Bike show /CB

[road dog_imp]

That all black tank with no stripe is very nice. The US all black bike is too black for me to be honest. Blue with spokes and I'd be buying a second bike, forget the trade. Maybe then I could put a sidecar on it for my son as that is what he wants badly.

I am going to have a DLX painted black, with no tank stripe. The sidecar I have that is going to be married to it is the Cozy Rocket. It's design is based on the old German Steib design. Mine looks much better because it is modified with better chrome strips instead of the grey aluminum ones. I also have nicer chrome lights which look better. BTW, I was surprised to find how sturdy and well made it is even though it's not overly heavy. And, considering the quality, the price is a bargain. Some high-priced S/C manufacturers talk down the Rocket as being low quality (because of the competitive value and good looks). NOT TRUE! The price is reasonable because where it's made and because it doesn't offer a lot of frills. I absolutely love my Rocket and will never sell it. It's going to look fantastic married to a black CB1100 DLX.
If you would like to check out the Cozy Rocket, got to
http://www.cyclesidecar.com

You can also search for images of "Cozy sidecar" or "Motorcycle with Cozy sidecar"... that's what I did.

How many miles did it take to get those pipes that color, curious....have they been cleaned at all......coming from somebody who only has about 20 miles on his own bike so far.....come on spring, please....

To attempt an answer to your question... the discoloration is just a normal characteristic of single wall exhaust pipes on an air-cooled, internal combustion engine. It really only means exhaust temps have reached "Holy $#%* that's hot!" at least a time or two. Guys that like to go to the garage and start their bike every morning then go back inside to get geared up and whatnot, usually end up a good bit of discoloration. I've also noticed that dealer demo bikes can tend to have a lot. Just let your motor sit idle for 20 or 30 mins on a hot summer day if you'd like to get a good jump on the whole process... but please don't.

I rode BMW's for eons. Except for a few (bad) late model bikes, they were all from the 60's and 70's. I NEVER let it sit still and run for long. BMW's run cooler than most air-cooled bikes and the pipes always turned blue. We never worried about it.

I've never had the pleasure of owning a BMW, but I'm sure over time yours had reached upper operating temps on more than a few occasions. I agree it's not an issue worth losing sleep over, but can become somewhat of an aesthetic issue. I'm more familiar with heat discoloration issues on the new Triumph Bonnevilles. And had my exhaust turned an even shade of blue, like a lot of others did, I doubt it would have bothered me. But after just a handful of rides in the Texas heat, mine were going a rainbow of different colors. From blue, to purple, to gold... a pretty wheat color and an ugly piss-stain shade of yellow.

The best option to deal with discolored exhaust pipes for a lazy, semi-anal retentive like myself was ceramic coating my pipes black. If I happen to end up with a standard model CB11 (think I recall someone saying the new DLX will have double wall pipes) there's a good chance I'd do a silver ceramic coating... rather, I'd "have it done".