Seeking advice from an experienced mechanic

[Apostle]

Guys, I need your guess/advice/opinion.

I took a short 2 hour ride yesterday night. The evening in Seattle was nice and not hot at all... At the time when I got back to garage the temperature was about 54F. During the ride everything was OK. There were no problems with engine or anything else. There was nothing unusual. So... yesterday I didn't turn light in the garage, parked the bike and was ready to leave, but what I saw kept me worring all the night... I had never seen such thing on my bike before. My right pipe (just in the place where it connected to cylinder) was reddish. No, it was not bright red as on the picture most of you probably saw here, when one crazy guy was running idle for a long time. No, but it was dark reddish color.... It was very noticeable. It means that engine was hot. I compared it with left pipe and didn't see the same color. Of course both pipes were hot, but to be a red color... So, now I'm wondering what caused it. My bike is well maintaned. It's about 3 years old and has only 12k miles on it. Fresh oil and filter every 3k miles, valve adjustment, throtlle body adjustment + I always check for a right oil level and yesterday checked it twice during the ride.

What could cause such temperature in 54F evening? Am I just paranoid (and just never saw this reddish color because I usually park bike with garage light ON) and it is OK for the bike _OR_ it is a possible problem indicator?

Thank you in advance for all your ideas,
Apostle

[daslimpet]

I'm a LONNNNG way from being an experienced mechanic....

....but the outside temperature has less impact on how hot an exhaust pipe gets than you might think. The one side with the reddish glow could have been from that cylinder running more lean, or it just may be the side that got the least wind on your way home.



Quickest way to check would be to remove the spark plug from both sides and see if the ceramic insulator is a lighter shade than the one from the other (non-glowing) side. If so, something is amiss somewhere and more troubleshooting is called for.

If not, there is prolly less need for worry. How is the bike running otherwise?

[DJ Downunder]

What could cause such temperature in 54F evening? Am I just paranoid

I think it's one of those...'They all do that things'...

DJ

[CycleRob]

Rider daslimpet's advice is good. Remove and check both sparkplug center insulators. If one is darker than the other, purchase a bottle of "fuel injector cleaner" and follow the doseage ratio exactly. You must avoid adding an excess at all costs as it can wash valve stems and cylinder walls of their lube oil. It's much better to use a weaker dose spanning 4 tankfulls (a quarter bottle each fillup) than only 2 tankfulls (a half bottle).

I suspect that 3 years and 12K miles may have one injector spraying a little sloppy from dried fuel deposits. It's not a big problem that should keep you up nights (the 1 red pipe) but one you can give your best shot with an easy and inexpensive cleaning regime.

Come to think of it . . . my bike is due for a FIC treatment too.

[towerworker]

CyclerRob--

Any reccommendations on fuel injection cleaner? The only one I have used was many years ago on a Z28. Techron made by Chevron. I see many different types on the shelves today.

Wayne
03r

btw---final drive is still dry and leak free!

[ProductUser]

I've read from others that BGK44 is pretty good. I have not used this product.

ProductUser