uncorking 450L exhaust....

[Anonymous]

Would I gain any performance by just yanking the silencers from the factory exhaust on my 450? Obvioulsy I'd have to rejet it. I'm planning on doing the pod filter thing soon, so I'd be rejetting the bike anyways.

On that note, obviously it would get considerably louder on open exhaust, but does it become painfully annoying? Sure, annoying is a subjective concept, what sounds like trash to one person sounds great to another....I guess what I'm worried about is that it would become far to raspy and harsh.

[snark]

The mechanic at my local chopper shop told me to drill out the three fake holes in the back of my exhaust to "allow for 24 years of gunk that might be clogging it". It made it a little louder, but wasn't too bad. I didn't need to rejet for it.

[Anonymous]

I think I have 6 "fake" holes....3 of them just have plates behind them, the other 3 have rivets in them. I was looking at the end, wondering if I could just yank that plate out, and pull out the entire silencer assembly. Considered drilling those rivets, but was afraid I would just loosen the silencers, and have a rattling exhaust then

[earlfor]

I would not remove the guts/baffles/tube in the mufflers. It will become VERY loud and unless you enjoy earaches, Idont think you will like it.
It also will reduce performance.

earl

[Anonymous]

well, I grew up with most of my vehicles on open headers...76 Nova with 383 Chevy small block, various go karts that I custom made stepped exhaust headers out of plumbing pipe, jet boat with a 455 big block, 91 Sonoma with a race built 4.3L, 79 IH Scout 2 mud truck 345 small block, and then my dad's vette. That thing with a 454 big block and side pipes was a serious trip in the noise dept. And I loved every one of them. Then I lost the muffler on my Omni one year, and the sound of that 4 banger on open exhaust was just terrible.

As far as bikes go, the guys with high flow mufflers on their crotch rockets all sound OK, but I prefer a deeper exhaust note (dare I say it...I actually like the sound of an unmuffled Harley V-Twin).

Is it possible to remove the silencers without totally mangling the tubes?

[earlfor]

If the tubes are meant to be able to be repacked, you will find machine screws that can be removed for that purpose. If no visable attachment hardware, chances are high you will mangle the pipe. The walls are not very thick. If that be the case, I would drill the end baffle before I would risk destroying the muffler. Actually, I would buy a V&H 4 into 1 with a bolt in baffle if I wanted loud. You can sell an intact stock system to recoup some of the expense.

For whatever its worth, I figure that for every 10 people that have gutted a stock exhaust on a GS, only one has been successfull in getting the bike to run as well as it did before the modification. Most of the time, it will run like crap. :-) It isnt like changing a pipe on a car. Much more temperamental. Your call though.

Earl

Is it possible to remove the silencers without totally mangling the tubes?

[jimcor]

You're not going to get that deep sounding beat from a 450 engine. They just don't play that music.

[bgmart450]

You're not going to get that deep sounding beat from a 450 engine. They just don't play that music.

Wanna bet? You need to hear mine then. May never sound like a Harley, but it rumbles something awful. If I had the cash I'd go for a Mac 2-1, but I don't...

[robinjo]

I heard one degutted 450 that sounded like a kid farting in the bathtub, not really a straight piped Harley!

If you have a trash pipe you can try it, don't do it on a good exhaust.

[nabrams]

I agree with Earl. Do NOT mess with the exhaust system. You will tear your hair out from frustration trying to get the bike to run right. Even a small exhaust leak (at the cross-over pipe) on my GS450 had a considerable impact on performance. When I restored my friend's GS450 from non-running condition I tried to get away with pipes that were rotted in the inside and provided very little back pressure. The bike would not run properly no matter how much I played with carb settings and needle positions (you can adjust the needle with washers underneath it). Once I got a decent exhaust on the bike it ran smooth and strong at all throttle positions. I was very surprised at what a huge role back-pressure could play on this model. I'd worked on other bikes which the back pressure had much less of an effect.

[scotty]

I heard one degutted 450 that sounded like a kid farting in the bathtub, not really a straight piped Harley!

If you have a trash pipe you can try it, don't do it on a good exhaust.

Robin are you saying that if i degut the mufflers on my cm200t it wont sound like my V&H buell????

PS listen to earl about performance going down. You will lose the smooth pleasure of riding that usually only comes with small cc machines.

[bgmart450]

True that Scotty.

My wife's S is much perkier than my mangled E.

[scotty]

8O 8O 8O

[scotty]

8O 8O 8O

[robinjo]

My wife's S is much perkier than my mangled E.

Must...resist....

Robin are you saying that if i degut the mufflers on my cm200t it wont sound like my V&H buell????

Scotty if you are lucky your 200 will sound like a lawnmower.