mounting 4 into 1 header w/ supertrapp exhaust?

[prodigy60]

Hey All!

Sooo I've been messing with this 1980 GS550L I picked up a while back as a toy, with intentions of it being my primary means of transportation once I got it running (reliably).

A replaced stator, regulator/rectifier, front and rear sprockets, chain + chain tool, spark plugs, spark plug boots, oil change to find that my crankcase was flooded with gas, carb teardown and rebuild, and lots of electrical work and other stuff later (sigh!), the bike *seems* to be running somewhat reliably. Needs some tweaking but i'm going somewhere with this. In the meantime I bought a car so the bike is now pretty much just a *toy*.

Seeing as how I've done a lot of work to it so far just to get it running, I figure I might as well finish the bike as the original owner had intended (to some degree).

I say this because The bike included a slew of parts, and seriously, I mean i only paid $600 for the bike, including delivery from about 90 miles away, and just by a quick tally, I'd say I got at LEAST $700-800 worth of parts (brand new no less) included free. Killer deal. Would've been even cheaper too if I'd had a way to pick it up myself as the guy only wanted $500 originally.

Anyway, more to the point, the guy included a 4 into 1 header and gorgeous supertrapp exhaust, which I fully intend on putting on the bike, however I'm in foreign territory at the moment with this exhaust as I've never done any work regarding the exhaust system on older bikes. My other bike is an 06 gixxer. Not much to do there. Hopefully you understand.

Now, this exhaust slips over the end of the header with just a tiny bit of room but its almost a perfect fit, but I'm trying to figure out how i'm supposed to mount this exhaust to the header as it wasnt a bike specific application.

I'm unfamiliar with how the two pieces are joined on this type of exhaust, and what actually secures everything, aside from where the header bolts to the engine itself... Hopefully you understand my confusion here.

To the point: Would anyone be able to provide any advice or information on how I might be able to go about mounting this exhaust properly, preferably without welding?

Anyway, I'll be glad to post pics if necessary, just say the word.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again all!

p.s. sorry for the kinda long pointless beginning of this post... heh

[Pete Logan]

The muffler will need to be attached to the bike somewhere. It won't last if it depends on hanging on the header. A cobbled up bracket to something like a rear footpeg will do fine.

If there is no mounting lug, then you can just bend up a piece of brass flat by hand, drill a couple of holes, and you have it.

As to mating the two together - if they are a pretty close push fit, then that will probably be OK. That's the way mine works.

If they are close, but not tight, then cut a couple slots on the bigger piece and just clamp them together. An exhaust clamp is best, but even a Jubilee Clip will do as long as it gets the bigger piece tightened up on to the smaller.

There is not a lot of pressure at this join, so it doesn't need to be super tight, close enough will do fine.

[prodigy60]

Thanks for the quick reply Pete!

After writing my post, i started thinking that it seemed a bit strange that a brand new exhaust, still in the box, wouldn't include an exhaust clamp... so after a bit of digging i found that yeah, sure enough, there was one buried under the packing foam... All i need to do now is fabricate some sort of hanger and i should be in business, hopefully.

I did notice one *slight* problem yesterday after i pulled off the factory exhaust and started getting everything setup so i could take some measurements... Turns out the header i received with the bike ISN'T for my bike! it just totally doesn't fit, period. I'm going to have to scrounge up a header from somewhere and go from there it'd seem... ah well. I should have seen this coming

[Junkie]

that's no good... any clue what the header is for?