Replace baffle in stock exhaust M1100 EVO

[pentacleus]

Looking for a project. What I've decided I want to do is gut the stock exhaust and put in a new baffle. It will have the same stock look from the outside, but it will be totally different on the inside.

I am looking for a little help or a little experience as I have not done this before. I don't expect it to be very difficult though.

I expect to remove the entire silencer from the bike. Remove all the outside pretty pieces. Cut the end off the exhaust with dremmel or cutting wheel. Remove all the baffling.

Purchases a baffle from V&H or other exhaust manufacturer

Examples: http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/baffles/exhausts

I think it would be really cool to use the same baffle that you would use on a big bore cruiser.

Of course, since the stock exhaust is a stacked design, I'd be installing 2 baffles. I am thinking I'd have to enlarge the exhaust ports on the end of silencer to @ 2". Weld it all together a crank it up.

This is of course very high level. But I do have questions.

I'd like to go ahead and order the baffles so that I can do the whole operation in a night or two. So I need to determine the diameter of the baffles I need and also the length of the baffles. If anyone had any idea of the max length, I'd appreciate. I'm guessing somewhere around 10" long would be about right.

My next question is this (and I hope I can explain this properly):

On a cruiser you typically have a 2 straight pipes. Inside each straight pipe is a long baffle. Therefore you have baffle with a pipe tight around it. If I gut the stock exhaust I will basically have a large compartment with two baffles in there. There will be no tight pipe around the 2 baffles. Do I need to weld in a pipe of slightly larger diameter than the baffles to slide the baffles into? or should I literally just weld them in? If I weld them in, it will not be easy to change the baffle if I don't like the sound. If I do weld in a pipe and put the baffle in the pipe, I can easily change the baffle or even add extra baffling packing if I so desire.

Any thoughts out there? I am mostly doing this because it's winter and I need a project.. and I happen to like the look of the stock exhaust and because it will be one of kind (until the next person does it).

[JTP]

i can't help you with your project, i've never done anything like that, but good luck it sounds awesome. and i think i'd weld in a smaller pipe first, like you said, so you can change the baffling if you need to later.

[pentacleus]

I think my biggest issue will be to tune the exhaust to the bike. I might have to go back to my roots of dirt bike racing and use the washer trick. It'll let me tune torque vs hp

On another note, I want maximum bass from the exhaust. Thinking I'll wrap the exhaust baffle to knock out any high pitch noise coming from the motor. My experience with quiet packing material is not a big difference in how overall loud the pipes are (although there prob is an insignificant change) but a change in tone. Generally a lower one


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[pentacleus]

I finally got around to taking apart the stock exhaust, or at least as much as possible with out cutting. Here are the pics. I also took a pic of the butterfly valve in case anyone was interested

A couple of things I notice:

1. The exhaust is really heavy
2. I'm not sure that modifying the stock exhaust, which I think I can do for about a hundred US $, is going to be worth it. I'd be much happier loosing some lbs. In fact, I'd probably end up adding weight with what I envision.
3. The 2 exhaust pipes that stick out of the back of the silencer, are not just attached at the back end of the silencer, but are also welded to the walls of the silencer. You can see the weld spots in pics. Probably to keep any vibration from breaking the tube off.
4. It seems like manufactures go out of their way to make exhaust as heavy as possible.
5. No exhaust + 2 cylenders + 1100 cc's = 1 loud ass bike

With the info I have now, I believe I will order aftermarket exhaust of my liking and probably have a midpipe built for me.

[pentacleus]

Also worth noting is that the pretty brushed aluminum pieces do slide off the end. I had to use a hammer and block of wood to take off these pieces.

Also, I had tried previously to pull of the end cap (which has the 4 screws) without success. I wasn't sure if it was actually welded on or not and I didn't want to mess it up so I gave up. During this process I found that it is in fact an end cap and can be pulled off.