1980 XS11 Special - Ugly Duckling Rebuild

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Scott,

Thanks, I've copied your post to the Final Drive Mod tech tip, and SOMEDAY I'll fix the photos in the Forums version of the tip!

Thanks for providing the "HOW TO" and photos.

After seeing it, I "was" thinking that perhaps one might NOT need to sacrifice another U-joint Yoke?? I realize NOW from viewing your photos that when the OEM shaft and yoke are assembled, that it sticks out THRU the inner edge/end of the yoke towards the U-joint...that way the Keeper Expansion ring can open to help secure the shaft in place. I was thinking that perhaps one could cut off a lot of the the OEM yoke piece, then put a simple plain PIPE/Tube section in between the cutoff part of the yoke and the NOW splined end piece, both getting welded onto the OEM yoke. The expansion spacer would have a wide enough ID to NOT engage the splines of the driveshaft, and would still put a major amount of the YOKE spline section very close to the full engagement point on the driveshaft splines. And with the wider Expansion section/area in between, the expansion RING can still have room to expand to help secure the driveshaft in place.

Anythoughts on this approach??

T.C.

[kboehringer]

Harleys getting cut up....

XS Folks,

There is probably a Harley guy somewhere crying about now.....


Been working on house chores and little tid-bits on the bike. Finally decided to jump in on the Harley mufflers. Cut several inches out of the one to be used on the right. Using the pre-existing dent for the Harley axle to accommodate the brake pedal mount and movement. The end cap will be re-installed at a slight angle to retain the up-swept look. I'll take this one to work tomorrow and tig it back together. The cutting will not have any effect on the internal baffle and glass.

Here's a size comparison (Emgo, Cut Harley, Stock Harley):


I wanted to make it shorter but that would be too difficult with the pre-existing axle clearance area. I still MAY knock off the taper at the exit end but that can be done later....

The REAL hard part is going to be making the Left MATCH the RIGHT!

KURT

[3Phase]

Kurt,

Nice looking mufflers! No Harley people are crying, they got yanked and trashed! Are they regular mufflers or is there a catalytic converter? You can cut out the cat but it's not simple.


T.C.,

I have better pictures if you need 'em, I was pretty brutal with the compression and I think I scared poor Kurt, he's cutting up mufflers to make muffler bearings!

You can put on the snap-ring if you want to, I just leave it off. The snap-ring makes it a pain in the keister to R&R the driveshaft to grease the u-joint yoke splines while I'm changing the rear tire and greasing the coupler splines.

I'm not dumb enough any more to let the driveshaft fall out of the swingarm or freak out trying to figure out how to re-index it and put it back in. When I pull the Final Drive I pull the driveshaft too so I can clean and paint all of the splines with fresh Moly-60 paste. I fill the 'groove' cavity in the u-joint yoke with regular moly grease and repack the Final Drive Coupler before I put it back together with the new tire.

.

[kboehringer]

Slow Slow progress on the new HD Muffs....

Kurt,
Nice looking mufflers! No Harley people are crying, they got yanked and trashed! Are they regular mufflers or is there a catalytic converter?

Scott & XS Folks,
NO, these don't have converters in them. I didn't think any Harley guys would be crying seems the first thing those Harley guys do is toss the EXTREMELY well made mufflers for some aftermarket noise makers. My neighbor helped me out yesterday as I got to look at his full-dresser. Apparently the mounts on the back of these are supposed to connect to the bottom of the bag supports. I'll be using those with a custom bracket to the peg support and OEM muffler support.

The progress is EXTREMELY slow but I don't want to screw up these muffs. The price was right, free, and the quality of these muffs is very very good.

I used SS mig wire rather than the TIG. I worked well on a test area and saves a ton of time over the TIG work. Ground, Sanded, and buffed, it SHOULD not be noticeable without a magnifying glass....

This is the overall length comparison... I may still cut the taper off the end. Really not too sure....


The inlet cone was welded back on at a slight angle to continue the upswept look. I didn't want to get too drastic as I can do a little with the head-pipe.

The SS mig weld is barely visible after buffing.... Probably gonna stick with the MIG rather than mess around with the TIG.


I SHOULD be able to post a pic later of the mock-up on the Right side later tonight. This is SLOW tedious work....

Respectfully,
Kurt

[kboehringer]

Blessed silence!

XS Folks,

Got it "Mocked-Up" pulled her out and gave it a try...... BLESSED SILENCE. These ARE mufflers! Only had one on and not properly clamped or supported but this side is NICE & QUIET!!!



Even looks pretty decent from the rear....


and Front.....


It will be much nicer when all the brackets are fabricated and installed....

KURT

[3Phase]

Dayum, Kurt! That really good work, keep taking your time!

.

[Rasputin]

Nice work Kurt! I think the discussion on the final drive mod should be moved to a new thread to avoid the hi-jacking of this one. I know I have a few things in mind that may be of interest of that subject, but this is your thread so I will leave it be.

[Prisoner6]

Kurt,

That is some first-rate, skillful work you've done there!

FWIW, I say keep the taper on the mufflers. It doesn't clash with the lines of your Special ... in fact, I think the taper complements the styling ... just my

[kboehringer]

Tapered Tip....

I think the taper complements the styling ... just my

Thanks for the input guys....

I also like the taper now that the muff is mocked-up on the bike. I think it looks good too. BUT, for all the time I'm spending to do this correctly, my very biggest concern is getting the Left to MATCH the right. If I'm off by just a little tiny bit the tapers will amplify the mis-match and will have to be cut off to save face..... I WILL spend the time, and hopefully get lucky too, so that the taper can be saved.

The weight of the steel and the chrome plating on these is top-notch. Avoiding another cut would be preferred too.

It'll probably take me another week to get it done......

Respectfully,
Kurt

[MPittma100]

Clearance

Kurt, were you able to avoid interference between brake pedal and muffler? Good job on the mod. I've done similar on a ss race exhaust. Takes lots of time to make it look like it was made that way.

[kboehringer]

Brake Interference...

Kurt, were you able to avoid interference between brake pedal and muffler?

Actually, there is a slight clearance problem that I can fix easily. I made a slight modification to the head pipe(s) to accommodate the EMGO's. Once I un-do that modification the HD will fit perfectly and clear the brake. Unfortunately, once I move the head pipe the EMGO's won't go back on again.... I'll be committed and the bike won't be driveable until it's all done.

[kboehringer]

One Done....One to go...

XS Guys,

Right is now done.... Best I could come up with for support using the very limited space. This is SS flat stock with SS bolts so eventually it can be buffed & polished.

Seems to be providing more than adequate support.



KURT

[yamtom]

nice work Kurt

That really looks great, nice handiwork. I have Sporty muffs on my MNS, I love the sound and they look right at home too.

[jwhughes3]

I used SS mig wire rather than the TIG. I worked well on a test area and saves a ton of time over the TIG work. Ground, Sanded, and buffed, it SHOULD not be noticeable without a magnifying glass....


The inlet cone was welded back on at a slight angle to continue the upswept look. I didn't want to get too drastic as I can do a little with the head-pipe.[/COLOR]

The SS mig weld is barely visible after buffing.... Probably gonna stick with the MIG rather than mess around with the TIG.


I SHOULD be able to post a pic later of the mock-up on the Right side later tonight. This is SLOW tedious work....

Respectfully,
Kurt

That is some darn fine welding Kurt.

Bravo Zulu

John

[kboehringer]

Making progress.....nearly done...SOUNDS GREAT

Bravo Zulu
John

Thanks John.... Ain't heard that since my days in the NAVY!

XS Folks,

Got the left pipe all done like the right and the welding turned out good. The pre-existing dent worked great on the Right to accommodate the brake pedal. Unfortunately, there is no such use for it on the left. In order to keep the tapers on the rear looking the same I had to put the dent in the same location as I did on the right.



I discovered that these Left & Right pipes are internally VERY different. The left (or the one I'm using on the left) has a continuous baffle in it while the right is basically empty with a small baffle at the exit end. The right is basically a hollow tube. I ASSUME that HD tried to "TUNE" the exhaust(s) so they would sound the same? Since one head is much closer to the back on an HD, maybe 18"++ of pipe extra from the front head, they made the mufflers different internally to compensate? That's all I could think of? There was no way to make the left identical to the right internally without cutting it completely open....that's not gonna happen!


Regardless, the muffs sound great! (even if the right is a little louder). The HD muffs have a deep throaty rumble and will get a little louder with 1/2 throttle+ but definitely not obnoxious. I haven't seen or heard another XS11 in years (will see plenty at XSSE ) but I kinda think this sounds pretty close to stock....

I took a quick spin and I can actually HEAR the bike and HEAR the wind. Honestly, those EMGO's were soooo loud you could not hear the bike.

MUFFLER WORK TO DO:
I need to tinker around with the left muffler a little more as it is sitting a little lower than the right. Hopefully won't have to hack up the head pipe anymore but I'll do it if necessary. I think I can just tinker with my SS bracket and get the distance equal.



I tried to do a video but it looked like poooo since I took it at night.

I'll get a video with sound during day time.....

Thanks for all your help and comments on this part of the ugly duckling re-build.

Sincerely,
KURT