I was thinking about painting these red.(headers)

1989 CBR 600 F1 Hurricane
Not sure what kind of temp I'd be dealing with so does anybody have recommendations on paint types/brands.

 

AFAIK, there's no paint that will last. Temps at the flange are routinely 650°F and higher, but the constant heating and cooling cycles seems to degrade most any paint over time.

I had some 1000°F VHT on a trail bike some years ago, and after about 2 years it looked like crap. I scrubbed it off, and 'painted' it again with . No big pretty colors, but they looked better than old beat-up paint, and the stuff is hydrophobic and easy to touch up when dinged. Paint it on, let it dry, and you can buff it up with a clean rag and it still looked pretty good after several years.

Another buddy went whole-hog and sent his pipes off to have them ceramic coated. Looked great, but I'd be in tears when road grunge eventually starts taking nicks and dings out of the nice pretty finish.

My F2 has an original set of Two Brothers headers, finished with a nickel plating. I'm amazed that they still look great after all these years...that plating is damned tough.

 

I agree that nothing will stick, especially when not new. Best effort is any auto store look for high heat header paint. It will come off and may look worst than if you left them alone.