Rusty logs 61,000 miles and a Sportster muffler question

[xs650mike]

Glanced at my odometer today and noticed that ol' Rusty has turned 61k miles. Running great. Thinking of changing name to Trusty Rusty. Recently replaced muffler tape and hose clamps where the muffs have rusted off the headers and the stock sound is once again restored.

Britbike Jim has offered me a free set of NOS AMF Sportster mufflers and I suppose I'm gonna mount these on the bike soon hoping I won't have to rejet. Anyone out there used Sporty muffs on their bike?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Mike,

Glad to see you're around!
Here's a TECH TIP from the late Curt Marsh on what you're talking about! Looks plug and play to me! Heck, I put on 4-1 pipes on mines shortly after I got it, rode it for 9 years that way and never rejetted!
T.C.

[bikenutt1980]

What year HD will work? I read the tech tip and its alittle confussing. Maybe its just me and its 6am. lol Pics would help also.

jason

[Poprock]

I put Sportster muffs on Kong 2 years ago. The crossover is gone. No worries there. He ran just as good as before. No rejetting needed. Looks good, sounds like a stocker but a little lower frequency. Kong is a hard bagger and the muffs are short enough that some exhaust comes up the front of the bags, noticable at a stoplight, no problem under way. I'm thinking of putting a set of Road Kings on it, 10" longer. Supporting the tip I haven't figured out yet.

[bikenutt1980]

Originally posted by Poprock
I put Sportster muffs on Kong 2 years ago.

what year muffs did you use?

[Poprock]

Unknown year. They were NIB, but old enough one had some rust inside. They have a baffle about half way down. I haven't dyno'd the bike, but they seem to work as good as any and they sound smooth. You'll need a shop to make you a little mid pipe that will match Yamaha on the north end and Harley on the south. Heat Shield covers it on mine. Harley muffler clamps on the mufflers show but look OK. I think any Harley muffler without a crossover built in will work. Longer ones may have different flow characteristics. My bike ran the same or better with the Sportsters than it did with a burnt out stock set with rattling guts.

[bikenutt1980]

so do you cut off the stock pipes that are on the bike just after the cross over to take it out of the system? Then take the HD pipes and fit them onto your original pipes? Sorry to ask but im a little confussed as to how this all works.

jason

[Poprock]

If I recall, the XS11 crossover is way back, kind of out of the body of the muffler. My pipes were cut off right behind the two connectors on each side, up behind the heat sheild. Crossover eliminated. A short adapter to match the diameters, welded to the header, clamp for the muffler. The muffler guy welded a strap to the tab on the muffler to mate it to the stock muffler support bolt on the footpeg brackets. Sportster mufflers are tapered both ends and they tuck up real nice. IMO, it's the least expensive most attractive way to solve the rotten muffler problem on XS's, especially stock systems.

[xs650mike]

Thanks!

Thanks TC and all. Looks like I won't have to rejet. The muffs are rusted off at 2 different locations, one towards the front of the collector and one right at the beginning of the megaphone so I'll have to cut one side back to match. Fabricating brackets should be fairly easy. These things are from the AMF years (not hip enough to Harleys to know the exact dates). Suppose they'd be worth money to someone restoring a Sporty to stock spec but what the hey...