Fiberglass Wrap and Ceramic Coating

[mysticbluex3]

So I was chatting w/ a guy the other day.  He has a 1198.  I noticed that his pipes are wrapped in this weird material.  I asked him what they were and he told me they were fiberglass.  It is to keep heat from coming off the pipes.  I thought it was literally a pretty cool idea as it gets pretty hot here in Arizona.  I did some research and found out fiberglass is commonly used in cars to keep the engine compartment cooler.  I also came across ceramic coatings which also serve the same purpose but looks a lot cleaner. 

Does anyone know the effects of wrapping your pipes with fiberglass or coating them in ceramic?  I'm not sure if it's part of the design of the motorcycle to have the pipes dissipate some of the heat.  By preventing that from happening, would it possibly hurt the engine?

[hackers2r]

Lots of people ceramic coat the pipes.  Not really any downsides to this.  I've never heard of wrapping in fiberglass though.  The coated pipes keep the exhaust temps contained and exiting gases maintain their velocity.  If you have an open airbox or high flow air filter, you may have to get the engine tuned.  But I don't think any other effects other than a cooler exhaust.

[Buckethead]

Fiberglass header wrap is pretty common. It's a cheaper alternative to ceramic coating, but it does have some down sides. The tape comes in all sorts of colors, but like most other fabrics, it'll eventually fade if left in the sun. Also, since it's a fabric, it will hold moisture. This looks really cool when warming up your bike after a rain, the pipes steaming like some biblical omen portending doom. The down side to that is that the combination of heat + moisture + metal = increased corrosion on your exhaust system.

Aside from the tendency to accelerate the corrosion process, I'm not aware of any down sides to header wrap. It's cheap, easy to do, easy to replace if you want to change it up, and keeps extra heat in the pipes and away from your legs.

If you have an open airbox or high flow air filter, you may have to get the engine tuned.

True regardless of exhaust coating/wrap.

Keep in mind that Ducatis run super-lean from the factory, causing them to run hotter than necessary. Upgrading to a DP ECU or having yours reflashed will make the bike run noticeably cooler. If you add an exhaust treatment at the same time, it's possible to drastically reduce the thigh/crotch/foot felt heat.

edit: Found this one posted by lore.

[hackers2r]

Ohhhhh...that makes more sense...if you're referring to the exhaust wrap then there's many threads here discussing it.  Check them out.

[Jarvicious]

That cloth wrap is cheap too.  $50 bucks and you're done, just remember to soak it in water before you do it and you may as well just take the pipes off your bike.  It will make your life a lot easier.

As far as the ceramic coating goes, it's generally a little more effective than the wrap as a good ceramic job does the inside and outside of the pipe.  Having a coating on the inside basically makes the heat just shy away from the metal and exit the rear of the exhaust.  I've heard a good ceramic job makes the whole system notably cooler than stock or wrapped.

[Lore]

This mine is termo tec tape    http://www.thermotec.com/products/11021-exhaust-insulating-header-wrap-graphite-black.html
But thinking about getting it off, woried about corrosion, cause the wrapp takes too much time to dry and keeps the moisture longer to the metal 
also it keeps more heat inside which is not good for air cooled monster

love the way it looks though  and don't have to worry about my leg gettin' burned 



is there any picture with this ceramic coating?

[bikepilot]

Header wrap is really common, especially in years past.  It doesn't do great if it gets wet and will usually ruin your pipes sooner or later.  No chance of damaging the motor though, just the exhaust.  Ceramic coating done properly will also reduce the surface temp of the pipes significantly.  You'll also typically get a very slight performance boost from keeping the exhaust gasses hotter.  I've had stuff coated by Jet Hot and have been happy with the results.

[thought]

from the last thread i read on this board, this is the basic breakdown i got from wrap vs ceramic...

wrap: cheap, increases corrosion, does a better job of keeping the heat from your legs, little chance of doing anything for your performance. fades with time.

ceramic: more expensive, no corrosion, less heat from the headers but not that much less, slightly higher chance of performance enhancement but probably nothing at all as usual.  looks better.

[bikepilot]

Lore, its keeping heat inside the exhaust, not inside the motor - no worries re the air cooled motor and exhaust insulation.  If anything the motor will stay cooler with the insulation because the exhaust radiates less heat back into the motor. You might be horrified about the appearance of the pipes under the wrap, its usually not a pretty thing  

Also note that there are a bunch of different ceramic coatings and they vary wildly in how insulative they are.  Some are even designed to increase heat radiation.

[thought]

is there any picture with this ceramic coating?

check out arrick's sick build:

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=47015.msg863357#msg863357

and i know iz got his done too... you'll see a lot of pics in the accessories section

[Lore]

Found this : "Wrapping the exhaust system maintains hotter exhaust gases, decreasing the density, and allowing the exhaust gas to exit the system faster! By doing this, the engine breathes more efficiently, thus allowing the engine to develop more power!"  


just have to take care about corrosion  

[Lore]

check out arrick's sick build:

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=47015.msg863357#msg863357

and i know iz got his done too... you'll see a lot of pics in the accessories section

sweet!
a want black pipes too 

some guys here gave their pipes to get coated, (didn't see how it looks) but I was worried about peeling that off after a while

(I worry too much, I know) 

[Triple J]

I've never heard of ceramic coating peeling. It will scratch though if you aren't careful installing it. very durable other than that.

Here's my old M900 with the pipes ceramic coated "satin black" at Performance Coatings. Cost was about $115 IIRC.

[Travman]

Lore, If your pipes are already wrapped and you are worried about corrosion, just make sure you don't put the bike away wet.  If you wash it and the pipes are wet always make sure you take it on a ride afterward to dry the pipes and header wrap.  I recently took some header wrap off of a bike after it had been on there for about five years and maybe 10,000 miles. The pipes looked great with no visible corrosion. 

[Lore]

Thanks for the advice, but the bike was standing for 2 years before I bought it
so I don't know in what condition are the pipes  

I'll search some more info about the best option before I take the wrapp off