Exhaust Pipe and Muffler Temperature

[indybobm]

Has anyone checked the temperature of their exhaust pipes and mufflers after a ride?

Just curious how hot they actually get, I know they get hot.
Would like to know just as a reference.

[Jess from VA]

Only by accident.............. owww. 

[indybobm]

I was thinking in tems of troubleshooting. I.E. one side, or one cylinder hotter than the rest. Could be a useful indicator.

[Bugslayer]

A couple years ago, I used an Infrared Thermometer to check the temp on my TBR 6-into-6 pipes. (single wall pipes.) The hottest temp I found was 540*. That was on the back pipes, just under the flanges.  I'm sure stock (double wall) pipes will be cooler.

[MarkT]

I get to do a plug.

My 5" stacks get like handwarmers.  In fact, I use them for that if I forget the warm gloves and it turns cold.  With an inch of air space (OK, 1/2" on top, 1" to the side) behind the stacks surface before the hot muffler inside, they won't melt anything.  I never measured them though I do have a temp gun.  But you can put your bare hand on them when fully heated, and leave it there.  It's probably warmer near the outlet, never tried it there - but the stacks near your feet, not hot.

[indybobm]

I thought that maybe someone who has an infra-red temperature gun could find out what the 'normal' temperatures are. These could be a reference. Then if you had one cylinder or one bank hotter than the other, it could be an indication of something wrong, such as one cylinder lean or the need of a carb sync.
Anybody that has a gun want to read the temps?

[six2go #152]

Checked mine a couple of weeks ago with my shin while wearing shorts. All I can say is, it's F---kin' hot.

[Pete]

Search for exhaust temp, there was a thread about a year ago where some temps were posted.
Search did not produce the thread, but I know we posted some exhaust temps.

So try some other search words.

[john]

                 "All I can say is, it's F---kin' hot "
         I searched and read 250f average at end of exhaust
         and 800f average at header ...
           lift your pants and touch exhaust with the inside of your calf ...                           

[98valk]

exhaust gas mixture has to be correct first before using pipe temps as a tunning aid. EGM has to be the base line. pipe temps can be hot if too lean or too rich.

[indybobm]

Thaks for the responses. I am plaig on getting an infra-red gun, right now I have a digital thermeter with a 5" stem. Not the best I know but if you are careful and place it in the same place on each side you can get a representative readng.

I was checking muffler temps just under the passenger foot rest after a ride. One side was 50 degrees hotter than the other side. I put 1 1/2 can of Berryman's B12 and went for aother ride. When I came back and checked the temps again, they were very close to being the same on each side.This leads me to believe (I did not say assume) that the B12 cleared up a slight clog which caused one cylinder to run hotter than the rest (on the right side).

If you have a baseline on temperatures, this could be a troubleshooting tool and an indication of something wrong. Especially when checking individual headerpipes.