TE511 Hot Exhaust

Hi Everyone, after some advise on a hot exhaust I have..

So the story starts like this....

In early January some mates and I started on a quick two day trip, 250Ks each day with a stop over at a country pub for the night.. Left at 7:00am on Saturday, got stuck in the woods on some tracks I never want to see again.. I hit a log that was hidden by some long grass on the side of a track, broke two toes and punch in my header pipe. Night fell, the pub shut before we got there and we ended up riding home, half via the bush the other half on the highway, getting in around 4:00am.. Needless to say, the biggest day I've ever had, and with broken toes for a good half of it..



Anyway back to the problem.. Took the header pipe off and tried the freezing full of water trick with no success.. After the 5th time, I figured I need a new approach..

So I plugged each end of the pipe, with a tyre valve at one end. Pumped 50PSI of air in and heated slowly with the oxy. Took several goes, and I blew two holes in the pipe in the process, but after several hours and several repair jobs with the TIG, I managed to get most of the dint out..

To clean up the pipe I hit it with the buffing wheel which gave it a great polished look.




So feeling really good about my efforts, threw it back on the bike.




Started the old girl up and let it idle for about 4-5 minutes so I could drop the oil and change the filter then found the red hot exhaust problem......




So, after all that... here's the questions..

Is this normal??? The pipe is usually covered in dirt, so I've never noticed before, but it does seem very hot.. All the same it ran fine, and didn't sound any different.....???.....

Yes that is normal when idling for a bit. It is very thin and the slightest breeze will make it go dark again.

Nice job on the pipe. I will remember for when I have to do it!

Thanks, so nothing to be concerned about......

Being my first 4 stroke, I was concerned when I first got mine and saw this. But several said not to worry and I haven't had any issues.

Can't say I've seen mine that hot before, especially idling. A full throttle run, yeah maybe.
I usually have dirt over top of the pipe, but clean it with scotch-brite from time to time.
Maybe check for any air leaks making it lean.

Great job on the dent repair, we do the same except we have a jig that the pipe fits into to fill it with air. The heat is normal on the header and it is weak while hot. On my 511, I wrap the header with Titanium wrap with a header shield on top of that, from the last spring mount, back to the mid-pipe junction. This allows the header gasket to cool at the head, but offers some protection to the head pipe.