• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

Burnt header heat shields?

roadventure

roadventure

GT Reference
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
1,094
Location
Millville, Delaware
Who among us (besides me) has burnt, overheated chrome header heat shields? I may be asking for too much, but I thought the reason for a chrome heat shield over the header was to prevent turning the chrome plating to bronze/brown/blue colors.

The chrome heat shield on my California has been changing colors from the flange at the exhaust port almost to where it begins to bend down.

Any comment?
 
Reading other posts on this shows that is normal, it is a single wall pipe, not a heat shield up there. So for it do discolour is normal. Lots look at it as a badge of honour, you use the bike, so the colour changes. The heat shields are down by the foot pegs/floorboards. If those are changing colour, that may be a problem
 
The C14 uses double walled headers, so if they are discoloring, it just visually confirms the science shown on the Air/Fuel graphs I have as uber-lean fueling and excessive heat. If you could see the color of the inner pipes, you'd cringe.
 
Do you allow the bike to warm up before riding or sit in traffic a lot? Any time the engine is running and the bike is not moving you are heating the pipes with no cooling air. I have seen bikes blue the length of the header pipes from people running them to charge the battery, warm up, etc.
 
Bouts said:
Reading other posts on this shows that is normal, it is a single wall pipe, not a heat shield up there.
Click to expand...

On my California 1400 the header has a chrome heat shield starting at the exhaust port flange. I am sure they are all the same. When the engine is cold run your fingers around the header heat shield. You will feel ventilation holes on the inside (out of sight).
 
abbienormal said:
Do you allow the bike to warm up before riding or sit in traffic a lot? Any time the engine is running and the bike is not moving you are heating the pipes with no cooling air. I have seen bikes blue the length of the header pipes from people running them to charge the battery, warm up, etc.
Click to expand...

No, this is an electronically, fuel injected engine. I start and get rolling. No need for a warm up period.

I am just surprised to see the blue/bronze colors with the double wall. I have another bike with a similar arrangement and it remains clear with no discoloring. Maybe is has better air flow between the two layers.
 
GT-Rx® said:
The C14 uses double walled headers, so if they are discoloring, it just visually confirms the science shown on the Air/Fuel graphs I have as uber-lean fueling and excessive heat. If you could see the color of the inner pipes, you'd cringe.
Click to expand...

No, I am sure they are highly heat stressed. What is the OEM air/fuel ratio on the California?
 
My 2014 C14 Custom is doing the same. Obviously running lean. Anyone found any metal/chrome polishes that do a good job of addressing this issue?
 
I looked closer at my pipes this afternoon after work, and sure enough it seems there are heatshields up there. And only one side is discolouring. Todd, I may have to rethink the fueling option after all!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top