exhaust welding which type

[superfly]

Hi lads,

I have the exhaust of my motorbike which need to be welded.
Basically I need to weld the end can and the exhaust pipe, and I have a mig welder and a arc welder at home.

But I am wondering, could I do it with them or do I required a setup oxy/acy ?

Btw, I am not sure to be in the right section

Cheers

 

[Chipper]

I've welded a few cans with MIG, ideal if they're steel. Assuming we're talking about mods or repairs/patches. Could be stainless in which case you might want s/s wire.

Pipes themselves, again MIG for mild or stainless, you could use s/s wire for stainless, but I did my current bike with normal wire and it's been OK for nearly 2 yrs and its a bit of a stranger to bucket 'n sponge. No doubt it'll rust eventually, but I'll just fix it again...

What bike've you got?

 

[superfly]

After a proper look and the use of a magnet, the can seems to be aluminium not steel or stainless.

So I think I will leave it to somebody whom can weld aluminium, I have done some small welding on steel only, not to sure how to weld aluminium.

I have a Katana 400, it is a small project I am trying to get her back on the road.

 

[Chipper]

Kats are nice, good luck with it. I've had two, this was my 1260 in its final incarnation

 

[superfly]

Waouh very nice

I was actually wonder as I might respray the tank (got damage in the past, end I am tempted to fix) and potential the fairing in another color than the frame.
How it will look like.

I was thinking black (fairing, tank) and frame silver (don't have time at the moment for rebuilding it)

 

[Chipper]

Cheers Black+silver sounds good, reckon great fancy designs etc don't work, loses the shape kind of thing, simpler schemes win. Or maybe like a dark gunmetal would be cool with the silver frame.

 

[superfly]

I completely agree with you. I like simple things, to be honest I was originally thinking about repainting the tank only in the original color.

But then I am thinking black but it is adding a bit of extra work, so I am not sure I will have the time. I have 5 other bigger project waiting for me

I did estimate how it will take me to finish and I think about 10 years...

I have saw a gunmetal one and it does look very tasty I have to say, I wish mine will be gun metal.
Maybe I could do it like that then...

 

[Chipper]

Black would be cool anyway, sure I've seen a black one before. Love the Kat shape Good luck with yours.

 

[Wedg1e]

Wahey Katanas! I had an '82 550 for a couple of years in the early 90s... still like the shape and have bid on a couple of 400s on Ebay but they went for more than I had in my piggybank.
Always fancied an untouched 1000/1100 - there was one on the 'Bay a few miles from me in Middlesbrough a couple of years ago, hardly-used Italian import as I recall, still had the infill panels for the fairing sides. Low miles, went for about £2600 I think.
I almost bought a 750E (pop-up headlamp model) in 2009: went to see it in Bury, took it round the block and decided that 80's bikes should stay in the 80's It was about 9 feet long, a foot wide, made lots of noise for not much progress and as for braking, well, least said the better.

My 550 was all-black with orange calipers, clock backs, rear springs and seat. I grafted-on the nosecone and headlamp from a 1000 using the chopped-up subframe from a TZR125, made my own alloy brackets to take the fly-screen as genuine ones cost a mint. It had KR1S front indicators on the back, and those mini M&P things on the front. I'll see if I can find a picture...

 

[chunkolini]

I reckon the 1100's were one of the best looking bikes ever.
And they got the design just right, it could easily have looked ridiculous a few years down the line. Not too sure about spangly paint though.
Chunko'.

 

[FranV8]

On the exhaust subject - it may be that just because it's magnetic, it's actually a grade of stainless. Is it quite soft (scratches really easy with a scredriver tip) and how shiny is it?

I'd be surprised if a component exposed to exhaust gases was aluminium, it's not normally capable of taking the temperature. (I know on motorbike cans sometimes the casings are carbon mind)

 

[Wedg1e]

I reckon the 1100's were one of the best looking bikes ever.
And they got the design just right, it could easily have looked ridiculous a few years down the line. Not too sure about spangly paint though.
Chunko'.

More than that; the Kat styling was the blueprint for practically every faired bike and many unfaired ones since: the concept of integrated panel lines from end to end seemed to have eluded designers up to that point (even 'streamlined' bikes like racing Ducatis etc. have the air of tacked-on bits about them). Odd that it was the Germans who produced the Kat, you'd have thought an Italian stylist would have got there first. Maybe they were too busy doing Lotuses and assorted family cars

 

[Wedg1e]

As promised...

The bars were those multi-adjustable 'Jota' things. Orange screen edging was the outer sheath from a lawnmower power cable
Crash bars were ex-GSX750 with the front brackets chopped and rewelded to align with the 550's frame.

Er... yes, I was in the IAM...