I decided I wasn't a huge fan of the chrome pipes on the bike. They just don't really flow with the rest of the chrome-less bike so I decided to paint the muffler canisters. I'd do the entire exhaust, but I'd prefer a little bit of chrome over terribly faded black that the upper portions of the exhaust would turn to. I might at least do up to the exhaust clamp later, but for now I think this is a nice change.

I know there is only one pictured, and only one side shown, but both sides were done :thumbup:.

P.S.
Is it just me or am I one of the few still playing around with modifying a Pregen lately?

Writeup

Required items:
Metal Primer
High temp paint (500*F +, I used 1200* paint myself)
3/8" ratchet
12mm socket
14mm socket
14mm wrench
150-200 grit sand paper

Optional:
1000-2000 grit sand paper
Clear coat

Remove the exhaust
1. There are two bolts holding the exhaust on the bike. One is on the passenger's foot peg and the other will be the clamp at the bottom of your fairings.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/Timon_479/Ninja%20250R/Painted%20Exhaust/Photo0288-1.jpg

2. Using a 14mm socket on one side, and if needed, a 14mm wrench on the other side to hold the nut, remove the bolts from the passenger's foot peg.
3. Using a 12mm socket (no wrench required as the nut on the clamps is welded) loosen the bolt for the clamp (no need to remove it all the way).
4. Wiggle the exhaust side to side as you slightly tug towards the back of the bike. It should come out with no problems.
5. Rinse and repeat for the opposite side.

Painting
1. Sand down the portion of the exhaust you wish to paint. Depending on the primer you use you'll want to go about 150-200 grit sand paper. If you have multiple sets you can start with a rough grit such as 100-120 and then work your way up (the higher the grit the smoother the finish). Continue to do this until all of the shiny, reflective properties of the chrome is gone, see the below example.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/Timon_479/Ninja%20250R/Painted%20Exhaust/Photo0285.jpg
Left - sanded, Right - stock

2. Thoroughly clean the exhaust off as much as you can. You can obtain wax and grease remover from almost anywhere if needed.
3. Using masking tape and some paper/bags tape off the portion of the exhaust you do not want painted.
4. Hang or set the exhaust somewhere you'll have access to the entire cylinder at the same time.
5. Using the primer spray on 2-3 coats at about 6-8 inches away from the exhaust, follow the instructions on the can.
6. Wait 3-5 minutes between coats of primer and ultimately 10 minutes after you're done with the last coat before moving onto the base coat (again follow the instructions on the can for best results).
7. Lay on the base coat starting very light. Same thing about 5 minutes between coats, but you can put on as many coats as needed. I put on about 4 coats.
8. Let it dry overnight before handling and make sure you allow the paint to fully cure as per the instructions. The below picture shows how mine came out the next day.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/Timon_479/Ninja%20250R/Painted%20Exhaust/Photo0287-1.jpg

Optionally if you're looking for a super mirror finish, after the pipes are dried you can wet sand them. Usually it's good to start with 1000, then follow up with 1200-1500. Make sure to polish them up for a nice mirror shine. Then add some clear coat to the mix to help protect it and wet sand the clear coat as needed to prevent orange peel.

Re-installation
Reinstall is pretty simple and straight forward - reverse of removal.
1. Make sure the clamp is on the exhaust and side it over header pipe. This can be a little tough to get it to slide in. I used the back end of one of my ratchets to slowly tap right behind the exhaust clamp while applying a small bit of pressure towards the front of the bike.
2. I recommend putting on the rear bolt first so pull out your 14mm socket and wrench. It's easiest to put the bolt with the peg through the bracket on the bike and then slightly lift the exhaust up onto the bolt. Slide the nut over the other end and tighten it down.
3. Now using your 12mm socket tight down the clamp.

Viola, enjoy your newly painted exhaust pipes.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/Timon_479/Ninja%20250R/6-27-11/SDC11623.jpg

P.S.
Is it just me or am I one of the few still playing around with modifying a Pregen lately?

Not at all. I have an 07' and I'm still doing all sorts of things with it. I just painted my cans red about 3 weeks ago, and now I'm going to run them black like yours.

Looks good Timon! Go Team Blue!

I have an '01 and am always doing something to it, so no you are not alone. What kind of paint did you use to paint the cans? Let us know how well it holds up.

The stock black ones on my '04 are a little ragged looking. Yeah- give us a writeup :thumbup:.

Mek, glad to know I'm not the only one left :). Any pics of the red cans? Sounds interesting. I almost did blue or white on mine but I settled on black to match the engine.

Snake, thanks :). Blue team ftmfw (blue is the fastest)!

Darrell, again I'm not the only one :). I used Rust-oleum high temp black paint and Krylon primer. See the write up for pics.

Rascal, good idea on the write up, done!

Mek, glad to know I'm not the only one left :). Any pics of the red cans? Sounds interesting. I almost did blue or white on mine but I settled on black to match the engine.

Snake, thanks :). Blue team ftmfw (blue is the fastest)!

Darrell, again I'm not the only one :). I used Rust-oleum high temp black paint and Krylon primer. See the write up for pics.

Rascal, good idea on the write up, done!

:D

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76285

Nice! I like the idea of the red, but as others mentioned it is a bit much. An idea is you can paint the exhaust black, but the end cap red. That would even out the red in the back to the red in the front and probably would look pretty good. In fact since it's already red, you could tape off the caps and paint the rest black and be done :).

Looks very nice Tim. Has a nice sheen to them that goes well with your bike.

On topic. I havent seen anyone do anything trick like:

Frog tape an area of chrome
Trim out a design or stencil in the frog tape with a razor
sand the rest of the chrome as you did
high temp paint the can
let dry
remove frog tape

The left over chrome design would pop :cool:

Have fun, ride safe

Timon, i also wantred to ask how do you like those mirrors? are they more functional than stock? i've been considering them myself. the price is right and they look really good

You're right on the price being right, they were like $40 or $50 iirc. Overall I do like the mirrors, the convex works wonders vs the flat face of the stock mirrors. There's a bit more adjust-ability with these vs stock.

I think the biggest problem I have with them is the vibrations. The mirrors, even when tightened and mounted vibrate a lot more than the stock do. I think this is mainly b/c the mirror itself has it's own adjustments, which allow the mirror to vibrate separate from the rest of the bike, as where the stock mirrors have to vibrate with the bike making them seem a lot more solid when riding.

The integrated signals are probably the best and mainly the only reason I went with the GSXR mirrors. This allowed me to have flush mounts, while still maintaining high visibility.

As for stock vs GSXR mirrors, I'd say if you don't mind a little DIY the GSXR mirrors are an excellent upgrade. It is extremely easy to do once you see the one magical piece you're looking for. When you take apart your stock mirrors you'll see this little piece - this is the essential piece of making the Ninja mirrors swivel up, down, left, and right. You can use anything similar to it.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/Timon_479/Ninja%20250R/GSXR%20Mirrors/Photo0291-1.jpg http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/Timon_479/Ninja%20250R/GSXR%20Mirrors/Photo0292.jpg

You technically can use these stock pieces, but when I tried one held fine, but the other one cracked due to pressure when tightening the mirror to the mount.

Best of luck if you attempt the retrofit, I'm sure you can do a better DIY than I did as I wasn't originally planning to do one.

Grille paint (1200 degrees) really is not high temp. paint but hopefully it will last you, though I can't seem how if you go on any long rides at all. Should have searched, though it might have been a private message I posted. Their is a guy named Hirsch up in Brooklyn N. Y. who started selling his paint in spray cans so guys wouldn't need to get cup sprayers and generators. He does alot of muffler but mainly engine blocks which include the manifolds which get the hottest. I have cans of his primer, silver chrome, grey, and black paints. They're good upto like 2400 degrees or something. Haven't had reason in a long while to check him out cause his **** worked on everything I used it on. I know for a fact he's in business though. So if you need him he's there. Best of luck.

coondog does he have a website? I'm thinking about sanding and painting my headers black because theyre discolored and rough and look bad.

coondog does he have a website? I'm thinking about sanding and painting my headers black because theyre discolored and rough and look bad.

Black exhaust header wrap is another option. Not as cheap as a can of paint, but if money is no issue it would save you some time and maybe benefit your bike as well.

I'd just hand sand with the headers on the bike and throw on black wrap.

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance-Products/JEGS-Premium-Exhaust-Header-Wrap/1202563/10002/-1

Good luck

Two other options instead of waiting overnight for the paint to dry:

1. speed up the drying process with a heat gun
2. install them back on the bike and go for a ride to let the exhaust heat help cure the paint

I used a combination of the two on my R6 and my wife's Ninja 250 may be getting the same black paint treatment soon.

Black exhaust header wrap is another option. Not as cheap as a can of paint, but if money is no issue it would save you some time and maybe benefit your bike as well.

I'd just hand sand with the headers on the bike and throw on black wrap.

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance-Products/JEGS-Premium-Exhaust-Header-Wrap/1202563/10002/-1

Good luck

Wraps have always been and will be negative attributes for a motorcycle, mouth.

great write up. lots of good details ppl over look and forget to say. may have to do this to my wife bike for her

I thought the OEM chrome finish is more durable than the paint.

Looks good

Wraps have always been and will be negative attributes for a motorcycle, mouth.

This is a matter of opinion.

one question thou,

how does the the clear coat hold up to the heat or did you find high temp clear coat??