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[ralford]

I have seen this topic mentioned several times and just wanted to confirm.

Just installed Fullsac xpipe and went for a test ride --- learned the "heat shields" weren't just for looks!!!  Didn't put the back on in case I needed to work on the header and was startled how hot my right leg got!!!  Definitely couldn't ride far like that!

Just confirm, it seems the exhaust wrap will fit beneath the heat shield?

Next question, can the wrap be installed with the headers on the bike - really don't want to remove them AGAIN!

Thanks in advance!


Rusty

[Ironhorse]

I have run wrap on a bike before, and yes they will fit under heat shields and no you do not have to remove the pipes to wrap them.

My tale is long and is based only on my experiences. Others no doubt will have different views. Years ago I ran Hooker true duals on my '01 Ultra. They came with a thermal factory coating. The pipes fit so tight and close that the left side cover got singed from heat.



So I decided the wrap them to keep the temps down near the side cover. I called Hooker to get their opinion, and they recommended I do NOT wrap them as wrapping contributes to cracking and they would NOT cover any damages due to cracking from the wrap. The way the guy explained it is that wrapping retains heat inside the pipe, which reduces the amount of expansion for the exhaust gas due to cooling. This forces the gas to evacuate quicker thus causing a scavanger effect (or something like that, but I may be all wrong on the explanation so don't hold me to it).  Drag bikes and race cars wrap because they are willing to sacrafice the longevity of the exhaust system to eke out a few more horsepower. The guy said that long term wrapping will increase the likelihood of damaging the pipe. But being the kind of person I am, I thanked him for his info and wrapped them anyway.



I rode for a year or more with both sides wrapped. I was comfortable and shielded from the heat. The wrapped pipes did smell and smoke when the wrap got wet from a washing or riding in the rain, but I got used to it. Then one day I had to remove the exhaust system. When I went to remove the wrap it broke off in whole chunks. Attached to the inside were large flakes of metal from the pipes. The pipes were separating in layers. The thermal coating flaked off and rusty bare metal was exposed. This really OPENED my eyes and I could see first hand the degradation of the metal. Seeing that the wrapping had indeed weakened the metal, and not wanting to experience another broken header on the road, I changed exhaust the system for one without wrap.

I’m not saying that is going to happen to your pipes, but this is what happened to mine. Like I said I am sure others will post with their experiences.

Ride safe.

[ralford]

Thanks for the interesting reply, IronHorse!  Think I'll just put the shields back on and enjoy  

Cheers,

Rusty

[NSTY110RIDER]

I was also told not to wrap under the shields.  I was told that it would basically rot the pipe from within.
True or not, I don't know. I have never tried it.

[Robmay]

I recently had a DnD installed on my bike. I had the pipe wrapped. Guess I should take it off. Can't really say there is a big difference anyway.

[grc]

I can easily understand how wrapping a previously coated pipe would cause the coating to overheat and fail.  All high temp paints and coatings have a max temperature, and wrapping them can easily bump the pipe and coating temps past the limit of the coating.  But I'm not so sure that wrapping an uncoated pipe would necessarily "rot" the pipe.  I suppose that would depend on what the pipe is made of, with cheap materials not being able to handle the extra heat.

What I'd like to see is a return to the true double wall pipes of my youth, versus the cheap crap single wall pipes currently used along with cheap stamped partial coverage heat shields.  Unfortunately, cheap trumps good once again.


Jerry

[erniezap]

I had a 124 inch motor in my 04 SEEG with the Yeull Brothers True Duals.  The left pipe would damn near burn the back of your left thigh.  Wrapped the pipe and rode for over a year with no issues...

[JCZ]

Terrie's stock 09 head pipe has been wrapped for at least a couple of years.  No issues so far.

[Robmay]

Been riding mine fir awhile now with the wrapped pipe. Still hot as hell when not on the highway with the lowers on.

[AZ Sparky]

I've got the Fullsac XPipe on mine with no wrapping.

Took a run up to Laughlin and back ater the swap - MUCH lower heat than stock.

Silly question: You did a tune after swapping didn't you?

If not you're running WAY too lean and therefore hot.

The XPipe is ceramic coated - suggest you talk to Steve at Fullsac and get his input on any negatives with wrapping - afterall, he made the pipe...

[JCZ]

It'll not run so "cool" when you're running around all day in those triple digits....especially in city riding.

But yes, Terrie's bike is dyno tuned and I'm sure Robmay's is also.  Yes, it runs cooler than it did stock and about 10F cooler than my 110F (we have Dakota Digital gauges so we have digital read out of oil temps and head temps all the time) but she's just more sensative to the heat issue than I am.  Her thigh will be a glowing red.....looks like it's just on the verge of blistering.

The down side to wrapping your exhaust.....there are stories of guys cracking the header by getting cold water on a hot exhaust, etc.  After I wash her bike, I'll start it up for a minute or two (till all the steam starts coming up) long enough to get it back in the garage then leave it off for the rest of the day.  The next day it's not an issue and no steam when it's fired up.

We have been caught in the rain a number of times (but not very cold).....that's never seem to be an issue.

[Robmay]

I've got the Fullsac XPipe on mine with no wrapping.

Took a run up to Laughlin and back ater the swap - MUCH lower heat than stock.

Silly question: You did a tune after swapping didn't you?

If not you're running WAY too lean and therefore hot.

The XPipe is ceramic coated - suggest you talk to Steve at Fullsac and get his input on any negatives with wrapping - afterall, he made the pipe...

I had the X-Pipe and TTS tuner on my bike to start with and did a V-Tune via the phone with Steve from Fullsac. According to him, the white and pink boxes after the V-Tune meant "a pretty darn good tune!". He was very helpful and took a lt of time to make sure I got it right. However, it was still too hot.

Recently I replaced that setup with the current D&D 2n1, wrapped, harley tuner and dynoed. Much smoother ride, more torque, etc but still hot with the lowers on. I even spent a lot of time with the guys tuning it to make sure they understood I didn't care about numbers on a sheet of paper, I wanted driveability and mainly LESS HEAT. So that was their target...less heat.

My thoughts: these are thin walled cylinders that are air cooled. They need air to cool them. Removing my lowers is the ONLY thing I have found to bring it down to tolerable here in Florida. I even tried to remove the doors to the lowers with little to no improvement. As soon as I put the lowers on, I can notice a BIG difference before getting even a mile down the road.

Fly by wire. I am no mechanical engineer, but my right leg tells me that with the newer FBW models I cannot richen the bike. I have tried it with various tuners on 2 CVO's and a stock bike upgraded to a 103 since 2009. The bike always seems to relearn itself back to stoich (i.e LEAN) which we verified with a stoich gauge on numerous rides. Seems to be back in the red zone in about 80-100 miles. Just sayin.

I absolutely LOVE my 2011 SE RG Ultra with this exception. It keeps me from wanting to ride at all during the summer months here....

[AZ Sparky]

It'll not run so "cool" when you're running around all day in those triple digits....especially in city riding.

But yes, Terrie's bike is dyno tuned and I'm sure Robmay's is also.  Yes, it runs cooler than it did stock and about 10F cooler than my 110F (we have Dakota Digital gauges so we have digital read out of oil temps and head temps all the time) but she's just more sensative to the heat issue than I am.  Her thigh will be a glowing red.....looks like it's just on the verge of blistering.

The down side to wrapping your exhaust.....there are stories of guys cracking the header by getting cold water on a hot exhaust, etc.  After I wash her bike, I'll start it up for a minute or two (till all the steam starts coming up) long enough to get it back in the garage then leave it off for the rest of the day.  The next day it's not an issue and no steam when it's fired up.

We have been caught in the rain a number of times (but not very cold).....that's never seem to be an issue.

Now when did I say it was running cool?    Just cooler than stock.
Unless I parked my ride for the last 5 months, there's no way to avoid the triple digits here so I know what you mean.
I will adjust my statement though, there is a HUGE difference FOR ME in what my right leg is sensing temperature-wise including around town riding.
Sorry, no guages, just the my right leg - I think the cat acting as a heat sink has a lot to do with the difference I feel.

[AZ Sparky]

I had the X-Pipe and TTS tuner on my bike to start with and did a V-Tune via the phone with Steve from Fullsac. According to him, the white and pink boxes after the V-Tune meant "a pretty darn good tune!". He was very helpful and took a lt of time to make sure I got it right. However, it was still too hot.

Recently I replaced that setup with the current D&D 2n1, wrapped, harley tuner and dynoed. Much smoother ride, more torque, etc but still hot with the lowers on. I even spent a lot of time with the guys tuning it to make sure they understood I didn't care about numbers on a sheet of paper, I wanted driveability and mainly LESS HEAT. So that was their target...less heat.

My thoughts: these are thin walled cylinders that are air cooled. They need air to cool them. Removing my lowers is the ONLY thing I have found to bring it down to tolerable here in Florida. I even tried to remove the doors to the lowers with little to no improvement. As soon as I put the lowers on, I can notice a BIG difference before getting even a mile down the road.

Fly by wire. I am no mechanical engineer, but my right leg tells me that with the newer FBW models I cannot richen the bike. I have tried it with various tuners on 2 CVO's and a stock bike upgraded to a 103 since 2009. The bike always seems to relearn itself back to stoich (i.e LEAN) which we verified with a stoich gauge on numerous rides. Seems to be back in the red zone in about 80-100 miles. Just sayin.

I absolutely LOVE my 2011 SE RG Ultra with this exception. It keeps me from wanting to ride at all during the summer months here....

Wow, sux that the heat builds up that bad for you.
Wish there was somthing I could offer to help but have exhausted my experience level.
Good luck...