Topic: 1975 CB550F Project Penguin. A.K.A. David

[rickmoore24]

Thats a great 550, I like the little details you put into it. Awesome job on the guages too. Now go tear up the town!

[Zaipai]

Thats a great 550, I like the little details you put into it. Awesome job on the guages too. Now go tear up the town!

Thanks!!! And I have been, much to the dismay of my HD neighbors..

IC.. That is some good info, if its going to make it loose any power its not worth it.. I will look at your idea, I don't know a shop with a mandrel bender, however I am pretty good friends with the owner of the shop that works on my car, I will ask him if he can help me out.. Thanks!!!

.: Scott :.

[RAFster122s]

How about a pair of 4-2 Jardine pipes (chrome) and cut them so they go  to the rear instead of the side exhaust and then paint the interior baffles black so they aren't easily seen (they aren't already)

Like IC said, you can hurt perf without having back pressure.
Your hearing is more valuable than the sound...believe me, you don't want to have to get hearing aids by 50...
the ringing in your ears can't be corrected if you get tinninitis ?spelling? and it isn't worth it...

Properly tuned the 4-2 pipes give you better street perf while the 4-1 give you better top/high speed

[Zaipai]

Thanks RAFster122S, that is good to know. It makes choosing the next exhaust easier, now that I know 4 into 2 seems to be the way to go. I do have a question tho.. (newbie in me coming out please be kind) every time I read a post about performance it mentions getting good flow is key, both at the carbs and the exhaust.. So wouldn't no back pressure be best? I understand the issue regarding back pressure on 2 strokes.. I don't quite understand how it helps with 4 stoke motors.. I do agree.. after sleeping on it while I do like the looks of the exhaust I mocked up it would just be way too loud.. I also don't want to loose any power, these little 550's can't spare it..

I will be looking into 4-2 Jardine's as one of the options.. The exhaust I have now is just too quite, unless I get on it.

.: Scott :.

[HedNut]

Congrats on making the BOTM pack! This has been an excellent build that I've been following for a long time!! LOVE IT!  Your bike rocks...excellent details and love put into it.  CHEERS! and good luck!

[Industrial Cafe]

most muffler shops have a mandrel bender that can do 2.5in pipe.
     just ask to see the machine, if it looks like this- 
you're good.

[Zaipai]

Hey IC you have a picture of the exhausts you were speaking of? I am still looking around.

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

which ones, the drag pipes or what?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-45-304-Stainless-Mandrel-Bend-Pipe-Tubing-Tube-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2c508f3a10QQitemZ190330124816QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[Zaipai]

How about a pair of 4-2 Jardine pipes (chrome)

These...

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

that was RAFster that said that,

I don't think jardine makes em for the 500/550

[Zaipai]

Ok I can't find any for CB550's so that explains why I can not find any they probably don't make em... I really should look over my thread before I quote some one and get it wrong.. I called around and no one has one of those machines, there is an auto shop in the next town that claims they can do what ever I need by hand.. what ever that means.. I might stop by and show them what I am looking for. In the mean time the hunt goes on. I would love some of those 4-4 pipes you see on RC's however the cost is way too much.. So.. on to the hunt..

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

did you see my ebay link?

which ones, the drag pipes or what?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-45-304-Stainless-Mandrel-Bend-Pipe-Tubing-Tube-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2c508f3a10QQitemZ190330124816QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

it's already got one pretty bend, all you'd need is to have it bent (45ish degrees) in a good spot after the collector and reduced to fit tightly with a stainless intercooler clamp.

(I don't have a clamp on mine, it just stays there cause it was stretched to fit tight.)

[Industrial Cafe]

oh, and you'd have to make a baffle.
my baffles are LOUD.
I rode my bike to St. Pete... I noticed my bike is a lot louder in the city.
 I guess it's all those things to echo off of.

[Zaipai]

Yea thanks I book marked it.. I think I would like to do 2 into 1 or 4 - 4 so I have one or two pipes on each side. I would also like to get headers that hug the frame more.. If you look at mine, you can see where all 4 pipe's meet it hangs kinda low. I am not sure tho still thinking it over.

.: Scott :.

[Zaipai]

oh, and you'd have to make a baffle.
my baffles are LOUD.
I rode my bike to St. Pete... I noticed my bike is a lot louder in the city.
 I guess it's all those things to echo off of.

lol Yea, I bet it is.. Can you get me a close up of the headers and pipe when you have a few minutes?

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

yup. I can do that.



 If you like a pipe on each side, a 4-2 setup gives you a nice balanced look.
I guess it just depends on the way you want the bike to look when it's finished.

[Zaipai]

yup. I can do that.



 If you like a pipe on each side, a 4-2 setup gives you a nice balanced look.
I guess it just depends on the way you want the bike to look when it's finished.

Yea, I like that idea. Think I could do some thing like you were suggesting only on a 4 into 2 instead of the 4 into 1?

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

I don't see why not.
   If you could find 4-2 headers that don't have tail pipes, or you don't like the tail pipes that come with em.
you could always make your own so it's an original piece and sounds like you want it to sound.

[Industrial Cafe]

you need closer?
 or actual pictures?

[Zaipai]

That is perfect.. Now I know what your talking about. One question, does the baffle do anything? Sound, back pressure? If I do that and I may, I do like the way yours sounds.. I want to see if I can get a header that hugs the frame better then mine does...

Thanks for the video , that was very kind of you to do that.. I will be reviewing it a lot!!!

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

I've tested the back pressure of my tail section against a piece of straight pipe and a glass pack by using a scale some zip strips and a 350 v8.

the straight pipe doesn't blow off the test unit
the glass pack had about 10 pounds of force on it
and my tail section had 4 pounds of force.
so I guess it's sorta in the middle.

the baffle takes the "tin ZZZZip" sound out, and leaves me with a nice deep ground vibrating "rumble and click" at idle
   at around 4000rpm it growls beautifully and has a nice scream at full throttle.

without the baffle it's just yelling through a tin can the whole time

[RAFster122s]

The Jardines I bought for my 550 are old and it is tough to find much of anything new for the 550 in exhaust systems. Mac makes the 4-1 systems and quality is eh...
Kerker makes a better system but I'm not sure if they make one currently for the 550.
I picked my system up on feebay for about $160. I've since seen one go on the For-Sale section of the SOHC4 forum for $70 and shipping. (ouch!)
Jardine style pipes I've seen for the 550 have side turn-outs...  not my favorite but...

A set of stock 4 into 4's can be made into 4-into-2 with a collector made (a good welder who does custom exhaust can do it, but not cheaply as it is time consuming work.) Then you make your final exhaust...
Auto world has an exhaust pipe called a SuperTrapp with diffuser discs... these are megaphone  style and the more diffuser discs you remove the quieter it gets... Odd huh?  Find a speed shop for cars that has some exhaust systems on display and peruse the designs.
The supertrapp sounds nice, glass packs are loud by design...
 

[Zaipai]

The Jardines I bought for my 550 are old and it is tough to find much of anything new for the 550 in exhaust systems. Mac makes the 4-1 systems and quality is eh...
Kerker makes a better system but I'm not sure if they make one currently for the 550.
I picked my system up on feebay for about $160. I've since seen one go on the For-Sale section of the SOHC4 forum for $70 and shipping. (ouch!)
Jardine style pipes I've seen for the 550 have side turn-outs...  not my favorite but...

A set of stock 4 into 4's can be made into 4-into-2 with a collector made (a good welder who does custom exhaust can do it, but not cheaply as it is time consuming work.) Then you make your final exhaust...
Auto world has an exhaust pipe called a SuperTrapp with diffuser discs... these are megaphone  style and the more diffuser discs you remove the quieter it gets... Odd huh?  Find a speed shop for cars that has some exhaust systems on display and peruse the designs.
The supertrapp sounds nice, glass packs are loud by design...
 

Thanks for the info, do you still have the Jardines and if so do you have a pic of them, even a cruddy one..? Unfortunately we are not blessed with such autoshops around here.. I will just do some searching on the net instead. I am going to try and remove the baffle from my Mac 4-1 tonight when I get home, tho I suspect it will be loud and irritating.. I am not really sold on any one type of exhaust because I want to see all options before I make up my mind. Plus it will be a month or two before I can afford it.. I feel IC's pain that way.. Funny how much tech there is in some thing as simple as an exhaust pipe..

.: Scott :.

[Zaipai]

I was looking at this image...




I still have those headers some place. They hug the frame much nicer, and if I do the mod IC was suggesting I bet it would work out nicely.. Hum... worth a try...

.: Scott :.

[Industrial Cafe]

hmmm...   they're long tube, you'd have some tight bends, but it might look cool.
go for it.