Coatings - ceramic vs nickel vs chrome

[Modman]

Looking at having some pipes coated. Need opinions on what peeps have done for their sled and bike stuff.

Ceramic - obviously is a performance thing, not as nice looking as nickel or chrome but keeps heat in way better. Likely to last the longest IMO, any one have an issue with rusting/staining? Pricing seems reasonable.

Nickel - very nice looking, will tint some at the hot spots, no performance advantage. Have not seen very many sleds with nickel plated pipes, how does the coating last? price?

Chrome - nice looking, heard it will blue up fast at the front, no performance gain. Not sure about the longevity of chrome, assuming something similar to nickel?

What's your guys/gals thoughts, opinions please.

 

[maxwell]

i always just ceramic every peice of exhaust. never tried anything else as im after looks and performance....ceramic is the best of both worlds.

i have had ceramic coated pipes that looked like hell from lack of care and cleaning..but some aluminum polish and an sos pad it shines right back to new again.

as long as you keep the road grime off them they will last forever and you can always pull the shine back out of them.


i should also mention that even the y pipes ive had coated never show any disscoloration. really impressive

 

[ZRrrr]

You sort of answered your own question.

I go ceramic every time. Ask around for a good shop though as a bad job will go to rust as well. I have one done well and one done not so well. Bad one shows a little rust at weld spots.

 

[Modman]

Thanks for the input Zrrr, guess I was looking for any other reasons or major disadvantages to one or the other. Nickel is a gorgeous finish, ceramic is a distant second IMO on the finish "scale" but nickel does not have any performance advantage like ceramic, so I guess I'm trying to weigh the differences between the slight increase in performance from ceramic and the terrific finish of nickel. Never done anything in nickel, the bike pipes always look good but not as exposed to as much road salt as sleds, they obviously get more dirt but the salt is what will kill a finish. If you have salt spray on a regular painted pipe and you start the engine, you can literally watch the pipes rust right before your eyes, its cool and depressing all at the same time.

If I was going to see this happen with nickel, or if they were just going to tint to the rainbow, I would just go ceramic. If the nickel was going to last forever and the performance advantage of ceramic was only marginal, I would go nickel. Ceramic also offers a colour package so that makes it appealing also.........Decisions decisions......

 

[imdoo'n]

have you been talking to the aliens again.

sleds- use the ceramic coat to keep heat in you need all the go you can get:d. bikes - unless 2 stroke don' t need to retain the heat, much warmer operating temp.

whatcha building.

 

[Modman]

have you been talking to the aliens again.

sleds- use the ceramic coat to keep heat in you need all the go you can get:d. bikes - unless 2 stroke don' t need to retain the heat, much warmer operating temp.

whatcha building.

Nothing new - just coating all 6 of my pipes..... Getting the bike header done and Lon was thinking of getting his done so we are going for the volume discount LOL.....just needed to decide which coating to go with, talked to the coaters though and they said they can do a high lustre shine on the ceramic (like chrome) so looks like I can get the best of both worlds, just didn't want the satin finish.

Should look purdy when they're all done. Will post pics.

 

[ZRrrr]

My last two were very shiny. I can buff them up at anytime as well. It does look awesome, especially with a shiny cylinder head too.

 

[maxwell]

anyone have a picture of a nickel finish. not sure that i know what it looks like

 

[sirkdev]

Who is the best ceramic coat person in Edmonton area?

 

[Ancient Sledder]

My Cat has a ceramic SLP pipe and can. It is starting to show its age. On my Doo, I removed the clamshell and insulation. Then I cleaned it up with a wire brush and sprayed it with BBQ black paint. Only lasts a couple of years, but it looks good and the price is right.

 

[Pistonbroke]

Nothing new - just coating all 6 of my pipes..... Getting the bike header done and Lon was thinking of getting his done so we are going for the volume discount LOL.....just needed to decide which coating to go with, talked to the coaters though and they said they can do a high lustre shine on the ceramic (like chrome) so looks like I can get the best of both worlds, just didn't want the satin finish.

Should look purdy when they're all done. Will post pics.

So vain........lol :d:d:d

You knew the answer before you posted....so go do it.

 

[Modman]

anyone have a picture of a nickel finish. not sure that i know what it looks like

FMF Racing - Gnarly

Sorry - its a bad pic. Nickel seems to have a "richer" colour than say chrome or ceramic. It's been said that it has more "depth" - sorry man, kinda hard to describe. You really need to see the two coatings side by side.

Brad Wursten (1200PSI on snowest) nickel plates his pipes, you can see his sled on the cover of Mountain Mod Mania 5 and in Mountain Mod Mania 4 there is a really nice picture of it. Other than the DVD cover shot, I can't find a photo of his sled. When done well, nickel looks really sharp.

 

[Alberta Boy]

FMF Racing - Gnarly

Sorry - its a bad pic. Nickel seems to have a "richer" colour than say chrome or ceramic. It's been said that it has more "depth" - sorry man, kinda hard to describe. You really need to see the two coatings side by side.

Brad Wursten (1200PSI on snowest) nickel plates his pipes, you can see his sled on the cover of Mountain Mod Mania 5 and in Mountain Mod Mania 4 there is a really nice picture of it. Other than the DVD cover shot, I can't find a photo of his sled. When done well, nickel looks really sharp.

My pipe looked like that with ceramic coating and high lustre... I think that I have a picture of it around here somewhere... go ceramic dude!

 

[Modman]

My pipe looked like that with ceramic coating and high lustre... I think that I have a picture of it around here somewhere... go ceramic dude!

Looks sharp man!!! thanks for the pic - who did the coating?