Is that a Custom pipe?! Why no, no it's not.....

Finally! Some nice-enough weather to work outside! The winter has been cold and long and now it's time to get ready for some fun in the sun! Since the winter began I had some ideas of what I wanted to change on Kenna. Some of what I wanted change was a name decal on the lower fairing, 3M carbon wrap on the front fender, a tail tidy and a painted exhaust pipe.

So far I've completed the name decal, part of the front fairing wrap and as of today, the painted exhaust. This post is about the exhaust and how I painted it. I'll post pictures later on the name decal and fender wrap.

What you'll need
-Paint, I used rust paint but I now have to redo it because I should have used high-temp paint. So use that not rust paint.
-Sandpaper, different grit levels
-Wrench and general tools...
-An other set of hands (mostly for the reinstall)

To start, take the lower fairings off. I already had them off to do the name decal. This isn't tough, just make sure you DO NOT loose the screws you take out. You'll end up taking out quite a bit of them too.

Next, locate the two bolts holding the pipe on. One is under the passenger foot peg and the other is under the engine right in the centre. There are also two nuts holding the pipe to the engine that need to be taken off.

PICTURE TIME!

Once you get the pipe off (being careful not to drop it and damage it more) it's time to start sanding away at the rust. Keep in mind I've never done this and I winged the entire project. I sanded it down with a heavy grit sand paper and worked my to a finer one. I also used the rotary tool to make it go a little faster...

This is what it looked like once I got it off...

And this is what it looked like after I sanded it down...

Keep in mind that the sun is making it look better than it is. You may choose to spend more time on yours but I'm a lazy guy when it comes to projects like this. (Not when it comes to the mechanically important projects.)

After that I simply laid it down and sprayed it in an even flowing motion left to right at about 6-12 inches away.

One thing you have to watch out for is the moving metal thing...that as you flip the pipe to paint the other side and when you go to install it will ruin all of your hard work!

This is the part I'm referring to.

This is the paint I used. DO NOT USE THIS GET HIGH TEMP PAINT

For the reinstall, screw the front two nuts on part way to get the front of the pipe off the ground. From there work your way back putting on the centre bolt then the end bolt. I had a lot of trouble getting the last bolt on straight.

I definitely recommend getting someone to help you hold the piper during the reinstall. It'll make it A LOT easier and you'll be less likely to damage the work you just did.

This is the pipe fully painted. I don't have any on the bike shots cause my phone died, but I'll be uploading some to Kenna's web album later so check there for more photos.

Until next time, 'Live to Ride, Ride to Live'