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I had my Supertrapp ceramic coated a few years ago and wanted to give some insight to those looking into doing this to their exhaust. There are some things I wish I would have known before I did it. First is the cost. It cost about $300 to have the pipes and muffler coated black and looked pretty good for about 3 years. Second was the color. I noticed towards the heads it started turning a reddish color early on. Third was the durability. The coating held up well for a while and then started flaking off in spots. Also, the coating scratches very easy. After 3 years it started looking bad enough to either need to redo it for another $300 or have the coating removed. I decided to have the coating removed, which takes me to the last thing I wish I knew, which is that it is very difficult to remove. I had a heck of a time finding a shop to do it. I asked the shop that coated it if they could remove it and they said no which I thought was pretty lame. To me if you can apply something you should be able to remove it. To get the pipe back to raw stainless, it needs to be chemically stripped, media blasted, and polished. Ironically it will cost another $300 to have it stripped and polished. The Supertrapp can be purchased polished but it is another $150 which I skipped as I was going to coat it, so in the end my three year ceramic coating adventure ran me about $450. Anyway, just some food for thought for anyone looking to coat their exhaust. High temp paint seems to be a better option as it is cheap and easily removed. I figured the ceramic coating would be much more durable, but it really didn't seem to be.
My Python slip-on mufflers were black ceramic coated from new, the coating was a matt finish but after seven years the coating was starting to come off and the mufflers were showing spots of rust. I had them powder coated with a gloss high temperature resistant powder in 2019, the coating is holding up well after four years so far, I also had the header pipe heat shields done at the same time so that the match the mufflers. It cost me Ł60.00 to have the powder coating done, I think t was a cost effective solution compared to having them ceramic coated again.
My Python slip-on mufflers were black ceramic coated from new, the coating was a matt finish but after seven years the coating was starting to come off and the mufflers were showing spots of rust. I had them powder coated with a gloss high temperature resistant powder in 2019, the coating is holding up well after four years so far, I also had the header pipe heat shields done at the same time so that the match the mufflers. It cost me Ł60.00 to have the powder coating done, I think t was a cost effective solution compared to having them ceramic coated again.
That's a bummer. I wonder if it was due to poor prep, application or product used. I would have expected better results too.
For anyone interested in powdercoating their exhaust, I would suggest Cerakote high temp ceramic coating for exhaust. The glacier black looks gorgeous. In my opinion the quality and look of the finish is much better than the general powder coatings used.
Last edited by MattLS6; Oct 23, 2023 at 09:45 AM.
Reason: added pic
That's a bummer. I wonder if it was due to poor prep, application or product used. I would have expected better results too.
No, I don't think so. I've been using this shop for many years and no issues. I have other things ceramic coated on the bike that I had done at the same time that still look great. I think the exhaust just takes a beating because of the heat, vibration, and, mainly, where it is located on the bike. Over the years it just takes a toll. I've had intakes and headers on my cars done and those stay beautiful forever but they are generally protected from the elements and you don't take them on and off as often. My biggest issue is how hard it is to get the stuff removed. I still haven't got my pipes back from being stripped so I am hoping they didn't screw them up.
Last edited by OCSpringer; Oct 23, 2023 at 10:33 AM.
No, I don't think so. I've been using this shop for many years and no issues. I have other things ceramic coated on the bike that I had done at the same time that still look great. I think the exhaust just takes a beating because of the heat, vibration, and, mainly, where it is located on the bike. Over the years it just takes a toll. I've had intakes and headers on my cars done and those stay beautiful forever but they are generally protected from the elements and you don't take them on and off as often. My biggest issue is how hard it is to get the stuff removed. I still haven't got my pipes back from being stripped so I am hoping they didn't screw them up.
Yeah, that definitely makes sense. I knew stripping chrome was a process but didn't realize the same went for ceramic coating, definitely puts things into perspective.
The powder coating specialists who recoated my exhaust, bead blasted the ceramic coating from my mufflers to remove it, the blasting created a key for the powder coating to adhere to.
Last edited by Rob Roy's Revenge; Oct 23, 2023 at 01:09 PM.
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Ceramic coating exhaust
