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CB650R Rust

Enrico

2018
CB650F ABS
Mar 28, 2019
The top of the pipes are a bit difficult to get at so tend to get a bit 'grubby'. The pipes are stainless steel aren't they so shouldn't actually rust ? ! Maybe others can advise.
 

RockinBudgie

2019
CB650R ABS
Oct 22, 2019
Thanks for looking in chaps. The bike isn't a year old yet, and has only done 1000 miles, so i wasn't expecting it to show rust at all. i just wondered if anyone else had this issue and if it was covered under warranty?
 

Brammers

2014
CBR650F ABS
Staff
May 30, 2014
Hampshire, England
Riding Since
1993
The stock exhaust pipes will rust if you neglected them. I maintain them well and polish them from time to time with autosol metal polish.

No they won't. They'll get dirty and discolour, but they are made from stainless steel and won't "rust" in the sense you're referring to. E @Enrico was correct.

If you keep stainless steel wet enough and in the right conditions (salty water etc.) you can get it to corrode (depending on the grade of stainless). As the pipes are usually hot, these conditions rarely exist in the real world.

J
 

Enrico

2018
CB650F ABS
Mar 28, 2019
No they won't. They'll get dirty and discolour, but they are made from stainless steel and won't "rust" in the sense you're referring to. .avatar--xss { width: 21px; height: 21px; line-height: 21px !important; margin-right: 2px; } E [COLOR=#2e2e1f] E [/COLOR] @Enrico was correct.
- Hooray, I must have got something right.:) In a former existence we used austenitic stainless steel 304S15 grade for structural fixings where appearance was not important or 304S16 grade where exposed and appearance was important.
 

Goblin

2019
CB650R ABS
Sep 2, 2019
Stainless steel can rust. There are over 150 grades of stainless steel and some are more prone to corrosion than others. There are a few factors that can affect the corrosion resistance. The composition of the steel affects corrosion resistance. Even within grades of stainless steel, impurities in the steel can affect the corrosion resistance. The environment is another big factor. The header discoloring is normal but they will rust if you neglect them, especially in the winter due to salt on the road. I’m not saying they rust as quick like normal steel but overtime they will rust if you neglect them.
 

Enrico

2018
CB650F ABS
Mar 28, 2019
Stainless steel can rust. There are over 150 grades of stainless steel and some are more prone to corrosion than others. There are a few factors that can affect the corrosion resistance. The composition of the steel affects corrosion resistance. Even within grades of stainless steel, impurities in the steel can affect the corrosion resistance. The environment is another big factor. The header discoloring is normal but they will rust if you neglect them, especially in the winter due to salt on the road. I’m not saying they rust as quick like normal steel but overtime they will rust if you neglect them.
Wonder which one of the over 150 grades of stainless steel Honda use for our exhaust pipes, hope it is one without too many impurities that can cause rust ! How can we find out ?
 

Katie

2017
CBR650F ABS
Feb 1, 2019
Wonder which one of the over 150 grades of stainless steel Honda use for our exhaust pipes, hope it is one without too many impurities that can cause rust ! How can we find out ?


Easy. Check the writing on the bike, if it says 'Honda', then it's the cheapest version :eek: There's a reason people swap out the originals!

The old VFR exhaust collector was famously made of cheese and the more recent models are worse from the headers down (had a 1998 and a 2015 version - exhausts on both were appalling quality). and I'm pretty sure they haven't upped the game for the CBR...
 

Enrico

2018
CB650F ABS
Mar 28, 2019
Easy. Check the writing on the bike, if it says 'Honda', then it's the cheapest version :eek: There's a reason people swap out the originals!

The old VFR exhaust collector was famously made of cheese and the more recent models are worse from the headers down (had a 1998 and a 2015 version - exhausts on both were appalling quality). and I'm pretty sure they haven't upped the game for the CBR...
Do you really think Honda use the absolute cheapest grade of stainless steel ? People swap the originals because they want a different silencer in my opinion and if they were available they would just swap the silencer. I am not convinced by your assertion that Honda use the cheapest materials. Don't know if the collector box is even made of stainless steel though, that is a different matter. No doubt others can comment.
 

Katie

2017
CBR650F ABS
Feb 1, 2019
Could just be my natural cynicism, fuelled by watching my VFR rapidly disintegrating, by dint of extensive use over a 12 month period. All those tight fitting panels revealed many a horror whenever they came off :mad: So far, the CBR appears to be surviving better but I do have a full system replacement so don't need to worry about that bit :)
 

Brammers

2014
CBR650F ABS
Staff
May 30, 2014
Hampshire, England
Riding Since
1993
My oem headers had 18 months about 8000 miles on when I swapped them for aftermarket system.

Swap was for performance a d weight saving reasons.

Oem headers are fine save for needing a polish... And those 8000 miles were in all weathers.

I don't think Honda chose a cheap grade of stainless.

J
 

Goblin

2019
CB650R ABS
Sep 2, 2019
Yeah I can’t imagine Honda is using the cheapest grade stainless! (But it’s difficult to tell how much impurities there are in the stainless steel). Just don’t neglect them and you should be fine.
 

Enrico

2018
CB650F ABS
Mar 28, 2019
Katie, I had a 2012 Honda CBF1000FAC ,17000 miles ,which I swapped for the CB650F earlier this year, and the exhaust system was ok - a clean and polish and it came up fine. The rest of the bike didn't show much sign of deterioration either. I suppose the parts under fully faired bikes can be neglected but I have never had a bike with a full fairing . Surprised about the state of your VFR but ,as others say, I think the cb650f exhaust should be ok with cleaning and polishing occasionally.
 

Katie

2017
CBR650F ABS
Feb 1, 2019
Always amazes me when people talk about Honda build quality as if it's a thing (also how many people insist I must have been mistaken when I point out how badly my own bike deteriorated. Maybe it was the 35k miles in a year, including riding in snow, that did it?). Pretty sure that reputation has been living on past glories for a while now?

I reckon most manufacturers are pretty much the same in terms of overall longevity but every manufacturer and model has it's own weaknesses. Perhaps surprisingly, Aprilia have always been the best in terms of maintaining their finish regardless of weather (had 6 over the years and the finish was the one thing I never worried about. Erm, apart from the Shiver) . Suzuki still win the 'weakest electrics' prize for me. Will let you know how the CBR fairs against the KTM in my own 'what's gone wrong in the garage this week' competition...

If it helps put things in context, I get through a lot of bikes, a lot of miles, in all weathers, through crappy traffic all year so tend to test things to destruction fairly quickly. My views on the various weaknesses of bikes and their peripherals doesn't come anywhere close to my views on 'waterproof' clothing!
 

ducatiman

Vendor
2019
CBR650R
Jul 27, 2019
New York
Could just be my natural cynicism, fuelled by watching my VFR rapidly disintegrating, by dint of extensive use over a 12 month period. All those tight fitting panels revealed many a horror whenever they came off :mad: So far, the CBR appears to be surviving better but I do have a full system replacement so don't need to worry about that bit :)

WTF? My '98 VFR with 43,000 mile running awesome, super reliable, clean, serviced, original exhaust, in good nick, if not spectacular given its age. "Rapidly disintegrating" ? Curious as to what could cause this.......did your VFR live outdoors or garaged?

vfr2016.JPG
 

Katie

2017
CBR650F ABS
Feb 1, 2019
- o_Oare you being serious ?

Yup. Admittedly I always try and avoid the first day of heavy snow to let things settle properly but sometimes you get caught. Had a grand chat with some fellow bikers as we all got caught in a blizzard on the M1 and ended up stopping at the services for an hour until it calmed down a bit. About 20cm of snow during that time so the 60 miles home were fairly entertaining :)

So, the bike was garaged every night but I couldn't take the garage with me...
 

Enrico

2018
CB650F ABS
Mar 28, 2019
Had a grand chat with some fellow bikers as we all got caught in a blizzard on the M1 and ended up stopping at the services for an hour until it calmed down a bit. About 20cm of snow during that time so the 60 miles home were fairly entertaining
- 200mm of snow in an hour ,it gets more incredible ! - but if you say so .
 
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