KLE500 Exhaust rust
 

I got my bike new in December, I have religiously hosed it down with fresh water after every ride. Imagine my disappointment to see the first signs of rust appearing on the exhaust pipes. At the moment it is just a touch in the welds where the pipes join together under the engine. Anyone know a good way of treating this before it gets worse?

I remember my zx7r going the same way after a short time and good cleaning, thing is kwak pipes are famous for going rusty but they look worse then what they are. It takes ages to knacker them up.

I used a wire brush on mine and then some heat resitant paint on em to keep them in order.

Once salt gets on that metal, there aint no stoppin it!!

Also, Good little tip here......

I fitted a mud flap to the front mudgard on my kle. I picked it up at a local shop that sold stuff for harleys and the like, I just trimmed it and its perfect. It stops a lot of crud going onto the front of the bike including them downpipes.

Also, I cut up an old rubber car mat into a small square and fitted it using 2 self tappers to the plastic flap that sits just infront of the rear tyre and behind the shock. This stops a massive amount of shite going on the shock and back of the engine. 10mins work, saves a lot of cleaning and keeps the bits protected.

Hope this helps?

rust in the exhaust pipes
 

Do you live near the coast?
If you live near the sea, that is very common (maybe a bit faster than usual). I have a mountain bike that was OK during the 12 years I lived in Spain's main land, but got rusty within a couple of months after I moved to an island. I lived 50 m away from the seashore and you cannot imagine how the wet and salted environment affected steel screws...and you have to take into account that heat accelerate oxydation effects, so the exhaust pipes are good candidates to get rusty.

tell me about RUST...living in tropical Island Singapore....it's a way of life...I kinda look the pipes looking rusty though...:cool4: