Is this normal?

[drodg33]

I have to laugh at ads most people place. Says it's been kept in pristine condition and that's it's ready to travel, all you have to do is pack your gear on the rack and your smart phone in the holder... and it comes with a loading ramp?

There is some irony there! I don't think I would have caught that without you mentioning it. LOL!

[kennyw]

Here is a close up of my headers with 19K+miles after a few weeks of riding in the rain. Most of the grime washed off a few days later.

[rbike_imp]

FYI, 'gave them a call, the Arizona location is no more - just NC & OK. It costs $215 for a simple polished 1 coat & $250 for a color coat. The polished is good to 1300 degrees and the color to 1500. He suggested color to be safe. S&H is apx $45 each way. $350 option.

[olekzap_imp]

I was not as clear as I could have been...

My question is really if the pipes indicate the bike as being abused. I've seen pics of the bronzing as being more uniform, but this one seems to look blotchy and speckled/pitted.

Thanks.

https://redding.craigslist.org/mcy/5468655397.html

Do the bronzed headers on this 2013 CB1100 look normal for approx 4000 miles?

Thanks! --CB360T

It doesn't look so much abused as neglected. As mentioned previously, the blotching and pitting is likely due to being ridden in the rain and put away wet. With the amount of bluing near the top of the headers it may have been caught in some California-Summer-stop-and-go-traffic. You don't want to leave air-cooled engines idling and stationary for extended periods of time. However, all four pipes look uniformly blue, so it is likely not a mechanical issue or necessarily a sign of abuse.

There are several CB owners on this forum who are not concerned about an aesthetic issue like the bronzing/discoloring of headers. It is, after-all, an inevitable problem with stainless steel. A rare few may not know that there are products to temporarily remedy the issue (like Optiglanz or Autosol). Some may just not have had the time to clean the headers properly as they would prefer to be riding. And finally, there may just be some who are plain lazy. However, based on the many members of this forum, who go to great lengths to make their CB headers shiny again, the lazy are clearly in the minority
[/quote]
It doesn't look so much abused as neglected. As mentioned previously, the blotching and pitting is likely due to being ridden in the rain and put away wet. With the amount of bluing near the top of the headers it may have been caught in some California-Summer-stop-and-go-traffic. You don't want to leave air-cooled engines idling and stationary for extended periods of time. However, all four pipes look uniformly blue, so it is likely not a mechanical issue or necessarily a sign of abuse.

There are several CB owners on this forum who are not concerned about an aesthetic issue like the bronzing/discoloring of headers. It is, after-all, an inevitable problem with stainless steel. A rare few may not know that there are products to temporarily remedy the issue (like Optiglanz or Autosol). Some may just not have had the time to clean the headers properly as they would prefer to be riding. And finally, there may just be some who are plain lazy. However, based on the many members of this forum, who go to great lengths to make their CB headers shiny again, the lazy are clearly in the minority
[/quote]

You forgot the people who think it looks better with bronzed headers. Personally I'm not a fan at all of the chrome perfect look on some.

[Retsel_imp]

Bronze is the new chrome!

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

[Ferrealls_imp]

What you're looking at is an oxidation reaction of stainless steel. The parabolic rate constant, which governs the scale formation for a specific time frame is dependent on both temperature and humidity. Since both increased temperature and increased humidity are catalysts for that reaction, that gives credence to the old saying "road hard and put away wet." While it's a simple surface contaminate that can be cleaned with various methods, the fundamental process is the issue here. This bike was typically ridden at high rpms for extended periods in wet or humid climate. You can make your own judgement on current quality of the components, but I can guarantee you that bike will require more maintenance in its lifetime than average. It's not a bike I would buy, personally. I like to break my own stuff. After all, you wouldn't paint your masterpiece on someone else's doodle, would you?

[the Ferret]

My ST has stainless headers but since they are covered in plastic I don't care. However it drove me nuts that on my 13 CB the header pipes tarnished. Glad my 14 has the double walled chrome headers even if I'm not anal about keeping them shiny.

weird huh?

[jrns_imp]

My ST has stainless headers but since they are covered in plastic I don't care. However it drove me nuts that on my 13 CB the header pipes tarnished. Glad my 14 has the double walled chrome headers even if I'm not anal about keeping them shiny.

weird huh?

I sure wish they double walled my version of the CB.. I really dislike the brown look of the headers after a few rides...and the constant cleaning required to bring the look back to original.

[curlyjoe]

After 9600 miles of riding my '13, my headers look just like the advertised bike. Everything else on the bike looks quite nice.

I don't ride my bike hard and I don't ride in the rain but summers in New England can be humid at times.

I like the bronze/copper look. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

[Rebel73_imp]

My pipes still look pretty good, but I will definitely be cleaning them to try to avoid or minimize that effect. I kind of see my bike like my own rolling canvas. That would just drive me nuts.