Quote Originally Posted by 4DI2D View Post
I fail to see how the heat shields could reach 400* without softening or melting the adjacent plastic body panels.

The exhaust gasses are cooling during their passage through the system and the only way to get excessive heat to the back would be to ride at full throttle for an extended period of time, which would also provide significant cooling from air flow over the pipes.

The drawback to chrome or any shiny surface is that it tends to retain heat while dull finishes and dark (black) finishes radiate heat more efficiently.

(The Harley flat black engines run cooler than the ones with a polished finish. It also works on the oil bag.)
Vincent Black Shadows ran cooler than Rapides for the same reason. As far as exhaust/heat shield temp I will try and get an infrared reading in the next few days, then we will know.