Polishing black downpipes on my 92 UK FJ1200??

[Bettyswallocks]

Hi All,
My downpipes are steel I think (bike is away having some work done so isn't in my garage). Would they be black chrome plated like the silencers are?
If so what the best way of cleaning and polishing?

The bike was not touched for 17 years in someone's garage (previous owner not me)! I have only just got it running again but it a bit of a mess....

[FJmonkey]

Not much of an introduction eh? We a friendly community like group and like to know our members. I know that earlier down pipes (headers) like my 86' are Stainless and can be polished to a magnificent chrome like finish that looks awesome. Not sure about the older years when Yamaha was cutting cost on the FJ. Some have ceramic coated their pipes, it tends to block some of the heat from transmission through the pipes so it keeps the front of the engine cooler. Not sure if that helps since the engine is air cooled anyway. But you can have your pipes in many colors to suit your needs. Not to mention the corrosion protection if your pipes are not SST. Welcome by the way....

[1tinindian]

Welcome from Iowa!

Take a look here,,,,

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=2746.0

Leon

[Pat Conlon]

Hello Betty, the header down pipes are stainless steel and are not steel with black chrome.
Take a magnet and you will see...
The black coating is just heat resistant paint and will rub off if you attempt to polish it. I would suggest a good cleaning and if desired, a light sanding and re spray with some gloss black VHT paint.
Do this as your last step, get the bike running first. That way you can paint the header tubes and have the engine heat cure the paint.

The only FJ's to use black chrome on the header tubes were the '84/85 models which used double wall steel down tubes. Chrome plating sticks well to steel, not so much to stainless steel.

'86 models and later, all used a painted single wall stainless steel header tube.

Hope this helps....as Mark suggests, when you get a chance, stop by the Intro. Section and say hello.....Pat

[roverfj1200]

A few hours with some wet and dry emery paper. Start with 240 grit and work up to 1500 grit.

[Tiger]

  I picked up a full '92 stock system for my '85 a wee bit before Christmas. The header pipes I had sand blasted, (by a friend of mine in the trade)...They came back in a flat 'mill finish'. Using a 6" polishing wheel (and red/rouge bar compound) fitted on my bench grinder, 20/25 minutes each pipe produced a set of really shiny header pipes...

The collector box, which was in better condition than mine, I wire brushed, (wire brush on bench grinder and hand brush), washed off and repainted with three coats of satin black high heat paint...

Black chrome mufflers were polished up nice...

ALL the oem hardware was replaced with stainless steel (and brushed with anti-sieze)...

Before installation, I cleaned all the gunk build up from the underside and rear end of the motor/frame/suspension that I could get at with brake and parts cleaner (4 cans ) and a stiff wee brush...

System now installed and looking/sounding great

John.