| Author | Message | ||
     Spacecapsule1 |
i'm one of the many 08 owners with rusty headers. I previously thought i'd have them electro polished but the guys said they can't because they're not stainless. Then I decided to have them nickel plated by another company, which promptly peeled off. I then asked about chrome. Suddenly they can't chrome plate them because apparently they're now stainless steel. Hmmm.... the rust tells me they're not stainless or maybe a very low grade of stainless? i don't know. So.... I emailed Erik Buell Racing and asked. here's the response: "These are a 300 series stainless steel and cannot rust themselves. If someone bead blasts them with iron shot or buffs them with non-stainless steel wool, that material will rust. They also turn colors, but it is not rust." Thoughts anyone? I know lots of people here are dealing with rust... so why are these pipes rusting? | ||
| Xbgeorge |
I had a small amount of rust on my 08's header pipes. It came off with some steel wool. I then shined them up with some sand paper and they have been pretty ever since. My rust transporter (some call it a muffler) is a different story. It was orange after one year. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Here is some info you most likely don't have. If stainless is exposed to chlorine it will develop a corrosion that APPEARS to be rust. It is a common problem we see with ice machines all the time...health inspector tags a machine for "rust" All you can do is A: remove the offending chemical from the area or. B: keep the headers buffed...I buff mine with stainless steel wool. I keep a package for this and it works well repacking mufflers. There are most likely other aggressive chemicals that will affect the steel...maybe (unconfirmed, do me have any metalurgists here) the hydrogen sulfide from "chinese drywall"....it sure does a number on copper and brass... Anyways...for sure keep chlorine and regular steel wool away. | ||
| Buellblastrider |
I've noticed my 09 bolt headers look worse than my 04 bolt as if the header is made differently now. I'd like to clean it up but do not sant to loose the brushed look from the factory or polish the header in anyway. | ||
| Ourdee |
I clean mine up with Green scotch brite pads and WD-40. | ||
| Albert666 |
my guess would be they are 409, cheap stainless which does show a degree of rust, just tried a magnet on my 08 headers and they are very slightly magnetic which would also point to this "Grade 409 resists atmospheric and exhaust gas corrosion. A light surface rust will form in most atmospheres; this rust retards further corrosion but makes the surface undesirable for decorative applications. The corrosion resistance is about the same as that of 3CR12 and the 12% chromium martensitic grades such as 410, and inferior to the 17% chromium grade 430." | ||
| Nobuell |
It could be Type 301 if Erik says it is a 300 series stainless steel. Type 301 becomes magnetic when cold worked. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
More info from ebr below. Everyone post up some pics of your rusty headers and lets get to the bottom of the rust issue. Jason, There was no material change away from stainless to coated steel. These exhaust systems were made in Austria from 304 stainless, passivated, and cleaned with a blast of cut stainless wire. Rust should not happen in any form. Or something else is happening that is being called rust but is not. When we first got sample parts from this supplier they had shot blasted them with a media that had iron, and we saw corrosion of that surface layer appear during salt spray testing. But they then set up the stainless wire blasting media booth, and the systems processed this way passed our salt spray corrosion tests and this process was used on all production parts At Erik Buell Racing we have no budget, time, or frankly permission from Buell to get into Buell quality issues. But replacing these systems for rust seems to us to be simply misdiagnosis of some other issue. If you send some photographs we can send them to the original supplier to get their thoughts. (Message edited by spacecapsule1 on December 03, 2010) (Message edited by spacecapsule1 on December 03, 2010) | ||
| Ourdee |
I'm happy with mine. | ||
| Sloppy |
I've worked with stainless steel tubing for a few decades now and I think I've seen what your describing. As described before, it is likely chloride pitting. Chloride is a salt that is prevalent in ground water or if you ride on wet roads the rain water will absorb salts from the road. The salt will remove the chrome ion that protects the steel and will thus allow the unprotected steel to rust. It literally will look like a tiny, red indentation (a pit). High temperatures and long residence times will accelerate the process. There is a cure - you need to thoroughly clean the area with a STAINLESS pad (at no point should you ever use a steel pad on stainless - I've removed welders from a job site for doing this...). If you use a steel pad it can leave a "peppered" or "lines" of rust on your pipes. You'll need to use a passivation solution (phosphoric acid, muriatic acid or if you're not familiar with the use of these then you should use a GREAT rust remover produced by ZEP called Rust Eraser). Wash the pipe thoroughly to remove any oils, dry it, then passivate it with the chemical solution. After passivation you MUST allow the pipe to air dry - it's the air drying that reacts with the chrome to provide the coating to protect the iron. You can use this technique for those "problem spots" rather than doing the entire pipe. There's all different types of steels and there's not really such a thing as "low quality stainless". Each have their own unique properties where each have their advantages and disadvantages. Some are stronger but less corrosion resistant, others are weaker but hold better against chemical attacks. | ||
| No_rice |
i ride mine in ever condition possible. and have never seen any type of rust on my headers. stainless doesnt rust so how could i anyway... and ive never done any more then run a rag over the headers to clean off some fried on bugs and such. thats ranging from my 03's/04/08 up to even my 09. | ||
| Buellblastrider |
Ill post pics later. | ||
| Buellblastrider |
ok here are a few pics of what I am dealing with. My 09 firebolt is in storage and I wasnt able to go get pictures of it today. I do have pictures of my 04 lightning with practically a perfect header with 32,000 miles. I also have pictures of my friends 09 firebolt that was delivered two days before mine. His are worse than mine but probably not as bad as others. first is a picture of my 04 header. (ignore the polished section I did it by accident and hate it.)  next are pictures of my friend 09 bolt. Ill try to get pics of the header on my bolt tomorrow    sorry for the cell pics. | ||
| Glitch |
discoloration =/= rust | ||
| Buellblastrider |
I'm not concerned about the bluing in fact I like it | ||
| Glitch |
Not talking about the bluing, that obviously isn't rust | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
blastrider, thanks for the pics. i'll send yours and mine to ebr and see what happens. | ||
| Buellblastrider |
Your welcome I will try to get pictures of my bolt for you. My friends bolt pictured was taking with a small camera and didn't take detailed pics of the problem areas. | ||
| Pwnzor |
It ain't rust. Emery cloth is your friend. 600, then 1200, then 2400. Takes an hour out of your day every couple of months. I used to get all kinds of compliments.  | ||
| Buellblastrider |
Problem with that is I don't care for the polished look. I don't like the accidental polish on my 04. Headers look good on your bolt just not my style. I never thought it was rust just think it looks like crap when my other bike never did it and I never had to do any extra maitenance to keep it factory looking. | ||
| Glitch |
Take some stainless steel wool, and not polish your header, but clean it up. Since you don't want the polished look, it'll only take you a couple of minutes. Definitely easier than cleaning the front wheel! Make sure it's stainless steel wool, if you use steel wool, it'll leave bits on the header and it'll rust and make the header look rusty. | ||
| Sloppy |
It looks like residual oil or other contaminant has baked onto the header. As per above, use a stainless or synthetic abrasive pad (use a mild pad like you'd use for kitchenware - perhaps a 300 to 400 grit?) with HOT soapy water. Over time it should come off. | ||
| Sslowmo |
Mine just cracked under the weld on the header. | ||
| Nillaice |
still under warranty? cracked headers prolly caused by loose clamps. the muffler inlet clamp is muy importante | ||
| Sslowmo |
Warranty no. Ran out same time last year. I got a buddy that welds. I'll see what he can do. | ||
| Nillaice |
you can R/R headers with out rotating the motor. good luck with welding that. make sure it's pre-heated, and to relieve the stress from around the welded area; otherwise it may crack again just outside the weld | ||
| Sslowmo |
The crack is on the side closest to the motor. Might be a pain in the ass to weld on the bike. I'm not sure, I don't weld. Thanks for the tips. | ||
| Ksfirebolt |
I've been wondering about R&Ring the headers w/o moving the engine. I've got an extra set to put on mine but I didn't want to tear into it that far because I'd probably end up taking a few days to do it. | ||
| Nillaice |
3 hours tops |
