sbaugz stated:  call me a poser if you want. Doesn't bother me. Seeing as there will be hundreds of these RYCA kits around, is it wrong to make yours unique. Look at Buddha's post- he is polishing every part of his to make is nice and shiney. I am spending money on mine to make it dull and blacked-out. Its called being an individual and if you think that makes me a poser, then you are mistaken.

My my, we do get our feathers ruffled easily, eh?  Ease up.  This is fun stuff, not an argument.

You make some invalid assumptions.  I never said we should all look the same.  That is something more likely to be spewed from the mouth of a harley poser,... observe how most of them feel they must wear an appropriate costume.

I had considered making mine all blacked out as well.  I think, though, I'll go more for making my CS-1 resemble what I lusted over when I was a kid,... the cafe racers based on BSA Gold Stars and Velocettes.  

My first new bike was a Norton Atlas 750.  It had Avon Speedmaster tires, one of the "true" performance setups in those days.  I think I'll spend the extra coin and get a set of those for mine, just to make it more period correct,.... for me,... not for mythical poser-lookers.

I'm even searching around for a 4-leading shoe front brake!!  I know the lightweight and tidy LS650 brake works better, but when I was 20, we ooood and ahhhhd over 4LS brakes,... so it would please ME to set up my CS-1 that way.

Anyway, don't get your panties in a wad accusing me of things I didn't do.  You said I said you were a poser if you wanted to use the exhaust wrap thingy.  Not true.  You are a poser if you crave having folks look at you because you did something cosmetic that you think will impress them so you can delude yourself into thinking they think you are cool.  That's the opposite of building something cool because you want it that way.

I want my bike to be different.  For me.  I want yours to be different, too.  Just because we want our bikes to not be the same as everyone else's does not make either one of us posers.

Until convinced otherwise, though, I have difficulty warming up to the idea of putting clothing on an exhaust header.

So i know that if i add heat wrap to my bike that it WILL NOT make my bike a beast and i don't give a flying flip who if anyone likes the way it will look but I DO! and that's what really matters about customizing your bike is making it look or perform like you want it to. when you get down to it isn't that why people trick out there bikes because that's what they want?! Thank you all for the kind words and to those who are haters forget you!

I wrapped mine a long time ago and I'd do it again. I like it and that's what counts. And I'm not worried about the pipe underneath. I'll be long dead before that thing rots out.

Harley Guy: (looking at my Savage) Boy that bike sure is fugly!

Rogue: Yeah, but you're still frickin looking at it, ain't you?!    

I was thinking of wrapping so I'd quit burning shoe laces.  

I burned the back of my ankle last season pretty bad, heat wrap probably would have reduced that burn greatly...yes I had shorts on but that was my 'work clothes' attire.

psychosavage wrote on 03/10/11 at 09:36:26:


Yes very nicely put

and i too and tired of looking at the blue pipe so i think i will wrap mine also plus maybe i will not burn my boot on the pipe anymore, it leaves a nastly little mark on the pipe and on my boot.

weracerc wrote on 03/11/11 at 07:29:22:


Getting the hedderswedder wet while riding around would cause very little corrosion because any moisture will steam off and dry out almost immediately.  Any moisture from wet streets probably never even touches the pipe.

The corrosion problem takes place when the motor is NOT running.  (cold)    It is a long term problem caused by the fabric picking up moisture (condensation) from a piece of metal (the header) getting slightly warmer and colder as the ambient temp and humidity changes.  The fabric holds the condensation against the metal for relatively long periods of time causing a tiny bit of corrosion each time.  Lots of tiny bits adds up to a significant amount over time.

To prove this, do a science project.  Go find a plain steel nail,.. not galvanized or otherwise coated.  Wrap one layer of cotton shoelace around maybe half of the nail and tie it off so that half of the nail has cloth on it and half is exposed.  Set it somewhere near where you park your bike, and come back in a few months and check it out.