Hot spot cover

[49Reo]

 A gold credit card doesn't make you a custom builder....
[/quote]
True words, Troll; anyone can buy parts or have someone else build them; "kit bikes" is one term that comes to mind.
I for one am always more pleased with something new on my bike(s) if I build it vs buy it. However, some people don't have time, inclination, or ability, so it off to the pars store for them, no harm no foul.

My cousin finished his restoration last year on a 1976 BMW R100RS Cafe bike; had to make the fairing out of parts from 2 fairings, cutting pieces out of each and grafting them together; even built his own "oven" to bake the parts in; fairing was made with the fiberglas that has to be cured at a certain temp for a prescribed time period. A lot of handmade parts and parts he rebuilt himself. His restoration took about 2 years off and on, (the need to earn a living always rears it ugly head) but when he was done, a thing of beauty, repainted it himself, added some carbon-fiber trim pieces, (stock parts "dipped" to look like carbon fiber) He has a lot more pride in it now than if he had paid someone else to do it. When he says "I restored my bike" he is telling the absolute truth; no help from anyone on any part of it.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[Troll]

Thanks for the kind words about my little project. I thought about it for a while before executing it. I wanted to have a cover that would conceal any repair welds that might have to be done in the pipe area, as well as fix the blueing that has started. I've had lots of H-Ds that did this, and the aftermarket is bristling with covers for the ones the factory "forgot". I'm happy that I didn't have to repair the pipe at this time, but if I do, later, I can hide the scars...To me, it's these little details that really make a "custom". A gold credit card doesn't make you a custom builder....

[49Reo]

I would like to have all that old equipment that I used to use; I  restore old (very old!) one cylinder engines; a lot of them have cracks in the castings that need repair; the mag particle works great at finding minute cracks that need to be drilled,ground, and welded. My "poor mans" method works well but is messier than mag particle. Oh well, can't have everything!

Regards and such,
49Reo

[chief]

Nice REO... I had a mag particle kit here someplace, die penetrant too... inspected nuke repairs in the navy (radiographs, etc) and former NBBI inspector in my civilian life... my company used to do that sorta thing - but usually we let the customer do it and we just "looked" at it... but I had all the old equipment (no radiograph source!!). Bet its long gone now.

[badboy194]

As always, Great job Troll!  It sure looks stealth.

[49Reo]

I used to do a lot of mag-particle inspections on cylinder heads. The kit I used had an adjustable  (you could move the feet on the magnet around to span different areas; it was an electro-magnet; you would put it place, squeeze the button, and you could not pull it off the head until you released the button. It was HARD on digital watches, btw. The kit I used had several products in it; for mag particle inspections, we used a product called "Magna-glo"; it looked clear, you sprayed it on, put the magnet in place, squeezed the trigger, and shine a black-light (kind of a flash-back to the psychedelic  poster days, lol) and the cracks would show up fluorescent green. The kit also had "dye-penetrant" in it; you would clean the area with a special cleaner, kind of like 'Lectra-motive" cleaner,( for cleaning electrical parts) spray the dye on, wait a few minutes, wipe off, then spray on the developer. The dye was red, developer white, and the crack would show up as a red line on the back-ground. This is a much cheaper method of "crack-testing" than Mag-particle. Here is a "poor man's method of Dye-Penetrant" that works well"

1)Clean area thoroughly with Brake-cleaner, then wipe with alcohol; (keep flame and ignition sources well clear), let dry.

2) Wipe area to be tested with kerosene, wait a few minutes, then wipe clean. (warming the area to be tested with a hair blower or industrial heat gun helps)

3) Cover area with chalk powder; carpenters chalk-line powder works well.

4) Wait a few minutes then gently blow excess powder off.

5) Crack will show up as a wet line the color of the chalk.

Hope this helps, Greenbarn.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[Troll]

The cover is a Harley part...been around for ever. they use it to cover up the mufflers on SofTails, and a lot of stuff with staggered duals.  I used a sharpie to outline the area to cut out, and using a die grinder with a 1/4" mill bit cut the area to general size, then put a rotary sanding drum in a drill with a carbide sleeve, and worked slowly, letting the pipe cool a little to prevent blueing at the area I was working. It sure does fit tightly, and that's the whole point.. There is a lip on the front end that would normally cover the attaching hardware on a SofTail, and it fits under the Cobra front pipe heat shield...Bonus! I wasn't sure that part would work, and I was going to mill it off, but it fits like it was made for it. The mag particle test is actually pretty simple. I bought some stuff from a travelling machinist (he would go to shops doing various odd jobs like helicoiling, or magnifluxing) who was retiring from the business about 30 years ago, and one of the kits I bought had a big rare earth magnet and a couple of bottles of magnetic powder. You can reuse the powder if you're careful, and not waste it. It's white, and I'm not sure what  it's made from. I suppose iron filings or powered iron would work the same way...the hard part is getting the magnet back off the part you are checking...geez, it's strong!

[greenbarn]

The covers look real good, by the way.  Looks like it was made for that pipe!!!   Actually, it looks like it's a second skin glued on there.   I'll have to admit I thought they still looked blued in the pic until I looked real close and I see the "blue" mark is holding a camera!    Must be your reflection... wearing a blue shirt!!

I have a couple questions, now after looking closer.

1) How is the cover attached?  do the ss hose clamps I see somehow attach the cover to the pipe from behind the cover where we can't see it?   Man that cover looks like it's so close to the pipe there isn't any room for any hardware between them!  looks great.

2) how did you cut/grind/shape the cover without damaging the chrome more around the edges where you cut/ground?  I don't even see any evidence of chipped chrome.

3) I'm curious on your mag particle tester?   Do you have a commercial unit, or have you figured out a way to make one, or perform a particle test with a lincoln welder and iron filings or something ??  I'd love to find a way to do this on the cheap. 

[greenbarn]

that were so loud it was embarrassing to ride, and every time I took it on base, the white rats would watch me...

You sure it's the loud pipes??  maybe they thought you look suspicious...   

[49Reo]

I had to weld an extra mount tab to the rear heat shield cover; it would rattle and drive me nuts. I made a small mount that mimicked the upper mount; it left to small spots on the heat shield that hardly show; at re-chroming prices up here, a touch-up brush and some silver paint get the nod... as to the rattling, it is totally gone, heat shield hasn't moved since.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[chief]

Yep, most of those would crack at that spot because they used the oem drifter peg mount - which was a hard mount. Using the classic foot peg mount and a fabbed drifter bracket or classic pipes resolves that issue and prevents the stresses that caused the cracking.

[Troll]

I have the Cobra 2 into 1 pipe on my 1500. When I bought the bike, it had Vance and Hines Longshots, that were so loud it was embarrassing to ride, and every time I took it on base, the white rats would watch me...I have had the pipe for 23,000 miles now, and it's beginning to get blue at the junction of the front and rear cylinder pipes. Since I made mods to my air intake system, the exhaust has gotten hotter, since it's not running fat and lazy any more, and that has accelerated  the process. Some of you have posted that you thought that these pipes crack at this point, so I did a magnetic particle inspection...no cracks. I soft mounted the pipe about 20,000 miles ago with parts from a W-650. Today, I added a hot spot cover ti make the chrome all silver again. I started with an H-D SofTail muffler heat shield that I bought on eBay for $5. A little careful measuring and work with my best pal, the high speed die grinder, and the results are in the picture. Personally, I think it looks pretty good, and it sure covers the blue spot. There is a stainless clamp on the bottom of the Cobra pipe cover, since it only came with one attachment point (?) and I almost lost it  coming back from Wyoming, last year...I'm going to keep an eye on all this stuff, and may have to weld a second attachment loop inside that pipe cover...and then get the whole mess rechromed....