Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Here is one I'll throw out to the community. On my new 2013 Moto Guzzi V7 Stone (about 50 miles on it) the headers are turning blue. Is this normal? Or should I bring it back to the dealer (reason?). I'm thinking it is a sign of a lean condition but...?

Thanks,

Mike

Can you post a pic of the headers? A very slight blueing of the headers right at the beginning which turns gold like this fairly quickly is fairly "normal" unfortunately due to lean settings by the factory.

If it looks like this for more than few inches, it's really hot! And that is not good.

You said you ordered an aftermarket exhaust for it. If you are going to have it dealer installed, I'm sure they will tune it perfectly for you.

How is it running? Do you notice any signs of surging or lean-ness?

What he said. If you're going aftermarket it probably doesn't matter. If not, I love the look of ceramic coated pipes.

It's an air cooled motor, so it's basically to be expected. Most headers I see blue down at least 6 or so inches. if it starts getting discolored from the bluing then you have a problem, but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.

Wrider wrote:It's an air cooled motor, so it's basically to be expected. Most headers I see blue down at least 6 or so inches. if it starts getting discolored from the bluing then you have a problem, but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.

Air cooled motor and from what I read it does run quite hot as well. I really like the air-cooled engine design for it's simplicity. I'll watch it to see if it starts to rainbow or not. I don't mind if they go blue or golden, just adds charater. It's more if there is an issue of course.

HYPERR wrote:Can you post a pic of the headers? A very slight blueing of the headers right at the beginning which turns gold like this fairly quickly is fairly "normal" unfortunately due to lean settings by the factory.

If it looks like this for more than few inches, it's really hot! And that is not good.

You said you ordered an aftermarket exhaust for it. If you are going to have it dealer installed, I'm sure they will tune it perfectly for you.

How is it running? Do you notice any signs of surging or lean-ness?

I'll get a photo posted up tomorrow when it's sunny out, it's not a lot of blueing, it's mostly golden with patches of blue right now. The aftermarket exhaust should arrive around the weekend and if luck pans out I'll have it installed on Saturday. Not sure if they will tune the bike or not, I did ask and they said it most likely would not need it.

The engine is running pretty sweet, no real issues, a little poping on the deacceleration. Surges a little in 1st gear but I am expecting the ECU to work it's magic and get used to the engine in the first few hundred miles.

storysunfolding wrote:What he said. If you're going aftermarket it probably doesn't matter. If not, I love the look of ceramic coated pipes.

Just the slip-on exhaust, the headers will stay stock. The slip-ons might lean it out further (not a big deal if it's a little rich, but if it's running lean now...)


Thanks for the tips and advice!

Mike

Carb'd Triumph Bonnevilles do this routinely (don't know about the FI versions). Pulling the air injection system when the bike was new would delay but not eliminate it. Most Bonneville owners, myself included, just let it happen. I imagine the Guzzi isn't too different.

jstark47 wrote:Carb'd Triumph Bonnevilles do this routinely (don't know about the FI versions). Pulling the air injection system when the bike was new would delay but not eliminate it. Most Bonneville owners, myself included, just let it happen. I imagine the Guzzi isn't too different.

That does make me feel better. It's been a while since I owned an air cooled engined bike.

Mike

Normal. My Nevada's pipes started going blue right after I got it.

I guess it also has to do with the bike, state of tune, thickness of the pipes & whether it is double wall or not. The BMW R1150R turned a little bit blue at the beginning then light golden after that, the Hypemotard and 900SS are both gold with no trace of blue, the CBR never turned color still the natural finish. The KLX turned purple, blue, and gold. However when I fully rejetted the carb properly and installed a full exhaust, the new header never turned blue, just a light tan color.

Well, that answers that question then on my side. Thanks so much for the help! Love this site and the community!

Mike