Hey all,
I bought my zx14 a few weeks ago. I decided to start the bike up last night and on the cold start the the headers started to slightly glow orange. The slight glowing went away when the idle came down after the bike warmed up a little. The only mods to the bike is a muzzy full exhaust and a power commander V with auto tune. Could this be caused by the outside temp being around 25 degrees F or maybe a tune issue?

Thanks in advanced for all the help in advance
Tomas

Sheeesh!Glowing Header pipes?....NEVER heard of that one(seriously).Guess I'll have to check mine next power up.That Auto tune does change the fuel mix and stuff,right?

* Last updated by: blue07 on 2/21/2011 @ 2:40 PM *

I am still actually trying to find out how the Power commander and the auto tune work. I still have to check the what tune the actual file is on the PC. I got the impression that it was due to the cold I just want to make sure that the bike is not running lean and ask you guys if this was normal. The bike is a 2009 if that makes a difference.

Tomas

I've only seen pictures...

Here's the thread the pic is from... "Hey guys I got a silly question. I bought the yoshimura trc full system for my 07. I bought (stole) the 07 new, last march. Boutht a lot of toys to put on it. had some health issue wich put it all on hold. Last week I installed the system and pcIII. The company said they installed a map for the system with flies in, and stock air filter. What a sound. nice. But i was working in the garage and fired it up and let it warm up. I noticed the header glowing red. The temp was moving between one and two bars. I figured thin walled ss system, yeah its going to glow. rode it to work. Temp bar stayed in the 2 bar zone. Of course it was 10 to 20 F outside. Does anyone know if the system is supose to get that hot. After thinking about it, I am concerned. Do not want to damage the engine. But the system is nice and the power has picked up. THANKS for any and all advice"

I don't know if they guy ever figured it out. I've never noticed my headers glowing.

Mine was definitely not glowing to that extent. You could see it was glowing but it wasn't as bright as the picture above.

Tomas

It aint supposed to be glowing.No way.Somethin's not okay there.Lean...maybe...but your engine temp should have come up significantly if it was too lean...lean enough to cause yer red pipes.Nah...it's somethin else...PERHAPS...cheap walled headers as was mentioned?Maybe counterfeits?IDK...low outside temp would discourage an overheat I would think.Not make it worse.I'm thinkin the key deal here is..."they were glowing when the ENGINE WAS AT HIGH IDLE"...then went away when she dropped back down.Okay...so MAYBE you have a serious lean condition at above stock idle...but not up further?Better get that sorted.I'd be real concerned about red pipes.(or glowing)

* Last updated by: blue07 on 2/22/2011 @ 12:53 AM *

I updated the tune to a full muzzy exhaust tune. The outcome was the same. Now I will try to get my auto tune working to get a reading so i can see how the bike is running. If the bike has a good a/f ratio then i believe it is just a thin exhaust coupled with the fact that bike run hotter when they have low miles (300 miles).

Tomas

To me, it sounds like the alloy of metal used is at fault here. If there were any way you could temporarily swap header pipes with similar diameter from a different company, I'd be willing to be bet you'd have vastly different results - aka no glowing.

The bikes turn red within 1-2~mins of high idle and when it idles down no more glow. Once i can see the a/r ratio i will be more comfortable. I also do believe it is the exhaust. I will take some picture tomorrow morning.

Also i seem not to be able to get the auto to work (the a/f ratio reads 0.00). I believe it is because of the missing terminator plugs. I know that the PCV itself doesn't have one but the autotune module i am unsure about. I will be checking when i get home from school. I hope that it is the only issue.

Tomas

Also i don't have the stock system to swap exhausts

Tomas

I believe it is because of the missing terminator plugs.

Yep.

If there is no termination plug in the PCV itself does that matter?

Tomas

If there is no termination plug in the PCV itself does that matter?

Nope. Just need to have a terminator in the unused port on the Autotune.

Hey guys, i just got the auto tune up and running. The bike at high idle and when it idles down has and a/f ratio of around 16-17. Then under any acceleration the bike goes around 12-14. Seems all is well. Just trying to confirm with you guys. Bike runs good and doesn't smoke or anything weird.

Tomas