Yet another muffler modification question.

[tshearer]

...as if everything possible hasn't already been covered about it in this forum. So much great info here.

Anyway, I'm a little nervous about doing the modification and then not being happy with the sound. Will I get anything of a true idea of the end resulting sound if I pull the end plates and baffles out and run it that way? If I like it, I cut...If not, back in they go.

Do all four pipes need to be done to keep the cylinders balanced or can, for example, the bottom two pipes be modified and the other two left intact?

Thanks for whatever info you all can provide.

[L J VFR]

I just did the resonator mod friday night!!  Love the sound..  When i pulled the end plates off, i started the bike to see how it sounded.. Very loud.  Sounded alright, just loud.. Then i proceded to cut the resonators off and put the end plates back in.  It is 2 totally different sounds.. There is a big difference in my opinion from just pulling out the endplates, and putting them back in without the resonators.  You could try just taking one side off completely (end plates ) and starting it up, however, i would not ride the bike like this.. I think you could eventually hurt the engine with uneven back pressure.. Just my $.02 worth. Hope this helps..   I also learned that the piece you cut off the end plate is called the resonator, not the baffle..  The baffles are further up in the exhaust...      Lance

[Curtis_Valk]

Tom if you are not certain you'll like the sound, you should wait until you have an opportunity to listen to someone's muffler mod first hand.  Even the sound files don't really help.  I had my Magna for three years and wanted more sound but I didn't like the sound of the muffler mod.  The closest I found to the sound I wanted was the Vance and Hines, but I just couldn't get my wallet open far enough.  Consequently my pipes stayed stock until I sold the bike.

Curtis

[Charles S Otwell]

If you do cut the resonators off, just make alignment marks and number them to match the end plate that they came off, you can always weld them back on. Anyone with a small wire welder should be able to handle this for you. Just be sure to mark them before you cut them. The end plates are easy to remove so you can do the mod in stages. I tried cutting the tail of the resonator first (piece on far right), I ran it that way for a while then decided to go to the next step, cut off the resonator itself next have been running that ever since. every now and then I get a wild hair and pop the end plates off just to make a little noise, then I remember why I put the end plates back on to start with (too loud)

[tshearer]

Thanks for the advise guys.

I went on with the operation and followed everyone's advise and suggestions. The sound is perfect. Just loud enough and it mellows out nicely at higher speeds.

I took one endplate out and started it up just to get an idea. I could tell that it wasn't going to be obnoxiously loud, so I commenced with the cutting. Getting the endplates out didn't present much of a problem. I had seen a few pictures of some mangles end pipes from using the vice-grips, so I used the smallest pair I had to clamp the pipe and it caused very little damage. I did put indexing marks on all the resonators before cutting and added them to the collection of parts accumulating in a big box (just can't stand to throw away good used parts). Rivets and paint and the job was done in less than an hour.

I'm now waiting for the jet and shim kit from DD to finish the job.