Quick bafflectomy question

[Thruxtonian]

I should. Don't know any good places around here. What should I be paying for a dyno run anyway?? I'd really like to get the SH on there and see what it's putting out!
Question for Kirkus-from looking at the cutaway pics above, the tailpipe is offset from the next one in. When using your method, am I trying to get the drift down the center of the next pipe, or just going through the baffles. Also, did you do this on the bike? I'm a little hesitant to pound away at the pipes with a 5# sledge, for fear of causing an exhaust leak, or worse damaging the header flange or studs. Any thoughts?

 

[Thruxtonian]

Hey, where did everyone go????

 

[koifarm]

Out riding Thrux,
Okay, it's time to shit or get off the pot!:eeek: Dyno runs here are three for $40, others have paid up to $60 but it varies from dealer to dealer.
Now, go out to your garage, get a long piece of metal (goto Home Depot and get a "ground rod") sharpen the end, put it in your pipe and pound the shit out of it....(figuratively speaking, it won"t be all that hard and won't damage the muffler at all), just punch through all the baffles once, start the bike, listen, if you want more sound, punch a few more holes in it.
C'mon now, walk out to your garage, pick up a hammer..................you can do it!:chair::cheer::ride::cheers::woot:

 

[Kirkus51]

I did mine to appox 10-12 inches with the drift. Not very far, but far enough to get more pipe and less Sewing machine. NOw if I had sharpened the drift.....

 

[Sal Paradise]

Seriously Thrux,

Look;

Very good results - 1/2 inch rebar .

Questions?

Sal

 

[Thruxtonian]

Yea, I do have a question, what's the picture of? Nothing shows up...

Ok, I tried a hole saw today, but all it did was scuff the back of the pipe, so I went to HD (that's home depot, not harley davidson. See how efficient that was, I abbreviated to save having to type out the whole name, so instead of 9 letters, it ended up being like 78) and I bought the rem-grit hole saw. Ran out of time today, I'll do it in the morning. Decided to take that approach first, see how it sounds, then if I still need more I'll try the re-bar thing. Also, I looked at hd today and couldn't find the 3' drift. I'll try re-bar if I get to that point.

 

[koifarm]

Awwwwriiigh....go for it Thrux, the rem grit is gonna take some work but it will work in the end.....don't forget to cover the wheel against the dust. They also have long bits in HD.

 

[Thruxtonian]

Update, bafflectomy done

First of all, once I got out there and started looking, My #4 (the rearmost one) baffle is not perforated as the pic above shows., it's solid. Don't know if that was one of the '06 changes people have mentioned or not, but mine's an '07.
Anyway, I did mine a little differently than all of the suggestions, really just out of laziness. Didn't have a 3' drift, couldn't locate one at Home Depot, so I ended up finding an old 3/4" spade bit in the garage that was about 10" long. Just put that in my drill and drilled a hole in the first baffle right next to the hole that's already there. Not sure I'm done yet, but that's it for now. It's just slightly deeper sound, but not loud enough to wake the neighbors. Definately seems to run better tho. Did 160 Miles yesterday, out to pick up my new seat, and she's got great mid-range pull. I may still do the hole-saw to the rear of the pipe, but I'm considering for two reasons, 1st, when I did it to my other bike, it got too loud. Also, since it seems to be running great now, I don't wanna go too far and make it lean again. It's been re-jetted prior to my bafflectomy, bt the dealer did it, and I don't know what the settings are.
BTW, I noticed yesterday that my right headpipe is gold all the way to the crossover, but the left isn't. How much of the discoloring that our pipes do is affected by jetting? and would the difference between pipes indicate one carb may be richer/leaner than the other? Seems like the right carb may be leaner, causing that cyl to run hotter and discolor the pipe. Is that logic reasonable?

 

[etherman]

I just did my 08 BB, you need to get a 1 1/8 deep hole saw the 1 1/4 is too big. You're going to need to go in at least 2 inches, thats why you need a deep hole saw. They're two areas you need too drill through, the one you can see and the area further back that you can't see. The key is getting both areas drilled out. After that they pull out real easy.:rockon:

 

[Thruxtonian]

Pics

Here's a photo of what I did. In the last pic you can plainly see that the baffle nearest the end is solid on my '07. Also, since this photo, I took a lenth of slim rebar and put it down the main exhaust hole, and knocked out the next baffle in. Better now. Could still be a bit louder, but I don't wanna go too far.

 

[koifarm]

Looks good so far Thrux, I put four holes in each of the baffles and that makes a nice sound.......especially when you crank the throttle open......

 

[shinerman]

Etherman: I did this on my 08 Black too...one hangup though - I did one pipe, got thorugh the first weld then started to back it out removing the fiberglass and wire - but it would not back out all the way - then i discovered the ring attached to the end - it was a pain but i was able to break off the ring by drilling some holes around the welds and then breaking it off with a hammer / screwdriver - still left with that mangled ring inside the pipe though - guess it won't hurt. I started on the other pipe but my hole saw was too dull by then - making a trip back to home depot for that.....did you experience the same?

Thanks

 

[etherman]

Yes I did, I should have bought two hole saws. I had a new hole saw when I made my first cut, the first baffle seemed to come out much easier than the seconded. On the first pipe the ring is not mangled, a nice clean cut. The second pipe is a different story had to use a hammer ect ect to get baffle out. My hole saw is a little over 2 inches long, that how far I had it in the back of the pipes. Try to make both cuts before you start pulling out the baffle. The first cut is easy the second one that you cant see is the one that the baffle hangs up on. Yes that second ring is still in my pipes, I pushed them back as far as they would go. After cruising around for few days I decided to punch two holes in the rear most baffle plate, it sounds a lot better. I'm still going to get NH togas or TORs someday soon. :rocks: P.S. keep the pressure on your drill until that last cut is made, I think that is the key to getting the baffle out without using a hammer.

 

[shinerman]

Etherman - got that 2nd baffle out - it was a bitch though....$30 worth of hole saw bits and a broken drill bit later. She definately has a thicker sound - I'm thinking of taking the pipes off tomorrow and drilling into the first baffle a little bit. Thanks for your advice dude

 

[Beaman]

I am doing my 08 tomorrow. Should be fun...I am going to make sure to cover the bike and I am using a 1 1/8 bit. Thanks for the advice!

 

[etherman]

Here's a photo of what I did. In the last pic you can plainly see that the baffle nearest the end is solid on my '07. Also, since this photo, I took a lenth of slim rebar and put it down the main exhaust hole, and knocked out the next baffle in. Better now. Could still be a bit louder, but I don't wanna go too far.

Terrond,I don't think you need to pull the pipes, all I did is what Thuxtonian did with his baffles in place. I only punched two holes in the rear baffle I didn't do anything yet with the next baffle. :brit_tit:

 

[Beaman]

Need some help - I got the right side out with some cajoling, but the left first weld in is not budging with the 1 1/8 hole saw. I tried a new one and may buy another one. Any hints on busting through it? I tried hammering the baffle in, putting a wedge in, etc.....I love the burble on the one side....Just want them to match.

Thanks!

 

[etherman]

Only thing I can think of is make sure you're using a good hole saw for steel.

 

[Sal Paradise]

it sounds like you need to go buy another hole saw

 

[Thruxtonian]

That's why I went with the rebar method. The last thing I need to do is get one pipe done and get stuck on the other. For what I wanted, the rebar thing worked just right!

Oh, and thanks to Kirkus for the inspiration. I never thought about doing it this way before, but since I've also discovered that the County motor officers use this method on their new Harleys, unofficially, of course.