Topic: 550 progress

[Swede]

Well, I got tired of trying to find someone who could weld here locally and since I lost my job I can't afford to pay someone.  So, in order to fix my exhaust so that I can actually hear at the end of a ride I decided to redneck the thing together for the rest of the summer.  So, with some metal snips, pop rivets and some JB weld and a bracket I made from an old mountain bike rim I hacked the thing together.  I don't know how the JB Weld will hold but it says that it is rated to 500 degrees.  I guess you could call it an experiment to see if you really can fix an old exhaust with some JB Weld. 

Here is the collector that I patched up


Oh how sweet I just love the homemade bracket... 


I was hoping to make it a bit more up swept but I just couldn't make it work




Here are a couple short video clips of how the exhaust sounds before the muffler and with the muffler.

[csendker]

Maybe it's a 550-thing, but I used some perforated metal strapping (typically used by plumbers to hang pipe) for my muffler.  I had tried a small clevis pipe hanger I had lying around, but it didn't fit.  Anyway, I just sprayed it with barbeque paint and you really can't tell unless you look close.  A redneck'd running ride is way better than one at a stand-still.

[Swede]

I was thinking of using something along those lines but I also needed something a little stronger to bend and hold it's shape to make sure that I wasn't going to have any swingarm/shock issues.

[csendker]

I rotated my muffler down & out a bit; primarily so my throw-over saddlebags don't burn up on the rare occassion that I use them.  I also made sure I had decent clearance from all of the moving parts in back.  I haven't noticed anything hitting anything and it's been a year or two now.   You're right though, it was kind of wimpy and busted once.  Now that I think of it, I believe I replaced it in a panic with a piece of ductwork 'slip & drive' joint, cut & drilled & clamped.  It's still not really noticible, especially at 50 mph.   

[Jinxracing]

The decible level in the videos sounds the same, but it sure does sounds a lot better with that muffler on there!

Did you make the 4 into 1 portion of the collector? If so, you've got some skills! Aside from that one ding in there it looks really good. I've been messing with sheetmetal work on my project and making something like that collector is no easy feat. Good job!

[Swede]

I wish that I could say that I made the collector but I have to give credit to Kerker for that one.  I bought the kerker header pipes with the collector off of ebay some time ago.  The collector was pretty much shot and I did make an attempt to do some sheet metal work in order to rebuild it.  I found that it was a horrible task with the tools that I had.  My father used to do sheet metal work so I think this winter I am going to borrow some of his tools/knowledge and see if I can make it happen.   The muffler still has a pretty sharp sound but not nearly as loud as when it wasn't on there.  I definitely like the way it sounds with the muffler.  Riding around without it was simply horrible on the ears and I was always worried about getting stopped for noise violations.

[Swede]

I'm hoping that I won't have to mess with the exhaust for the rest of the summer so that this winter I will be able to find someone to set the thing up right for me.  In some sick way I'm kind of proud of my exhaust hanger.  A friend came by to look at the bike today and I told him that the spoke holes in the bracket were just "speed holes" after a trip around the block I'm almost certain they work... 

[Swede]

Well, so far so good with the JB Weld.  I took the bike out for about a half hour ride and man is it nice to ride again.  One problem I did find with the bike is the speedometer starts to give bad readings above 70 mph.  I haven't replaced the speedo cable so I'm assuming that it is the original.  I guess that is one thing to add to my list of parts that are needed.  Now I just need to wait for the bike to cool down so I can take a look at the plugs.  They were looking pretty good when I was running without a muffler.  I'm hoping that I won't have to change out jets again and now that the exhaust is complete it is time to do an actual plug chop. 

[paxtonpony]

That sounds good Swede.  And not bad work with the JB.  Throw some grill paint over the top and you'll be good to go.  I doubt anyone would even notice unless you point it out.

[FunJimmy]

Off the topic of exhaust repairs, which I think will work and last just fine.
What tank do you have on that 550?

Cheers
Jimmy

[Swede]

Thanks paxtonpony I was surprised how well it turned out myself.  I was going to give it a few more rides to make sure that it doesn't start disintegrating then give it a few coats of the good ol' grill paint. 

Hey FunJimmy the tank is a 78 750SS tank that I got off of ebay.  I'm still debating on whether or not I want to pound some knee inserts into it.  I have a 750K tank that I pounded some knee inserts into and it turned out pretty good; too bad the tank leaks, oh well it was for practice.  I am really happy with how well the 750SS tank fits and feels on the road.

[neil young]

any mods on the tank or mounts to get it to fit.or does she sit nice

[Swede]

There really wasn't much that I had to do to fit the tank.  The hardest part was trimming down the frame stubs that hold the front rubbers.  I trimmed about 1/8 of an inch off of the studs and I also had to cut the rubbers down too.  For the rear of the tank I used a piece of 1" foam cut to fit under the back of the tank and a heavy duty ziptie to hold it to the frame.  So far it has held up great.