Just thought I'd share my photo of the day! I've been reading up on methods to clean out my pipe of my Rev3 (I noticed a bit of smoking recently, particularly when riding between sections on a big loop, when the engine was running hot and for a few minutes). I am not losing any gearbox oil and have recently changed mains/seals, so suspected it was the exhaust. I guessed it was a build up of unburnt oil and crap and on examination I think it was the cause (I ride it a bit gently and probably never give it a good enough blast). There was also a fair amount of carbon too. I decided to try the burning method; I started things off with a small blow-lamp and also aimed the hot air gun down the pipe. It soon got glowing inside and then the oil ignited. Once it was going I left the hot air gun running. It took a few minutes before the flames went out. After allowing it to cool I tapped out some ash and the insides looked pretty clean. The aluminium mid section wasn't harmed in any way, but I did dull the chrome and introduce some nice blues/golds to the header pipe!, which is now carbon free. I cleaned and repacked the silencer in the usual way (no burning!).  I have yet to ride it properly but it seems to run cleanly, pulling well from idle, and sounds a bit less noisy. I'll report back after the weekend. Cheers.

Next time try a trickle of water from a hosepipe on the outside to control the heat so its just burning, you can clear the insides without it affecting the outside. Do it once a year and its a simple task that's worth the effort.

24 minutes ago, arthritic said:

Next time try a trickle of water from a hosepipe on the outside to control the heat so its just burning, you can clear the insides without it affecting the outside. Do it once a year and its a simple task that's worth the effort.

nice tip - thanks!