Exhaust condensate relief trick

[Guest]

Back in the day when we owned Honda CB750's and resided in a dense urban city, the local dealers told us that short trips with our bikes would lead to premature rusting of our exhaust systems and would not be covered by warranties.

His recommendation as to drill small holes at the lowest points of all four exhaust pipes to allow the condensate to drain rather than sit in the pipe and cause rust to form.

I just installed a decent used factory exhaust system to my GS1100E. With all the effort to find this system and with the crazy $ I paid for it, I'd hate to see this setup rust away with all the short hops I do with my bike.

Do you think drilling out holes at the bottom of the pipes would thwart the potential of rust forming or are these pipes more resilient ?

[Steve]

Are you sure that there aren't any holes already? I have seen holes in most of the GS exhausts that I have seen.

Another way to eiliminate condensation is to not start the engine unless you plan on going for a ride to warm it up fully.

Yep, that means no more "vroom, VROOM" sessions in the middle of winter to "keep the battery charged" or "to keep the fluids moving".

.

[Grimly]

If it's a full stainless system it won't be bothered by a bit of water. Condensate drain holes weren't often put in factory systems, so they'd rust out and get sales of replacements - or perhaps I'm being a bit cynical. Whatever the reason for the oversight, it wasn't long before people were drilling small drain holes to lengthen the expected life of their mufflers and it became common to find these holes, either put there by POs or even in aftermarket systems, put there by the makers.

[JEEPRUSTY]

my pipes have said small hole from the factory

[JTGS850GL]

Yep, mine too.

[Nessism]

My exhaust has the holes too. I've seen several factory exhaust where the holes are plugged up by rust flakes though, so you need to make sure the holes are open.

[Grimly]

I've seen more factory systems of various makes without holes than with, especially back then. Quick-rot exhausts were common.

[derwood]

all my factory exhausts have drain holes, except the FLTR

[Mercaholic]

Wow, found the holes in the acquired set but they were plugged and being black colored pipes, missed seeing them.

Great feedback folks....thanks