I spotted an 1199 up at Boxhill with what appeared to be heat shielding wrapped around the exhaust headers/ down pipes. Anyone know what this is ? obviuosly its heat shielding of some sort but who makes it and where can I get it from ?
Not nessaseraly heat shielding as such, it is used to increase the flow of exhaust gasses, the more heat retained within the exhaust the quicker it escapes.
Ah ok, I was thinking of getting some because I keep melting my right boot on the exhaust on my Pani since I took the heat shield off.
Would it of been MattM's bike with this.. http://ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/ceramic-coated-header-has-arrived.35783/page-3#post-629038
Exhaust wrapping might be a good idea for race use, but I hardly think headers get hot enough to warrant improving the flow of gas when on the road........ ....besides it always reminds me of those poor sods that got leprosy.........,
If you are going to do it do it wet . Put the wrap in a bucket of water let it soak then wrap and tie off . If you dont it will be slack until you take it off . Also your exhaust will run hotter under the wrap and most likely crack . The two I had did anyway . saying that my Ti one cracked without the wrap .
I wrapped a section of the exhaust on my Hypermotard as a precaution before a long trip away - didn't want the throwovers I was using from melting... Worked a treat. Kept it tight whilst wrapping it and lockwired it in place. No issues & still looks fine 4 years later. IIRC I got mine from Demon Tweeks.
The bracket that is welded to the exhaust snap, its a shit job to get to the other bolts for the heat shield, so as it was being done under warranty I said leave the shield off as if it gooes again when warranty has run out I don't want a 4hr labour charge to fix it again.
I'm thinking of wrapping the Termi 57mm stainless system I've obtained for my 04 999S because, as a Londoner, the heat throw in congested traffic is a nightmare. I've read reports on car race forums that warn against a crack risk in iron headers but say stainless is fine. Is this correct?
I would think that you would be ok with stainless as its a material that reacts well with heat and cooling . Mine was Ti so I new it was going to crack and so it did . Being able to weld it wasn't a problem for me though . Personally I would do it and worry about it cracking later . I have a stainless banana system on now but have it coated but it still gets hot.
There have been cases of car race exhausts cracking with wrap, the championship I raced in used modified bike engines. The exhausts were not stainless though nor cast. They were very thin gauge steel, I would think there is reason for this and I doubt it was budget. A wrapped exhaust did crack, perhaps at the welds.. I can not remember the explanation. I think it was something to do with cooling down or expansion vs potential variations in temp with the wrapped exhaust. Not sure I buy that. Tube or welds do not crack when you weld them (very instant heat) maybe if you put them under strain and cool them very quickly in one area with water.. I know the same person then used ceramic coating without issue... These exhausts are very light though, very thin. My Ducati exhaust is heavier so not sure you can even compare them to normal use. These guys are not muppets though so it would have been a pucker job. This car had the same engine builder and team that set the outright at Cadwell before a different driver in the championship beat it. I do think for some racing it's a good idea, not just for exhaust efficiency but to help keep the motor cooler (engine bay temps down) My blade headers are directly in front of the motor and quite close too. A bit less of an issue on the Ducati due to the configuration. I was thinking in traffic (road use) the heat from the headers (on my blade) may reduce the cooling through the rad when there is very low air flow too. I am going to be fitting a second fan to my blade (which they did on later models) and a manual switch or inline fan switch, as I don't like to see my water temp above 90 deg C. This fan does not cut in until 105. I don't care what the manufactures say, I figure that is more about emissions in traffic. The bike engines in the cars reached 120 deg on the oil round the track (wet sump) which reduced HP on the dyno. We try to keep oil and water about 85 degs or a bit less (big rads) Fitting a dry sump was key (for the cars) very different beast to a bike but when the engine builders are doing all they can to increase power within the regs, it starts to get silly and becomes about keeping the fuel tank cool and lots of other things too. I would not worry on road bike about that.
Thanks for the advice and also @ducati2242 - much appreciated and, as the real issue is burnt-bum syndrome, I'll probably take the safer option of not wrapping all the way to the cylinder heads and leave a few inches where the gas will be at its hottest, and fastest, anyway. Thanks again!
Exhausts are far hotter than engine water temperature though . They will generally be between 400c and 600c after a hard ride I can see my exhaust headers glowing red which for stainless steel is just about 600c . I have my 999R banana exhaust covered by zircote which is black and keeps the temperature down to 400c .
Does the coating make as much of a change in bum-roasting in traffic as I'm hoping the wrapping will?
It still gets hot but its a lot better than it was without it . The wrap was definitely cooler though .
