Why is the exhaust pipe turning blue and how to remove it?

Heat will do that to the metal. It's normal.

Attempting to "remove" it will be an exercise in futility, it will just come back.

(It is a microscopic layer of oxide coating ...)
 
Blueing of the exhaust headers is due to very hot exhaust gases. Usually indicates that the bike is running very lean, which is not good. Either the carbs need different jets or the valves need to be adjusted (most likely both).

I'm 99% sure its not removable
 
What Brian said, learn to live with it.
 
It's caused by heat so no problem. What is notable though, is that the pipes are not evenly blued. One cylinder ran/runs hotter than the other. If dual carbed, one is set too lean. Maybe valves need adjusting.
 
Schneller said:
It's caused by heat so no problem. What is notable though, is that the pipes are not evenly blued. One cylinder ran/runs hotter than the other. If dual carbed, one is set too lean. Maybe valves need adjusting.
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Could be because seeing inside radius of one pipe and outside radius of the other. Additionally, I don't get the horror over blued pipes. But w/e.
 
Yeah, it's normal if it's up to 6 inches from the cylinder. Caused by heat over a period of time. If it is much longer than 6 inches you are probably looking at a lean condition that can lead to burnt valves over a long period of time. In most cases a lean condition on an old bike can be cleared up by a simple carb rebuild. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
IIRC Autosol cleans up the blueing (temporarily), haven't tried in a long time though so I could be mistaken.
 
When I bought my bike from the dealership the header pipes were bluing and the actual exhaust chrome pipes were yellow/bluish. It took about 2 months for a Yamaha Canada factory rep to come to the dealership as they wanted to look at the exhaust as the header was due to running lean but they claimed they had never seen the actual exhaust pipes do this. They didn't want to replace pipes without diagnosing and fixing the issue given the stock exhaust retail is $3200 for this bike.

Bottom line bike was running VERY VERY lean, they set the bike up properly, (FI bike), and never again had an issue. Of course entire exhaust was replaced again 3 months later when I was hit by another bike..lol
 
inreb said:
Could be because seeing inside radius of one pipe and outside radius of the other. Additionally, I don't get the horror over blued pipes. But w/e.
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Thanks for the replies everyone. I guess I will just have to live with it, no biggie. Actually, the riders left-side pipe really is bluer whereas the right-hand side is dark gold.
 
BrownBrady said:
...I noticed that one of the pipes that is coming out of the engine is bluish. Is this just because of the age of the bike? Is there a way to remove that color?
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Blue rocks! Blue means heat...
Internal combustion equals power.
But I hear you, that the two pipes are slightly different colours (with the one being a more gold colour).
This is down to engine tuning ie. carb sync or differences between cylinders - whatever they may be.
A careful tuneup including valve adjustment, ideally using Iridium sparkplugs, with an accurate carb sync (or FI, whatever) should make those pipes show the same colour.
Whatever colour it may be - but the same!
A slightly sweeter (richer) mixture on even a stock bike, will improve both driveability and appearance...
But the unfortunate leanness is mandated by Emissions legislation.
Here are some high-performance exhaust pipes for you!
Regards
 
Blue - Ness gives it character
 
Wait, what? From the 250 to a cruiser? Welcome to the Dark Side.
 
Engine needs a tune-up (carb sync/settings, valve adjust) to address the difference in heat, as indicated by the difference of exhaust pipe colour, between the 2 cylinders.
 
special.k said:
Blueing of the exhaust headers is due to very hot exhaust gases. Usually indicates that the bike is running very lean, which is not good. Either the carbs need different jets or the valves need to be adjusted (most likely both).

I'm 99% sure its not removable
Click to expand...
The previous owner mentioned that it could use some carb work. A mechanic gave me an estimate of $300 plus parts for carb work. I think it's too much considering I got the bike for cheap. I think I will attempt to do this myself.
 
Get a shop to order you the mechanics manual. That will tell you how to do anything. Betcha it's the best $100 you'll spend on that bike.
 
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