes were pretty thin and tended to discolor soon after the break-in period. A Gold tint was pretty good, most turned a dark blue color.

I've noticed on newer bikes that discoloration isn't as common as it used to be. For example, I ride my Nighthawk hard and the pipes still look like new. My buddy's FZ-1 pipes look the same after 20K miles.

Your best bet would be to get ahold of several owners of your particular bike and find out if it's normal. If it's not, your engine could be running a bit lean, which results in higher exhaust gas temperatures.

Once the pipe is discolored, there's really nothing you can do about it, short of having it stripped and re-chromed. As far as I know, it's not considered unsightly.