Collector rattle

[IH Truck Guy]

After reading the great article on how to fix the "H" pipe baffle rattle,I'm wondering if any one has tried this without removing it from the bike????

The only down side that I see is trying to weld it back together while laying on your back. Any thoughts??????????

[Yammer Dan]

Could be done if you can weld that good. Getting under it enough would be a problem.

[ADC]

Muffinman says you can get to it with a long pair of needelnose pliers,I need to do mine,haven't tried it yet.

Arthur

[Paul]

Did mine last year and it wasnt a big deal to get off and even easier to put back on. To do it on the bike the way mine was (little cheesy spotweld broke loose on the center piece with the hole in it) would be a little tough on the bike as i had to get in with a pair of longer vice grips and twist and turn to get it yanked out and then it needed cleaned up a bit with the grinder with the cutting wheel for the remaining pieces that would not pull out. I think it would be so much easier with it off the bike where you can move it around a little bit where under the bike would be a big pain to get it all yanked out and cleaned up without stuff falling in your face. It took about half an hour to get mine off and I think it is worth the little extra time to put it on the bench and cut clean and weld it back together than to try to do it in place. Also mine had a tab cracked where it bolts on which I think is very common but you would never notice it if you didnt have it off and clean it up, I actually had the flap welded and was cleaning the rest of it off real good before I was getting ready to put back on when I noticed the tab was cracked at the weld which I then fixed and put back on.

Trying to save a little time on this by leaving it in place i think will make it turn into a project that will take longer than if you pulled it down and did it from the bench.

Paul

[rhncue]

Did mine last year and it wasnt a big deal to get off and even easier to put back on. To do it on the bike the way mine was (little cheesy spotweld broke loose on the center piece with the hole in it) would be a little tough on the bike as i had to get in with a pair of longer vice grips and twist and turn to get it yanked out and then it needed cleaned up a bit with the grinder with the cutting wheel for the remaining pieces that would not pull out. I think it would be so much easier with it off the bike where you can move it around a little bit where under the bike would be a big pain to get it all yanked out and cleaned up without stuff falling in your face. It took about half an hour to get mine off and I think it is worth the little extra time to put it on the bench and cut clean and weld it back together than to try to do it in place. Also mine had a tab cracked where it bolts on which I think is very common but you would never notice it if you didnt have it off and clean it up, I actually had the flap welded and was cleaning the rest of it off real good before I was getting ready to put back on when I noticed the tab was cracked at the weld which I then fixed and put back on.

Trying to save a little time on this by leaving it in place i think will make it turn into a project that will take longer than if you pulled it down and did it from the bench.

Paul

 

I have to agree 1000% here. It's not that difficult to get off and much easier to reinstall. All I did was loosen all pipe connections, at muffler, at heads, at collector and unbolted collector from engine. I just worked the loosened connections, creating more play until the collector dropped down from the rear pipes. Once off, all of the rust can be removed from the pipe connectors to access if they are in need of repair also from heat and rust. I cut a H patterned cut in the bottom of the collector with a small hand grinder, peeled open the collector, removed baffles, refolded and re-welded the collector and painted with high temp. paint. I also had to replace the necks on the rear of the collector where the mufflers connect as they were about ate away. I just took the collector with me to a Auto parts store that had a number of different size and bends of pipe connections and found a couple close to what was needed. Marked how they would go back on and then chopped off the old and put on the new.

 

There was someone on Venture.Org who was making new ones for these bikes out of both steel and stainless that weren't as constricting and supposedly giving more power. I don't know if he is still making them or not.

I redid mine about 8 years ago and it is still solid and not leaking.

 

Dick

[Gearhead]

What do the collector baffles do, anyway? Noise level reduction? Do you notice any exhaust tone difference afterward?

 

Jeremy

[Paul]

With mine I noticed a little different sound sort of like a slightly louder throatier sound, a little deeper. But not that much of a difference, but I am sure if I jumped on someones that wasnt done I would notice a difference. . I sort of like the louder sound anyway and am thinking of poking out the mufflers a bit. When I had the exhaust off I fired it up and it sounded like a small block with headers which I loved but was way to excessive. But removing the guts makes more airflow which is never a bad thing as far as I am concerned.

Paul

[Gearhead]

GeorgeS wrote a comprehensive article with pics posted here on gutting the mufflers.

 

I started mine with 1 muff off and ya, pretty exciting noises reverberating off the garage walls! But while I like the sound and am sorely tempted to let more rumble out, I also like the quiet ride of this full-dress touring bike. I have a Virago with Jardines for the rowdy sound. : )

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Jeremy