Header Rust

[Jeffrey Walker]

Well, here's a problem I didn't have before:  My headers are starting to get
rusty.  Not the headers coming off the cylinder head, but down below where
they collect, and where they are exposed and get spray off the road. This is
most annoying.  I noticed it when I put a jack under there to raise the
front wheel off the ground to get my new front tire mounted.  In the desert
where I lived before I certainly didn't notice any rust.  Now that I live in
the salty sea air (and fog) at Pismo Beach... and I'm getting rust.

I'm a bit concerned about this as I really love the stock GPz exhaust.  I
have no desire to ever go with an aftermarket pipe.

So I'm contemplating having to remove the header at some point and getting
it blasted and re-coated.  I'm thinking of aluminizing it or having it
ceramic coated.  But unfortunately I won't have a 'winter storage season' in
which to do projects like this.  I'm riding my bike everywhere, every day
and there is no winter down here of note.  (In eastern WA I would usually
lay the bike up just before Thanksgiving and bring it back out sometime in
late February, with my electric vest.)

So anyway, if I do this project, I'll want to do it before the rust gets any
worse and corrodes any more metal off, and will want the bike to be out of
commission for as little time as possible.  I have no idea what the
turnaround time is for this kind of work.  I'm guessing a Saturday's worth
of lazy wrench time to remove and replace the header, but I wonder how fast
the shop could get it done.

What I'm contemplating is a coating like what Performance Coatings in Auburn
WA does: http://www.performancecoatings.com/index2.html  in Satin Black.

Jeff