That’s a Wrap, Folks…

The pipes, they are a wrapped! Brother Bill was able to lend a much-needed hand on Saturday and we got those puppies wrapped up nicer and tighter than a present on Christmas morn.

One thing to point out is that heat wrap is basically fiberglass-infused cloth, so it’s important to wear gloves when working with it. This became quite apparent as the project progressed, since my upper forearms were exposed and soon began registering their complaints as they came in contact with the wrap. But that was a small price to pay, so let’s get on with the process…

But before we dive in, perhaps some background/explanation behind the decision to wrap, eh? “What is the reason for wrapping?”, you might ask. (Go ahead; ask.) Well, I’m glad you asked. Wrapping your pipes provides protection from heat (for your legs), but more importantly; it offers assistance to your engine. Because the wrap forces much of the heat to remain inside the pipes, your exhaust gases remain at a higher temp. This equates to decreased density of the gases, which then exit the system faster. This produces increased exhaust scavenging, which leads to an improved intake and combustion process, leading to increased horsepower. However, my engine is still stock, so any HP gains will probably be negligible. (I’ll be honest; I’m doing this solely for the look.)

Another point worth mentioning; there are arguments that heat wrapping your pipes will lead to faster rusting and material (metal) breakdown due to decreased heat dissipation. So it could be said that this will be a working experiment. I may find in time that this was a fun project to do (hey, I’ve always wanted to give it a try), but that the pipes break down and have to be replaced. Time will tell…

So moving along; step 1 was to remove the pipes (no really, it’s easier that way). Once they were removed, I applied some handy-dandy duct tape across the exhaust ports to prevent any unwanted intrusions from dirt - or the errant spring-loaded retaining clip. Rather than setting the nuts aside, you'll see that I like to leave them where they’ll be needed later (because nothing’s more frustrating than not being able to find your nuts when you need them…)

Here are the pipes, pre-wrapping. The chrome cover from the front pipe has been removed. Looking at what the real pipe looks like underneath, it’s quite obvious why we put covers on them.

Below; both pipes with the covers removed. The covers are simply held on with hose clamps. Unscrew those and the covers pry off (relatively) easily.

The mufflers on these pipes have a mounting bracket (seen below; the welded-on rectangular tab). Since it would be difficult to wrap around these and still keep things looking tight, I made the decision to start the wrapping just in front of them, and paint from there, back to the ends of the mufflers. This meant the chrome had to be scuffed up to allow the paint to grab on.
A combination of common sandpaper and my trusty dremel made quick work of the chrome finish. The paint I used was Rust-Oleum’s High Heat flat black. Here; everything laid out, mid-process.

Hanging to dry. (The paint looks dull gray in this pic, but the color is actually a solid black.)

It’s recommended that you use a spray bottle to spray down the wrap with water as you’re going along. This makes the material a bit easier to work with in that it forms to the pipe better. (The material isn’t stiff, but it clings/grabs better when wet.)

Our method was to unwrap enough of the material for one wrap around the pipe and spray it down. Then take the one wrap around the pipe and spray it down again. Then repeat; spraying the material, wrap once, spray again, etc. We weren’t soaking the material, just dampening it.

Here, the wrapping has started. (Some folks will tie the ends with wire, but I went with hose clamps. Easier, cleaner, and they allow for much more even tightening.) We started with two full wraps and then clamped right against the mounting bracket (making sure to align the screw with the inside of the pipe so that it’s out of view when things are installed back on the bike).

This was followed by continuous wraps, where each new wrap covered half of the previous wrap.

The clamp for the slip-on mufflers was a bit of a challenge. We tried a couple of passes and finally came out with something that looked good. (These were spray-painted at the same time as the pipe ends were, as they’d be visible when all was said and done.)

One pipe is done! At the head of the pipe, we took two full wraps again and clamped away…again; being sure to place the screw where it should be out of view. (Not worried about the bar-code stickers; those should burn off rather quickly.)

Repeat the same process for the second pipe and voila! Wrapped pipes!

I didn’t bother to install them back onto the bike yet, I’ll wait until the forks come in (har har har – I made a funny!). Once the front end is assembled and ready, then I’ll get the pipes on.

As a postlude, the wrap does need a break-in period, as it’ll stink and smoke a bit the first time it heats up. The plan is to roll the bike out of the garage, fire it to life and run it until everything comes up to temp, then shut ‘er down and let things cool off again.

And then? Then comes the fun…rolling out of the driveway and heading for the horizon once again.

So until that time finds me…

Ride Hard, Take Chances