Torched my pipe today

[whyzee]

Went out to the garage at 11:30 to try the propane method, worked great.
Heated the pipe from the outside for quite a while and complete coverage with the torch. Then used a wooden mallet to tap the pipe. Man, the chunks that came out were huge. Did the same thing with the silencer innards. WOW!

A little background: I had tried to clean the stock pipe back in February when I did the top end and thought I had (oven cleaner) I used an 18" screwdriver and tried to scrape the carbon out. Back then I knew I did not get it all. Looking at the silencer inlet today I could see that restriction from carbon was down to less than a dime, pipe ID is about a quarter in size. The propane torch worked perfect for hardening and releasing the build-up.
Repacked the silencer
Changed the oil
Changed the air filter, refreshed the old one
Adjusted the chain
Man, I'm set to ride! :yeehaw:

 

[James]

Originally posted by 96whyzee125
Man, I'm set to ride! :yeehaw:

Are you racing at Parker Valley with us Saturday or planning a Sunday event?

 

[whyzee]

If riding at "Parker Valley" will make everyone happy then I will blow off the championship points race at Top Gun just so that I can hang out with youse guyes! :confused: So, I'll bring Dell so he can race that CR125 thang he found :eek: If his mommy will let him go. BTW, where the heck is the Parker Valley PTA at? :)

 

[Gary B.]

The flame won't go out with an oxy/acetelene torch, because it provides its own oxygen, unlike a cheap propane torch. Yes, I did it from the outside, which is why I had to repaint.

 

[Ray30+Vet]

Has anyone ever tried using a gas grill to bake the pipe?

 

[Jaybird]

Any radiator shop can boil out the pipe for 20-30 bucs.

 

[motometal]

great idea woodsrider with shaking the chain around.

I baked my pipe in a heat treat furnace for a few hours at 600 F. This definitely helped (did it on the stock pipe), and the stock paint was unaffected (probably made it tougher!) Definitely no oil left inside! I weighed the pipe and it lost over a pound between the oil and the carbon I got out!

If I had to do it again, I would try 650 or 700F...I think the paint can handle it, and I could always repaint if I had to.

Another thing I did (after the baking ) was to put it in my chest-type deep freeze. I then banged on it with a hammer while it was still cold. My theory is that this makes the carbon more brittle.

 

[kawakx125]

how often should the pipe be cleaned and silencer repacked on a 2003 kx 125

 

[Zerotact]

There was a drain cleaner called something like " liquid fire " or something like that, that is supposed to be used only on metal pipes... We used it to clean our baking pans at a resteraunt, and the grease pits... MEybe it woiuld work here too.

 

[ericlachance]

How can I clean an fmf pipe? The damn things are chromed. I can't even imagin how horrible it would look after torching it. Also, i've read in an old 80's motorcycle book about attatching an ald metal cable with a frayed end in a drill and inserting it into the pipe to get the carbone out. With the drill pinned, the frayed end of the cable should scrape the inside of the pipe pretty clean. Never tried it though, so I can't confirm if it works or not.

SS

 

[jacksoj]

I've never tried this on a 2 stroke before, but a sandblaster pointed down the exhaust pipe will clean the carbon out of a 4 stroke headpipe. Seems like it should work on a 2 stroke as well.

 

[jaypro55]

I've heard that some people (who don't have a torch handy) just throw their pipes and silencers in a fire, let them burn and get hot for a few hours, then do the same process here, hit them with a rubber mallet and let the burnt on pieces of carbon fall out. Will that work too?

 

[whyzee]

Originally posted by jaypro55
I've heard that some people (who don't have a torch handy) just throw their pipes and silencers in a fire, let them burn and get hot for a few hours, then do the same process here, hit them with a rubber mallet and let the burnt on pieces of carbon fall out. Will that work too?

I think the aluminum on the silencer would not withstand the heat of a fire.

 

[Rcannon]

How about a bent coat hanger in a makita type drill? We did this years ago, but is it effective?

 

[BadCRC]

So, if I were to use a PROPANE torch on my PC Platinum pipe... Roughly how long do you heat it up? (Heating from the outside.) I'm a newb and I don't want to melt the thing! :confused:

I was always under the impression that the propane torch wouldn't get it hot enough, but obviously some of you guys had good results. :thumb: