yes you can paint them, although if you havent already and your pipes will look good, with them brushed with a wire wheel. just takes some time to nock off all the crap. I painted mine and here are some precautions.... 1st you are going to have to get all the crap off of them before you paint them, by then they should already look good, but it you must paint them take the time to prep them right first, and go ahead and spend the extra dollar and get the 1200 deg paint as opposed to the 500 deg. If you do paint them keep in mind dirt and sand etc stick to paint alot easier than metal or a clean pipe. I painted mine and they looked great for a while but after hours of riding it just seemed to bake the dirt and mud over the paint and created an almost kinda porcelin shell on them dirt color. Everyone is different and people will give you diff opinions but my advise just clean them thoroughly and if ya gotta paint them powder coat em and keep them very clean!!!!