I got the new mufflers, now need some help

[tjhummer]

Well, the new mufflers from JCW (ZX014804P) came today. I took the broken muffler off the right side of the bike. It's broken just ahead of the crossover so I have the piece of pipe with the crossover port sticking out of the header. Does this inner piece with the port come out? If any of you have installed these mufflers, would ya tell me how ya did the deed?

[webbcraft2150]

Is the crossover still intact and your header pipes ok? It looks like you got the same mufflers I installed.

[tjhummer]

Yes, the crossover and headers are all in good shape. The crossover is still connected to the broken off part of the muffler though.

[Silent]

From what I saw at JCW, you're installing slip ons. I just completed the same task on my SF. I torched off the mufflers right where the muffler runs into the 2-1, and welded a short piece of 1.5" exhaust pipe for a place to clamp the new exhaust pipe. With this setup, I can run just about any 1 1/2" slip on.

[XJOK2PLAY]

I recently bought a new pair of the slash cut megaphones from JCW...
Item #017555.

My stock XJ's had a cross pipe connecting the 2 mufflers... and of course the new ones don't.

Kinda concerned me at first... wondered if I might see a loss of torque, or if it would change my carb settings much...

Only changes I saw by eliminating the cross pipe...

1) Idle speed came way up, and had to be set back down.

2) If anything, the torque band IMPROVED! Throughout the entire range.

3) If your on the road later on, have a breakdown that requires dropping the exhaust, it's one less headache... and no connection point under the bike to leak.

For me, losing the cross pipe helped, but may be different in your situation.
Good luck.
Bob

[tjhummer]

Thanks XJOK. My next question was going to be about my concerns eliminating the crossover. You answered before I asked.

[Larrym]

Slip-ons JCW

I bought a used header with slip-ons from A. Weiss last year. Original exhaust was still usable but I decided to try to "save" it for that rainy day.

After the install I did a carb synch cause well, I got the bike with an electrical/spark problem which the PO's had misdiagnosed as being the carbs. Just had to be sure the carbs were right. No re-jetting or other heroics were done.

All went well but two points stand out:

Original exhaust system with crossover really did tend to "smooth out" the way it sounded to my ears. Very pleasant. Slip-ons did the job but without that crossover the sound was just wasn't the same. More like everything else I'd heard when an engine has dual exhaust with a couple of "glass-packs".

On steady downhill deceleration or a quick throttle chop it would always "pop" a little bit with the slip-ons. Sure, I adjusted the idle mixture screws out a little to make this lessen but when I adjusted the screws out enough to make the popping totally disappear I could smell that the exhaust gasses were over rich. Right now the screws are just at the point where pops are limited and the spark plugs read slightly rich for low speed.

[Geezer]

Supposedly you loose a little bottom end power when you eliminate the crossover but when I did it on my 80 Mongrel, I didn't notice at all.

Geezer

[tjhummer]

Got the new mufflers on. Did pretty much the same thing as Silent shows in the pic. I was able to find some 1-1/2" stainless and a friend with stainless wire in his MIG to do the welding. It came out nice. The bike is, of course, louder and throatier, but it sounds good. The mod lowered my idle just slightly. It allows the bike to idle smoother at a lower idle than before. The low end torque doesn't seem to be much different, but the mid and high gained some. I also gained in that when I let off the throttle, the bike doesn't lurch any more. It is a smooth, but still quick, deceleration. I don't have any popping on sudden deceleration either. All in all, a very pleasing mod. I just won't be able to be quite so stealthy anymore.

Thanks to all who helped here.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Glad to hear you got 'em on, TJ...

If you get a chance, ya know we'd love to see a pic of how they turned out...

You know how we are about pics...

[webbcraft2150]

Well ya got it done!!! I was able to do the mod without any welding. Minor carb adjustment brought everything back to a very liveable idle quality. Seems to run a tad rich at midrange but nuthin worth going into the carbs to frig with the jetting. I did notice a increase (or percieve) an increase in high speed, midrange "punch". (Like passing cars when cruising around 70). Mine were too quiet so I drilled some "relief" holes in the honeycomb baffle ends. Pretty docile at idle and cruising speed but a pleasant snarl when you call all the troops up. Had to fab a stop for the center stand and was able to use the OEM muffler mounts with some modification. There over 6 years old now and still look pretty decent and have not showed signs of rusting thru. Be careful with the chrome polish, not the highest quality chrome job. (having male cats cruise your garage didn't help things any)

[tjhummer]

I discovered the lack of bumper for the center stand after I did the mounts. I saved the rubber bumper off the old pipe and will mod up something as soon as I get the chance and before the stand does any damage to the chrome. My son is home on leave from the AF for a couple of days and brought his new-to-him 2003 Honda Shadow Ace 750 and wants to do some riding with the 'old man'. Sweet.

I will have some pics of the pipes in the next couple of days. It hasn't been good weather for pictures lately. It has rained like a cow pissing on a flat rock here for at least 3 days. It let up some this evening, but I couldn't ride much, a tanker trailer overturned just a couple hundred yards down the road and no one is getting through (on decent roads) for several hours until they clean up all the diesel fuel. The driver was injured, but I hear he will be ok. The rig is totaled.