Rivco or Jet Hot Sterling

[Sidecar Flip]

I mentioned in an earlier reply that I preferred the Jet Hot Sterling over the Rivco stamped covers both from a price standpoint and aesthetic standpoint, but I think our beloved crew missed it.

If you refer to my picture that BIL Bart posted "Sidecar Filip's bikes" in another thread and you look closely at the head pipes on the T100 and realize that they are single wall with no bluing whatsoever and a dull chrome appearance, you have just discovered Jet Hot Sterling. JH is a proprietary plasma coating that will withstand 1800 degrees with no degradation or physical or visual change in color or shine. Bonnie's are prone to blue pipes as they are all single wall mild steel and my custom headers are no exception. The JH also coats the entire inside diameter with a smooth plasma/ceramic coating that they say improves exhaust gas flow as well as allows the pipes to cool down quicker. This might all be hoopla for all I know, but I like the look of the JHS and that's what I'm going to do to my R3 header this winter. I'll put the fancy chrome doohickeys back on, but the flanges and pipe exits will be JHS as well as the unseen header. I had the headers on the T100 done about 3 years ago and it was around 50 bucks so it's probably more now but I know 50 is cheaper than 85 for a Rivco condom. 85 for those covers is absolutely highway robbery. Probably cost $2.00 for stamping and chroming, if that.:flame:

 

[vonbonds]

Where did you get the headers done? I thought you have to ship them out and back. That has to add to the cost of the application alone.

http://www.jet-hot.com/

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Went south..

Von Bonds:

Being a truck driver by weekday, I forget that shipping has went way up....duh...pipes went to Louisiana. I can't remember if they sent me a corrugated container to ship them in or not, but I do remember when they returned (which was in less than 7 days), they were packaged like jewelry. I asked my wife if she remembered what it cost to ship them (I believe Jet Hot paid the freight back), but she can't remember either. See what happens when Mr. & Mrs. Old fart's memory also goes south.

When I got them back, I tested their claim with a Bernz-O-matic torch in a concentrated spot without any damage. Interestingly, I had some fly crap (flies do crap) deposited on my left head pipe in the first bend. I didn't notice it until after the motor was running and it turned to ash and fell off.

To send the head pipe from the R3 should be no large freight charge. It's smaller than my T100 pipes and weighs less than the 2 separate, long T100 pipes and their captive exhaust flanges.

I prefer the Jet Hot. It must be the machinist in me. The Jet Hot is like an alloy wheel compared to the Rivco stamped covers being a chromed hubcap.

Jet Hot makes an interesting claim in that the coated (inside and out) exhaust tubing carries heat more efficiently and cools off quicker. The efficiency part I'm not sure about, but the do cool off quicker. I ran the bike in the shop for a few minutes (doors open), shut it off and was able to touch the pipe about a minute after I shut down the engine.