The CB1100 Community Forum

So, I walked out to my bike on Friday to come home from work and had two old guys looking at my bike. They were in agreement that my valves needed adjusting as the discoloration of my header was a direct symptom. The bike is under warranty (if that matters), but I figured I'd check with you experts on what you think.

Is this discoloration a symptom of valves that need adjusting?
Or is it just something I need to clean with some polish?
Is it possible effing around and revving the bike at stoplights exacerbated the discoloration? (I may or may not do this on occasion).
Is this even the bluing that people talk about?

This is my first street bike after having a couple dirt bikes years ago, and having chrome to polish is something new to me. I'll gladly put in the elbow work if that's all that's needed, but I don't want to ride up to the servicing shop unless I need to. It's a freeway ride into north Baltimore that just isn't much fun.

Anyways, any advice or constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Totally normal...try this

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4947

Mine did that after getting hot in traffic. I used mothers mag and aluminum polish and a power ball as well as a lot of elbow grease. Cleaned them back to new.

Even with careful break-in (read: no revving at stop lights ), my pipes started to turn the slightest bit blue at the top, but the rest of them started turning a uniform gold hue. I treated them with OptiGlanz (see link below) and that brought them back to a nice silver colour, but some freckling remained. I was able to get the freckles off with a good metal polish/bluing remover. After that treatment, it took longer for the uniform gold hue to return, but the bluing never came back.

Some have written that the OptiGlanz treats the surface of the metal in a way that makes the discolouration take longer and longer to reappear with every treatment.

http://www.amazon.com/OptiGlanz-Stainles...B007ZO52E8

I also clean them with a stainless aerosol cleaner, couple times a week. When done I run it for about a minute to heat them up and burn off any residue.

I should have known this was old hat. Next time I'll do a search first before posting. Thanks to everyone who commented!

By the looks probably something else. Has your bike recently been in West Africa?

Cheers

WARNING: This post may contain traces of VB.

(10-12-2015, 11:17 AM)Gsnyder70_imp Wrote: [ -> ]So, I walked out to my bike on Friday to come home from work and had two old guys looking at my bike. They were in agreement that my valves needed adjusting as the discoloration of my header was a direct symptom. The bike is under warranty (if that matters), but I figured I'd check with you experts on what you think.

Is this discoloration a symptom of valves that need adjusting?
Or is it just something I need to clean with some polish?
Is it possible effing around and revving the bike at stoplights exacerbated the discoloration? (I may or may not do this on occasion).
Is this even the bluing that people talk about?

This is my first street bike after having a couple dirt bikes years ago, and having chrome to polish is something new to me. I'll gladly put in the elbow work if that's all that's needed, but I don't want to ride up to the servicing shop unless I need to. It's a freeway ride into north Baltimore that just isn't much fun.

Anyways, any advice or constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Gsnyder,

If you are willing to take your header off here is a solution (below) that will keep it shiny chrome and will never turn bronze/blue or spot. The cat cover is a fair amount of work but the finish can be done in a couple days for about $150. The factory stock header below has been run 650 miles here in AZ and been red hot and it still looks perfect. Cheers.

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=7023

Chip

[url=http://s288.photobucket.com/user/chipbeck/media/19.jpg.html]

Chip, your bike looks immaculate. Well done.

Cheers

(10-12-2015, 08:19 PM)Pterodactyl_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Chip, your bike looks immaculate. Well done.

Cheers

Hear, hear. Beautiful.