Topic: Flying J CB550 Cafe Racer Magazine.

[Flying J]

Thanks tweakin, Practice makes perfect.

Im not sure what exhaust i am going to put on this bike. I have a few options.
1) kerker that was on it.
2) I have the header off a cb550F. I was thinking of using that and then building a megaphone for it.
3) I have 4 header pipes that sobody was using as drag pipes. I was thinking with those i could build some megaphones and have a 4-4.
After hearing the difference from Squirles 4-1 and Tintops 4-4 i love the sound of that 4-4.

[Flying J]

Any suggestions on pipes?

[wannabridin]

4-4 all the way!  i have a Carpy 4-1 as it was cheap and it will still sound good, but man i'd love to have a Benjie 4-4!!

and that tank and fairing is SUPER sexy...  i usually don't like front fairings, but dammit that's a mean combo!

[Tintop]

You know were I stand on pipes.

[Flying J]

Im going to throw on the drag pipes i have and see where they sit on the bike. If they fit ok i may try building a 4-4 using these guys. http://www.coneeng.com/mufflers.html

thoses swarbrick pipes are nice and i really like the curved ones but i would have wanted the exhaust before i did my rear sets to be sure the curved ones would clear. Id hate to have to undo all my work to make the exhasut sit right. But the straight ones like tintop has done are a definite potability. Pmed you tintop.

[Tintop]

...thoses swarbrick pipes are nice and i really like the curved ones but i would have wanted the exhaust before i did my rear sets to be sure the curved ones would clear. Id hate to have to undo all my work to make the exhasut sit right. But the straight ones like tintop has done are a definite potability. Pmed you tintop.

Mine are actually the curved ones, straight ones would have sat stacked below the axle.  To retain the side stand (had already removed the centre) we moved them (1&4) inside the lower frame rails, and 2&3 farther inboard.  That was a PITA, and probably tripled my fitting costs.  Its also the reason I had to come up with my remote filter.  It required kurfing all the header pipes to slightly change their angles, and direction.  Also had to change the lengths so everything came out were I wanted.  Luckily, what we removed from two of them was exactly what was required to lengthen the other two.  We also added kurfs to two if the megas so everything snugged up together again.  They don't come with any mounts, so those also had to be fab'd to suit, along with clips to bolt them together.  Mine are now basically a one of a kind custom set.  Still need to fit baffles, as at anything over 2000 rpm, they break any noise law in NA.   My rear sets mounts were then made to fit to the pipes, and act as pick up points.  They look great, and I'm very please with the end result, but the cost was huge.  More than the Benji pipes, but less than the Japanese SS's.  Wasn't sure it was all worth it, until the 1st time I started the bike and heard the glorious sound.   Hind sight being 20/20, I probably would have gone with the Benji's, but I still don't like the shape of his megas. The black ceramic coating also suits the bike better than SS would have.

My advice ffj, if you've got some headers you like, and want to keep to costs way down.  Look for some megas you like, and then adapt them to your headers.  Will require adding to & changing the bend(s) where they meet so the megas sit were you want, and also let you work around your rear sets.  Then refinish the headers to match the megas.

my .02 - tintop

[Flying J]

I like benjies also but im not going to spend that much on some pipes. Now i read a build on a set of 4-2 and they sound ok. This is the way i was thinking of building my 4-4 or maybe ill do the same 4-2.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=76024.0

What are the advanvages/disadvantages or theories of each exhaust?

Some sounds for comparison.

4-1

4-2

4-4

[wannabridin]

nice little compilation there!

i've always heard that the 4-1 allows ideal backpressure, and if the pipes are properly bent, a power increase.  with a 4-4, you need to run 4 baffles, and usually they weigh more and aftermarket systems are a bit harder to fit, especially with a center stand.

i love the look and sound of a 4-4 on a 750, but i also love a 4-1 with a good baffle.  my carpy pipe will def. sound great, can't wait to get to that stage!!

[Zaipai]

I wanted the drag pipes on mine, however I was told it would not provide enough back pressure for the around town riding I do with pods. So when I am ready to replace my 4 into 1 I was going to research this some more. Maybe this thread will answer that for me.

.: Scott :.

[Flying J]

Im not a big fan of the drag pipes. It sounds like somebody trying to play trumpet through a piece of PVC pipe.

[Tintop]

The 750 will be getting a 4-1.  Mainly because I have one, and after the 4-4's, they are a sweet sound.  I had thought about a 4-2 for the 550, but couldn't find a set of megas I really liked.  Most of what is offered look too long and pointy for my taste.  That said, 4-2's do give the bike a more balanced look.

[Little_Horse]

I don't know why I think this but I always have though on inline 4 motors 4 into 1 looks the best V twins of any configuration 2 into 2, thumpers one, triple six 

[Flying J]

Trying to figure out how to keep the kick start. So far what i have come up with is to add a quick realease pin to the brake linkage so that if i need to use the kicker i just pull the pin and let the brake pedal fall out of the way. Then after it is started  just lift the pedal and pop the pin back in.

PIN


Pin goes here

[Little_Horse]

modify the kicker like this, then no pin and or hassle:





I also ended up bending a curve into the longer part of the kick arm so it would flow back in towards the bike when at the away position. It works great and clears the brake pedal by just enough. I used a 1/2 grade 5 bolt if I remember right.

[Flying J]

I might give that a try.

Did a little polishing today. 1 down 1 more to go.




I also put on 2 of my head pipes to see what they look like and contimplate the 4-2 exhaust. Still might just go down and get a yosh from Chris.

[wannabridin]

modify the kicker like this, then no pin and or hassle:





I also ended up bending a curve into the longer part of the kick arm so it would flow back in towards the bike when at the away position. It works great and clears the brake pedal by just enough. I used a 1/2 grade 5 bolt if I remember right.

Andrew, more information about this if you don't mind!!

[Little_Horse]

Ok so the kicker needs to end up out more for it to miss the brake pedal, but it still needs to sit as close to the bike when it is up as possible. If you look at the first picture you can see the new length from the grade 5 bolt is 90 degrees from the pinned section of the swing arm. That way when down it ends up about 2 inches out. Here are a few more pictures of things.



and up

[Tintop]

Polishing is looking good ffj.  That bike is really coming along nicely.

Not sure how I got so luckly with my rear sets, and kicker.  Everything clears OK with the stock kick arm.  That said if I had size 12 feet I would have had to use the last toe position on the brake lever (came with 3 position adjustability).  Then there would have been a problem.  Had figured if there was an interference problem, I would have ditched the kicker, and just used the e-kick.  If the battery was low and couldn't turn it, I would have bumped it.  That's how I always started my 1st bike, a Maico 360(?) trail.

[Flying J]

Yeah thats what im thinking but its all going to hinge on how big of a battery i can fit under my seat and who knows when that will show up. 

[Tintop]

From what I've been reading on the A123's, I think the next time I do a hidden battery setup I'd seriously look at the 8 cell.  Can easily handle the normal electrical requirements, and lots of juice to start.

[Flying J]

Ill have to read up on that. Im skeptical about that little battery having enough juice. Plus the wires are so small. Ill go read that thread again, do you have a link to any other info on them? It looks like on the for sale thread they would be around $120!   

[Tintop]

There are a couple threads that mention the A123's.  Try a search of the 'Project Shop'.

[Flying J]

Well ive looked at the a123s and im confident i could build one myself. My only worry is the issues Twotired raises in this thread, http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=77588.0
i dont want that battery to pop under my aluminum seat and burn up all my electrical. TwoTired doesnt totally convince me because he is a textbook kinda guy and anything besides stock setup rubs him the wrong way. But there just isnt enough people running these on daily riders to prove their reliability.

[Tintop]

Well ive looked at the a123s and im confident i could build one myself. My only worry is the issues Twotired raises in this thread, http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=77588.0
i dont want that battery to pop under my aluminum seat and burn up all my electrical. TwoTired doesnt totally convince me because he is a textbook kinda guy and anything besides stock setup rubs him the wrong way. But there just isnt enough people running these on daily riders to prove their reliability.

Yeah I read his rebuttal.   There was a post that also stated that if over charged they just pop an end cap.  However if kept on a battery tender, can't ever see that happening.  A cheap battery charger on full 10amp charge, maybe.

[Flying J]

Yeah i did a little looking around and found a few people running them. The other thing im not sure on is the battery balancing. Is it necessary? It sounds like you dont need it but that they could beneift from it to make them last longer or to fix the levels if you drain them to low.