very very nice 88 engine captain... we do not have duplicolor engine enamel down here...bummer x2... thats awesome the magnesium is holding up... now headers lets see succesful header paint pics! jajajaja
Well on the can it says that all the coats must be done within a one hour window, I assume because some crazy chemical bonding shit happens. After that hour you should wait like a week (I know right, as if) and then do it again. For the engine parts I hit it with 4 coats of primer (1 realllly light, 2 fairly light and one medium) and then left it a couple of days in the sun, wet sanded it a little with between 800 and 1200 grit, wiped down with acetone and then shot the main coat (1 very light, 2 light, 2 medium). Each coat was left to dry got between 5 and 10 minutes before shooting the next one, I did it in my garage so there was no direct sunlight or wind etc. Ahh headers I'm not so sure about, I've noticed your post regaurding the headers lately. I hit mine with the wire wheel, then did some hand sanding while going up the grits (400, 800, 1200, 2000) and then some metal polish although that probably burns straight off. Benefit of me using the stainless headers I guess, downside is the lack of available mufflers though (I know you went through this saga too). Like presented in this thread. I remember hearing some saying about using clear muffler paint on the header to help avoid it rusting and so on? I reckon you should come back to the brotherhood of twin header XR's, it would make me feel less sad about not finding a pipe to fit them. Have you considered just getting a fabricator to make a little 2-into-1 connector? Though as my Dad keeps saying "it's just a dirt bike, ride it into the ground, sell it, and buy another. Continue to repeat this". Ohhhh PS: about the brake caliper problem with the pistons not retracting? I ordered new seals (not here yet because Australia Post is useless) but also lightly sanded the lips of the piston holes, just about the dust seals as this had some crap caked on, and suddenly it all works perfectly. Weird but I'm not complaining. Got new sintered pads as well which seem to work great. Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions and tips during the whole caliper brake system debacle. Cheers, John
Christian you need to dump the stock steel headers and get some stainless ones, you'll never be happy with the stockers, and will be constantly struggling to keep them from rusting and looking decent. Plus you'll gain power and lose weight with the aftermarket headers, and be glad you bought them every time you look at them (they look sweet ), or spray them off and use a little metal polish to clean them back up to new. We can find some super deals here in the states for FMF/Big Gun etc headers......I've seen Hi-Flo headers for 207 bucks shipped in the U.S., I paid 226 shipped for my powerbomb. I'm not sure how that would relate to your area, but if you can get a set it will make you a happy man...performance and looks/durability wise Money well spent imo Heck Spud bought a Hi-Flo header and stuck it on his stock bike, including stock muffler, JUST for the ease of maintainence and better looks/durability from rusting.....he didn't even care about any performance gains. The stock steel headers from honda were just a cost cutting measure......honestly they suck unless you never hit the dirt or ride in the wet.
yeah yeah I know, thanks so much for the info,, you know I was about to pm you with a specific question on your powerbomb header...I know you like them... the question was how close does the BOMB part sit to the oil pipe on the oil feed to the head? also my bike finally has some engine mods...still stock comp, the flatslide and HEADER might be a good pairing NOW... Im still a firm beleiver that HEADERS mean nothing on a stock bike...really its THE LAST thing to mod always... so, sierra can you go by your mod list again and detail performance gains with each? jejejejeje PS. CAPTAIN hell yeah...I need to go back to being an original 88 bike..that couple issue I justcant seem to find someone that can say really yes I can do it and not sell me a peice of crap turd steel... seriously I went to a pro muffler shop once and said hey I need a coupler...they came back with some GALVANIZED thick as hell pipe and said yeah we can do it.... I SLOWLY walked away...slowly....making sure my I never showed them my back as I felt the stare of DEATH....jajajaja
John I knew something was going on IN the caliper...the caliper needs to be perfect, seals, pistons and piston holes cavity...really its simple as heck...fluid needs to flow and the moving parts need to move freely... I use polish and a felt rag or something when doing the pistons...of most importance is to clean the grooves of the seals perfectly...this will allow correct pressure if the seals against the pistons... yes If you had crud that will most definetly cause havoc against the poor pistons...thats why I like to POLISH the pistons
check this out guys! what a day, not only did my little montero blow a head gasket and get water leaking in cylinder #4 I said well might as well PAINT my headers on the bike and shazaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam! booooooooooooyah tis life ps save money for the baby, wtf indeed!
I think it got hit by the swingarm linkage causing it to smash into the rear engine triangle frame mount bolts...I could see the rubbing on the bolt head deejay, yes this is an excuse too! beleive me Im actually happy that I know this header is done I almost feel like mounting the twin headers and old exhaust for shits and giggles
Christian, Who do you know heading your way? I have a header for you. Two or three if need be. Man your tough on that poor bike.
Yeahhhhh bringing back the twin headers. Loving it! I'm guessing you haven't run it like that since they're still that lovely polished silver colour and not the bronze/gold that mine have become after a few heat cycles. Won't your jetting be a little rich now though? Also, welcome back to using the heavy stock muffler. I despise it more and more each day. Though I may have the opportunity to pick up a nice little Staintune replacement for it, we'll see.
mythbuster action right here stock oem 88 muffler 7.5 pounds fmf powercore 7.4 stainless headers weigh maybe 1.5 pounds...xrl headers 2.5 so I actually LOST weight ps. I did run them for about 15 minutes after two heat cycles at idle I had a cherry glow at the exhaust ports on the headers after the ride and jetting wise you are right if using the stock carb and jetting but I have a mikuni FLATSLIDE BABY(I will play around with jetting however) btw I did lose some power, but Im enjoying the hell out of the quietness and also the sound of the engine so who knew?
id be VERY INTERESTED in seing pics of that staintune if you do get it if you want to lust look on ebay, GPR tri oval made in ITALY bling bling for our bikes only $400! jajjaajaja
Wow, I would not have guessed that! I've only carried the stock muffler around for painting, cleaning purposes etc and I found it pretty damn heavy but I guess I was imagining the aftermarket pipes to be made of happy thoughts and fairy dust and weigh nothing at all, even though clearly they are still a big chunk of metal. Well there goes that incorrect thought! Yeah I've noticed them actually but haven't heard much about the company especially on the XR's (infact I don't even remember seeing someone have one on an XR). I would like to point out that $400 is a very reasonable price for a muffler over here, I was told that Staintune can supply me with a new muffler for my twin headers for $640 AUD (about $660 US). But then again I can't convince myself to drop that much cash on a 24 year old dirt bike...well not yet anyway.
dayum! I know the aussie dolar is string but wtf? when did they up their prices so much? 660 is nuts for just the muffler or are we talking full? yeah Im waiting till someone actually uses the gpr tri oval for now im STOCK or will maybe modify that fmf for a coupler doubt it though I have someone that wants to buy it for $150 so thats not such a price loss on it when I bought it and imported it down here well see Ill have to play with jetting for sure dont get me wrong about that..I had a nice little back pop when shutting her down after the ride which is not normal
You guys don't even want to guess how much the Staintune exhaust system was for my 1991 BMR R100gs. Two header pipes, cross over pipe, mid pipe collector and muffler. YAHOOOOOOOOOO
