I went back out and looked it over closer. The gold color reaches just past the first bend, so it doesn't extend as far down the header pipe as I originally thought.
The gold color on the muffler is right at the heat shield, and I'm wondering if it developed because I didn't wipe the pipe down after installing/handling it before I started it the first time after installation? The reason I wonder about that, is because it is just in one small spot on the muffler itself. I think I can take some Blue Job I have and take care of that pretty easily.
So, all in all, I guess my discoloration isn't as bad as I originally thought, so all may be well after all.
Thanks for all the input though.
On a sidenote... I went out for about an hours ride this morning in between thunderstorms, and I found a nice, straight, dry stretch of highway and opened it wide open. First time I had done it since doing all the mods. The Savage hit 98 mph in no time flat!!!
I could have probably coaxed a bit more out of it, but I was running out of straightaway and I found out what I really needed to know -- that I had plenty of reserve for passing if need be. Plus, I had a bit of throttle left over, so I'd say 100 will be easily attainable (not that I need it)!
Probably the only other thing I intend to do soon is switch over to 20W-50 instead of the recommended 10W-40 oil. I use Castrol GTX and it seems to do very well.