Exhaust system evals

[deo]

I have a hole in the cover of my stock XJ 1100 muffler on the left side. It doesn't add and noise but it does put up hot air. Is there anyway that I could plug the hole and not spend the bucks for a new exhaust system?

The price of a Yamaha system is huge, what are the other options. Someone recommended the MAC 4 to 2. Any other options?

deo

[Mike Hart]

The cover?? Do you mean the heat shield that's by your pegs and held on with 10mm bolts? If so, that can be repaired.

[deo]

Yeah! As you can see I am totally new at this stuff. Don't even know the right name but I have xs11.com and I can tear my bike apart with confidence cause I know there is someone helping me fix it. (GG)

The heat shield has two, what look to be rust holes in it. I don't have a welder or anything like that so what do you recommend?

deo

[Shack]

Exhaust Tape

Maybe you could get some exhaust tape and patch the holes then replace the sheild. I don't know what the pipe looks like so I may have the wrong mental picture. If you can't use the tape maybee some jb weld would fix it till you can get something else. I think Jardine makes a 4into1 exhaust it is listed in Dennis Kirk. Stay in the Son
Shack

[Jerry]

The two rust holes are probably from the heat shield mounting bolts. The XJ (and others) had (has) a heat shield on either side of the pipes to help keep your feet cooler. The mounting bolts go to nuts welded on the pipes. Two things can happen: bolts break, leaving the shields to rattle around on the pipes, or nuts can be broken off (welding weakens the pipes) if bolts are over-tightned or someone tries to remove them and they are really stuck.

A welding shop can braze these holes shut at a modest price. ($10 - $15) Most of the expense will be in new exhaust system gaskets, although some have reported the old ones can be re-used. (You will probably have to take the pipes off to take them to a shop, but check first.) Welder can include new nuts if you want to replace or reinstall the shields. Braze is gold in color, not really objectionable, but could be painted with high-temp paint if needed.

Use *short* bolts to replace the shields if you go that route.

My XJ developed holes in the mufflers where the crossover pipe joins the muffler body, particularly the right-side pipe. I had these brazed at a local shop a couple years ago and they are holding up fine.

Holes in the system may have more effect then you think. I traced a backfiring problem to a leaking exhaust gasket on #3 header, thought for a long time it was a carburator issue. Advice: make sure the exhaust system is up to spec before trying to diagnose (or modify) carburators.