I’ve got a Honda CBF125 and it has a matt black exhaust - around the joins a little rust has started to appear.A mate of mine said that used to have the same problem on an old bike of his and he said he just used to take the exhaust off occasional and paint it…
Anything else I can do to fix it?
Cheers 
Get a Suzuki;)
that can be sorted under warranty, go see your supplying dealer 
Cheers John - will give em a ding 
any issues 2 years 
If not, 3in1 oil helps lift a lot of rust mate…
My header pipes on my old bike were very rusty - so took them off and wire wolled them down to metal again… coated them in 3in1 oil…
then a day later wiped all that off and washed and dried them and did a few coats of heatprrof matt black - them put them back on - looked sweet.
But mine was NOT covered by warantee…
the Yamaha LC’s used to suffer from this as the black chrome they used wasn’t up to the job in our climate, if you can’t get it fixed under warranty, then sperex high temp paint is the answer, or even BBQ paint as that is designed to live in high temps, the ultimate cure is to have the exhaust ceramic coated, but that is likely to be very expensive:w00t:
So…
I got spoke to the Honda dealership today and popped in there to let them have a look at the exhaust.
I was told that they can’t do anything about it, that Honda won’t accept that job under warranty and if he sent it off to them, they would just send it back and they’d have to charge me for sending it away.
He then said that it happens because they use cheap paint on it and it can’t withstand the heat.
So I asked: "What should I do then? Wait until a hole rusts through it and then bring it back for a warranty repair? He said yeah, or get some heat proof paint and paint it yourself.
Nice warranty. They use cheap paint and I have to foot the bill and do the work. I know this problem is common to matt black exhausts, but so do Honda and they’re still selling the things; I reckon they have a duty of care to either ensure this doesn’t happen, or to not use matt black exhausts!
We then had rather a strange conversation about washing the bike - I’ll bow to the greater knowledge of more experienced bikers on this matter, but it sounded a bit far fetched to me…
I mentioned that I was disappointed with the rust situation because I’d been trying to keep the bike in good nick to keep the resale value up, including washing it thoroughly once a week.
He asked me if I washed the bike using warm or cold water. I said warm water and he said: “ah, well that’s it then - that’s where you’re going wrong. You should always use cold water because warm water activates the salt that you pick up from the road and starts the corrosion process…”
In hindsight, I thought we’d established that it was cheap paint that couldn’t stand the heat but it seems my using warm water to wash it is the cause…
Any thoughts on that???
Any thoughts on the overall situation???
Be good to hear.
As an aside, he also mentioned that Fireblades also suffer with this matt black exhaust problem…
Sounds like Honda never learn:D
I remember in the '80s they always had problems with black painted link piped on Superdreams, CX500s and the like. They still use cr@p poster paints on these bits and expect them to last.
Wire brush and a pot of VHT paint will sort it. I’m not saying it’s the morally correct thing to do but do you really want a pile of grief?
Cheers CM - just spoke to a mate who has been riding for 30-odd years and he recommended the same as you, so looks like I’ll have to just get on with it.
Am still going to send off a stinking email to Honda, even though it seems their stock response is: “Sorry you are disappointed, we will add your comments to our database”.
Fokkers.
It is pretty standard for the black painted exhausts on most small bikes and scooters. Just get a wire brush, a can of Halford’s exhaust paint, and depending on how hot the exhaust gets, paint it once a month, or once a season.
After a bit of emailing back and forth with Honda, they have accepted that for the paint to come away and for the exhaust to start rusting after just 2 months is not acceptable and have agreed to replace the exhaust under warranty
I pointed out half a dozen reasons why I thought the bike did not comply with the Sale Of Goods Act and they have now agreed, so will get it sorted in a week or so.
Result!
Well done mate. Saw that on Sunday and thought it looked a bit rum for a brand new bike. Surprising what you can get when you ask and state your case. The other day I got a parking ticket cancelled that I thought I’d never have a chance on.
Well done Stevie:cool:
Save the advice though as I bet the same happens to the new one:doze:
That’s a right result, nice one
Considering I’ve cleaned every weekend since I got it in an attempt to keep it pristine for the resale value, I really weren’t happy about it - will be sure to use cold water instead of warm from now on as well
Well done on the parking ticket - I’d take my chances with Honda over a parking inspector any day of the week
Cheers CM - I’m already preparing for that one - I’m convinced it will happen again! But I don’t see how Honda will be able to justify not doing it again if they’ve admitted it’s wrong this time (no doubt they will try and get around it :D)
Hehe… maybe I can get them to fit a nice chrome aftermarket to make me go away… <ducks to avoid the winged pig>
Cheers Sam - will let y’all know how I get on
