xhaust mod or not

been reading up on a lot of diferent catagories inc ,... ``the 1400 shaft mod ``.... will look into that one at a later date ,seems a very worthwhile mod....
anyhow back to this xhaust ,with the holes punched thru all 4 of the baffles ,and posibly 4 holes on each xhaust....
anyone done either or both the exhaust mods and wished they had,nt ,for whatever reason......
much appreciate answers,as am thinking of punching the holes thru both  baffles ,both exhausts with 1/2'' bar  [aint got nothing larger]
but ...Not the drilling holes or  the Baffle Ectomy. 
would just baffle drilling give me any gain in a louder xhaust ,or not....dont want a racket just louder than it is ...

anyone done any of the 3 main mods and wished they had not .......

gosh wrote:

anyone done any of the 3 main mods and wished they had not .......

The only exhaust mod I regretted was completely cutting the end plate out of the silencers, all the others are subtle mods to further enhance the sound of the V-Twin exhaust note, I'd recommend banging a rod or drilling through the internal plates first to see if this gives the tone you're looking for? It gives a slightly deeper rumble. then I'd go for drilling the 4 holes in the end plates to raise the volume slightly, Neither give a harsh/obnoxious sound, more of a deeper rumble than standard.

Yep,agreed. The very talented mr Johnboss gave me a hand drilling 4 holes in my baffles on the intruder.... made the exhaust note much deeper and richer without being eardrum splitting loud for the poor bugger riding behind you!

Go for it, its a very worthwhile 'mod' and costs nothing, it gives areally nice sound without being overly noisy and it lets the engine 'breath'. If you're ever near the west mids I still have the bar to do the deed, good luck.

Definately worth it. Sim did the 'deed' with my baffles (he has a long tool perfect for the job!). The I plucked up courage and drilled 4 x 12mm holes in each back plate. Lovely sound without being offensive or drawing anything other than admiring attention. A qiuick cheap and easy (if a little brutal) mod.

thanx for replies,  and encouragement to do it ,
dont know whether to do the rod /hammer job ....or the driller killer .....or both....
is one better than the other..
the hammer job seems the easiest ,but ...cant put back to original. [ prob do this one ]
driller job can at least be plated back up .....
just want a bit louder pipes , and NOT ... ''sh*# what the hell is that ''
any probs with the m.o.t probe ,picking up excess fuel gasses ....
thanx for the offer.... john of dudley ,maybe someone near you will take up ya offer of help 

doesn,t sound as if anyone whose done the xhaust mod ,wished they hadn't done it.....

Baffle and drill the end plate definitely sounds better.  It'll not be that loud as to scare folk, just loud enough - Don't know about the MOT, but not heard on this forum anyone having a problem.

Won't affect your MOT as they don't test emissions on motorcycles, even if they did? it wouldn't affect anything as the mod is behind the catalytic converter, they might pick up on the end plates being drilled but it's highly unlikely, if they did? you could always silicone a plate over the holes temporarily.

thank you all again.........much appreciated .
thanx simbo ........for puttin mind at rest about  m.o.t.  .......
i will definately do this crackin mod ...will have to wait till weekend tho...
i will still be searching the forum for things that im not sure about, and then ask questions again....
ta .v . much

I gutted mine including the cat. Take it all out - sounds great! The plates can be broken out by hammering a large rod to break the 3 welds. Drill out the back plate with a bi-metal hole saw. You can have a pair made up which can easily be invisibly replaced using silicone - I had the pea shooter ends welded on to steel discs for £10. 


This allowed me to sell the bike and no one knew! There maybe a slight loss of backpressure but that can be sorted with a diy lollipop. The stock pipes look great IMO and with the internals removed, you will have an aftermarket sounding system, that looks the dogs b's all for little dosh. If you just want to make a hole down the middle, hammering a sharpened rod on the bike is fine but inner plate removal requires taking the pipes off to do the job properly. You can do the holes in the back plate but personally I think it looks naff - hole saw job looks much more professional. 



Whichever route you go, have fun - anything is better than the quiet stockers unless you like the sound of the valves clattering!

early finish from work today 3pm so straight in garage ,already grinded points on two 3ft screww thread bars....1st one was 12mm ...2nd was18 mm.. shone led torch up first pipe and surprised to see the first baffle plate was already holed ,quite large ,just a mm off the diameter off baffle  pipe.....2nd exhaust already done as well.....
the 2nd inner baffles untouched...3 mins later both exhaust pipes were rodded with both sizes....only took about 4 or 5 thumps of hammer and job done.......as advised by the forum members ...............the baffle plates were roughly 8.5 '' and 13 '' in , from the pipe ends...
sounds .....''lovely jubbly , rodders ''.....
done a quick test ride up and down the street , even my son could hear the diference from his room upstairs and asked if i would do his yam.....   thanx everyone ...
nice photo,s john

Well done! It's the inner one that drops the tone and increases the volume. There is still quite a bit more in there but as time goes on you may or may not decide to do more. Enjoy riding with a bit more grunt now!

Well, after reading all the comments I finally did the drill 4 holes mod. I must say it sounds so much better already. I think I will see how it goes before doing anymore though.

kennp wrote:

Well, after reading all the comments I finally did the drill 4 holes mod. I must say it sounds so much better already. I think I will see how it goes before doing anymore though.

Get the baffles knocked out - you'll like the noise!

With all the above. Loved the sound it produced with the baffles drilled and holes in the end plate, only changed it because the v&H was a steal and looked better than stock.

must admit ,i was "should i / or not ".....well pleased i rodded the baffles ...,and not long after i drilled the back plates ,only put 2 , 10mm holes in each xaust and this puts out a better note ( just my oppinion )
definately shoots out more pressure from the holes ,...SO ...im gonna put another 2 in each....
NOT LOUD ,but enough rumble ....
hope comment helps anyone thinking about it......Big thanx to all who made this easy mod available..

You can bash away through to the cat - sound just gets better!

sounds a bit pervy ....

does that affect the emissions on a F.I. model.??.dont want to start with ijection problems and mapping etc..

goshhub wrote:

does that affect the emissions on a F.I. model.??.dont want to start with ijection problems and mapping etc..

I gutted my C800 exhausts by removing back plate and  both internal plates. Bike adapted without any lights coming on. If you don't change the air intake, all should be fine. I did add a repair washer lollipop for a bit of backpressure, 6" inches inside. If you are ok with a quiet bike, a few holes should keep you happy. But if you ride near 800's with aftermarkets, you may be disappointed. I like the look of the original pipes so my mod gave looks and sound. To my mind a great bike deserves a great sound. Even gutted, mine were only 2/3 the volume of a straight through aftermarket, but probably deeper.

https://youtu.be/RIUsJFXaGrA

thanx bluesman 
a bit more info ,and comments to help....nice one ....must admit i think the stock pipes look really good ,and dont think i would change them ....
big change  from intruder to a busa ....how ya liking it ....

goshhub wrote:

thanx bluesman 
a bit more info ,and comments to help....nice one ....must admit i think the stock pipes look really good ,and dont think i would change them ....
big change  from intruder to a busa ....how ya liking it ....

The Busa is pretty fearsome but once you get used to it you only notice when you push a bit. Obviously the Intruder  more leisurely but such a classy looking machine. Some say the pipes are a bit long but like the American cars used to be with huge rear wings, sort of all hangs together.

So I did the four hole thing and I am really happy with it - is it my imagination that the bike seems quicker?

kennp wrote:

So I did the four hole thing and I am really happy with it - is it my imagination that the bike seems quicker?

Probably feels less asthmatic giving the impression it's quicker.

The important thing is it seems quicker. Feelgood factor is important to all bikers. Job done!

Bluesman wrote:

goshhub wrote:

does that affect the emissions on a F.I. model.??.dont want to start with ijection problems and mapping etc..

I gutted my C800 exhausts by removing back plate and  both internal plates. Bike adapted without any lights coming on. If you don't change the air intake, all should be fine. I did add a repair washer lollipop for a bit of backpressure, 6" inches inside. If you are ok with a quiet bike, a few holes should keep you happy. But if you ride near 800's with aftermarkets, you may be disappointed. I like the look of the original pipes so my mod gave looks and sound. To my mind a great bike deserves a great sound. Even gutted, mine were only 2/3 the volume of a straight through aftermarket, but probably deeper.

youtube.video

Hi Bluesman, I am seeking clarification... Is the cat still in place in this video?
Sounds amazing!

I'm definitely getting rid of the end plate, but still considering what I'm going to do with the two internal plates.

The cat was drilled through twice after both inner plates were removed. The innermost plate was the hardest to remove with a lot of bashing using a club hammer and long, long, screwdriver to break the welds. Power tools are probably easier. On my current project the Harley Sportster has now been completely hollowed including all the cat - sounds great. Do remember when you remove everything, you need to scavenge a bit of the escaping pressure with a washer on a bracket or in the HD's case just the angle bracket. It's a case of trial and error. Just remember there is no going back once it's all removed except for lollipops etc unless you have a new backplate fitted. Still, there is always the possibility of  aftermarket pipes if it all goes pear-shaped. Personally I enjoy tinkering with exhausts - something good for very little cost is soooo appealing!
The sad thing is, when I traded in my Intruder with the above pipes the dealer threw them away and replaced with stock ones! Apparently he could not offer a warranty with the modified pipes on when the bike was sold on. Shame because they sounded great and as the 800 engines are very understressed, it is most unlikely any damage was done. This was my second Intruder but I did not refit another backplate, so they could see what I had done inside. On my previous bike I did fit a new plate as in earlier pics and the dealer did not know the middle was gutted!

That is a shame about those great sounding pipes... 

I don't have a great deal of access to tools of any kind, so need to visit my parents more often to borrow theirs (not that they mind ). Their neighbour has a bunch of metal working tools and is a bit of a motorcycle enthusiast too, so I've got plenty of help at hand .

I might start my own thread and keep the forum updated.