Wrapping Headers....

Not for Christmas, but with that tape that is supposed to cut down on heat around the headers and keep heat UP in the headers.

Would this be a good idea for the XR650R. Some, if not a lot, of my riding will be done at walking pace in the woods in tight places where you cant keep a lot of air moving over the rads. Obviously a fan would help, but I'm wondering if that tape might also keep some heat from lingering around the cylinder head and the radiators....?? Thots?

I called Pro Circuit about this very thing. And I spoke with Thorley Headers about it too.

Do you want the whole story of the bottom line? These pipes are made as thin as possible. They were not engineered to be wrapped and to run at the higher temps that wrapping will force them operate in. Some race teams do it. But you gotta remember that they generally get their pipes for free and replace them usually after every race. In fact, that's why you don't want to run a lot of "works" parts on your scoot. That Titanium pipe from the Team bikes won't last either they told me. Coating my pipe was $70 from a real aerospace company in LA. Looks great. Takes up no more room. Can't fail.

There are some pictures of my pipe on this site.

If you want to solve this problem then have your header coated with the aluminum resin coating common in aerospace. Wrap the male slip fit ends in tape before you ship.

I think this is one of those bad practices we all do because we all see others doing it.