Header wrap - Pro's / Con's

[yaegerb]

Hi All,
I am in the process of restoring a Supertrapp pipe I just bought for my 1st gen 200x flat track project. I like the look of header wrap, but don't know a lot about it concerning the application of ATC's/ATV's.

Since my bike is air-cooled I want to make sure I am not holding in unnecessary heat within the motor that would otherwise get cooled by air passing over.

So I guess my question is, what are the Pro's / Con's of header wrap and is it something I should pursue?

All help is greatly appreciated!

[TatTooL23]

I know they can severly hold in moisture and rot the pipe.

IMO they look really bad when they start getting dusty and dirty. U can't clean it.

[kawasaki666]

Holding that heat in, also crystalizes the metal underneath, over time.

[oscarmayer]

as they said, but they do hold the heat from your leg. Another option is ceramic coating. the black coating works much better than the shiny stuff. it works almost as good as wrap and will not do any of the things listed above. it may cost ys about $75-$100 to get the pipe coated, but it will stay looking nice and will work very well to systain the heat. I used to build import drag cars. if you knwo the engine bay of a civic, there's not a lot of room, so to help with heating we used to cermaic coat every pipe and black coat the turbo manifolds and turbo housings. worked awesome to help keep temps down. it also produced better per performance liek maybe 1-2hp due to how it keeps the engine area itself cooler.but on a bike, it will jsut help the header stay looking nicer longer and help with some of the heating issues. Don;t get be worng wrap does a good job, but you will still burn yourself on a how header with wrap too.

[TatTooL23]

I do ceramic coating. So just to let u know.

[kasey200x]

In a way it can help cool your engine.. It keeps a lot of the heat in the exhaust instead of transferring to the head pipe. Then it absorbs into the rest of the pipe/muffler and a lot just blows out the pipe. So in this way, there is less heat radiating back to the head from the header. I would think it would be more efficient in cooling when rpms are at least at half throttle(more air flowing, keeping the heat moving). Wouldn't let it idle for too long, and defiantly make sure your jetting is not lean, a little on the fat side if necessary.

As for the cost, it's about $50 to do enough for probably three pipes. I love the way it looks, and it really does what it is supposed to. I wouldn't take it muddling though.

[yaegerb]

Wow, a lot of replies, thanks all!

I do agree that ceramic coating is the way to go, but I already bought high-temp header powder and BKM is going to powder coat it for me. The guy does sick work. I will try it without the header wrap for a while and see how I like it.

Thanks again all!

[murfman]

I did both on my X, silver ceramic, covered with natural header wrap. I can grab and hold the pipe right in front of the muffler after riding it for 30 minutes, it is pretty warm but not enough to burn my skin. So far it has been cleaning up well. I did some muddung a couple of times now and my power washer has cleaned the wrap every time. I have done my X from the Y back to the muffler, the entire FMF head/mid pipe on my daughters 300EX and 5 complete ATC 70 pipes with 65.00 worth of wrap (1 50' x 2"roll of black and 2 50' x 1" rolls of natural) If you do thew wrap, don't waste your time with the metallic zip ties they sell, regular worm clamp work much better.

At 65.00 I figure even if I have to replace the wrap after a year or 2 it is still worth it.

[DasUberKraut]

I do ceramic coating. So just to let u know.

What does that run, boss?

[murfman]

I know they can severly hold in moisture and rot the pipe.

IMO they look really bad when they start getting dusty and dirty. U can't clean it.

I think this is an old wives tale. As soon as you start the motor the exhaust heat dries any moisture out. The wrap is made with fiberglass that is not water absorbent.

[scuba]

I run the wrap to save my leg from certain death....... If you dont have a heat shield it is well worth the investment.

147216

I did my 350 X for less then $30.