Tweet
Installing Jardine 4 into 2 Slip-On Mufflers
by John G. Aghajanian, Ph.D.
I installed my Jardine 4 into 2 slip-on mufflers recently. It was the appropriate time since my front wheel and forks were off the bike allowing much easier access to the header collar bolts.
First off I soaked the header collar nuts and bolts in liquid wrench, then a product called "Silicroil, "the oil that creeps" (wonderful stuff). And very importantly, I was patient. The knurled header collar "nuts" require a 6 mm hex key. The exhaust on my '79F was an OEM 4 into 2 exhaust; it probably was the original exhaust. Since it is highly likely that this was the case, the nuts were firmly rusted onto the studs and refused to be removed. I was lucky enough, however, to be able to unscrew all of the studs from the engine head without incident. Again, this took some patience and a lot of penetrating oil. The studs were lock-tighted in and came out slowly and with care.
The instructions then tell you to loosen the clamps holding the inner header pipe on each side to the manifold on that side. I did this but found it not to be necessary in my case. At this point one should remove the passenger foot pegs since this makes installation of the new slip-ons easier. One should also loosen the cap nuts that secure the OEM mufflers to the frame. It's easier to loosen them now than after the exhaust is off the bike.
When the exhaust is off the bike, they tell you to hack-saw the mufflers off the pipes 4.5" back from the heat shield (just to be obstinate, I cut on side 5" and the other 4.75" - there's plenty of room - don't worry about it). Since I have a hell of a time hack-sawing straight, I purchased an "exhaust/tail pipe cutter" (stock # 83pn0838t; $20.99) from JC Whitney in anticipation of this task.
This is a combination of a strap wrench and a plumber's tubing cutter where the "strap" is made up of a series of tubing cutter wheels linked together in a chain and attached to pliers-like handles. You just link the thing around the pipe, squeeze the pliers, and rotate it around the pipe while adding more pressure until your through. Basically it's just like cutting a piece of copper tubing. It worked well, made a nice neat, straight cut but required a second person to hold the exhaust during the cutting. Filing down the burrs on the freshly cut pipe allows the slip-on mufflers to slip on more easily.
The instructions now say to reinstall the shortened headers and tighten them down firmly. This went against my gut feelings but I did it any way. My concerns were unwarranted and this was OK.
One should also file the ends of the supplied new cross-over pipe as an aid to slipping it into the new mufflers. Removal of the rear wheel would have made installation of the slip-ons easier but also much more of a pain. They tell you to do the right side first: you have to remove the cap nut which secures the OEM muffler mounting bracket. (You must also remove the old mounting bracket since it's no longer required. The new mufflers are tabbed to be bolted to the frame by the bolt that secured the OEM bracket).
Then they tell you to slip the muffler (AND CLAMP) onto the cut exhaust pipe, bolt it to the frame, and firmly tighten down the bolt. DO NOT DO THIS! You need two people to install the mufflers efficiently. The problem is that, if you follow their instructions, i.e.: bolt on the right muffler and insert the cross-over pipe you end up with no play with which to insert the cross-over pipe into the left muffler.
We had to slip both mufflers off the exhaust pipes, spread them apart enough to allow the cross-over pipe to be inserted into the left muffler, and then simultaneously finesse both sides back onto their respective exhaust pipes and slip them up far enough so that the tabs aligned with the mounting holes.
After this, it's simply a matter of socking down the mounting bolts and tightening the clamps. Incidently, I had to hold the left-side muffler down while tightening the mounting bolt so that it would not be in contact with the frame. This was a minor point but one deserving attention.
I've ridden My Baby since the slip-ons were installed and she basically sounded about as loud as she did with OEM mufflers with two 1" rust holes on each side. This was not offensive to me before but it did bother my Honey when I fired her up cold and exhaust blew out the bottom and sides of the old mufflers. She does sound a bit throatier, which is fine with me, and loudness is not in the least offensive to the neighbors. (Actually, I really don't care -- their kids make more noise than 50 Harleys with straight pipes!)
Fit an finish of the Jardine 4 into 2 slip-ons was quite good - my Honey HAD to polish off all the finger prints incurred during installation so that they looked as good post-installation as right out of the box.
The few glitches that I found with the installation instructions were minor nuisances and may have resulted from my interpretation rather than imperfect instructions (BUT I don't think so!). In addition, the baffles are removable (just drill out a couple of rivets) so, as long as the shell is intact, I should be able to keep My Baby (certainly not my Honey) reasonably quiet.
I recommend them as a reasonably priced replacement for whatever mufflers you have rotting out. I purchased them from:
Shade Tree
P.O. Box 755
Middlefield, OH 44062
Ph (888) 742-3387 or (800) 927-8562.
1997 catalog # 45, Part# 14-39, $163.30 + S&H.
by John G. Aghajanian, Ph.D.
I installed my Jardine 4 into 2 slip-on mufflers recently. It was the appropriate time since my front wheel and forks were off the bike allowing much easier access to the header collar bolts.
First off I soaked the header collar nuts and bolts in liquid wrench, then a product called "Silicroil, "the oil that creeps" (wonderful stuff). And very importantly, I was patient. The knurled header collar "nuts" require a 6 mm hex key. The exhaust on my '79F was an OEM 4 into 2 exhaust; it probably was the original exhaust. Since it is highly likely that this was the case, the nuts were firmly rusted onto the studs and refused to be removed. I was lucky enough, however, to be able to unscrew all of the studs from the engine head without incident. Again, this took some patience and a lot of penetrating oil. The studs were lock-tighted in and came out slowly and with care.
The instructions then tell you to loosen the clamps holding the inner header pipe on each side to the manifold on that side. I did this but found it not to be necessary in my case. At this point one should remove the passenger foot pegs since this makes installation of the new slip-ons easier. One should also loosen the cap nuts that secure the OEM mufflers to the frame. It's easier to loosen them now than after the exhaust is off the bike.
When the exhaust is off the bike, they tell you to hack-saw the mufflers off the pipes 4.5" back from the heat shield (just to be obstinate, I cut on side 5" and the other 4.75" - there's plenty of room - don't worry about it). Since I have a hell of a time hack-sawing straight, I purchased an "exhaust/tail pipe cutter" (stock # 83pn0838t; $20.99) from JC Whitney in anticipation of this task.
This is a combination of a strap wrench and a plumber's tubing cutter where the "strap" is made up of a series of tubing cutter wheels linked together in a chain and attached to pliers-like handles. You just link the thing around the pipe, squeeze the pliers, and rotate it around the pipe while adding more pressure until your through. Basically it's just like cutting a piece of copper tubing. It worked well, made a nice neat, straight cut but required a second person to hold the exhaust during the cutting. Filing down the burrs on the freshly cut pipe allows the slip-on mufflers to slip on more easily.
The instructions now say to reinstall the shortened headers and tighten them down firmly. This went against my gut feelings but I did it any way. My concerns were unwarranted and this was OK.
One should also file the ends of the supplied new cross-over pipe as an aid to slipping it into the new mufflers. Removal of the rear wheel would have made installation of the slip-ons easier but also much more of a pain. They tell you to do the right side first: you have to remove the cap nut which secures the OEM muffler mounting bracket. (You must also remove the old mounting bracket since it's no longer required. The new mufflers are tabbed to be bolted to the frame by the bolt that secured the OEM bracket).
Then they tell you to slip the muffler (AND CLAMP) onto the cut exhaust pipe, bolt it to the frame, and firmly tighten down the bolt. DO NOT DO THIS! You need two people to install the mufflers efficiently. The problem is that, if you follow their instructions, i.e.: bolt on the right muffler and insert the cross-over pipe you end up with no play with which to insert the cross-over pipe into the left muffler.
We had to slip both mufflers off the exhaust pipes, spread them apart enough to allow the cross-over pipe to be inserted into the left muffler, and then simultaneously finesse both sides back onto their respective exhaust pipes and slip them up far enough so that the tabs aligned with the mounting holes.
After this, it's simply a matter of socking down the mounting bolts and tightening the clamps. Incidently, I had to hold the left-side muffler down while tightening the mounting bolt so that it would not be in contact with the frame. This was a minor point but one deserving attention.
I've ridden My Baby since the slip-ons were installed and she basically sounded about as loud as she did with OEM mufflers with two 1" rust holes on each side. This was not offensive to me before but it did bother my Honey when I fired her up cold and exhaust blew out the bottom and sides of the old mufflers. She does sound a bit throatier, which is fine with me, and loudness is not in the least offensive to the neighbors. (Actually, I really don't care -- their kids make more noise than 50 Harleys with straight pipes!)
Fit an finish of the Jardine 4 into 2 slip-ons was quite good - my Honey HAD to polish off all the finger prints incurred during installation so that they looked as good post-installation as right out of the box.
The few glitches that I found with the installation instructions were minor nuisances and may have resulted from my interpretation rather than imperfect instructions (BUT I don't think so!). In addition, the baffles are removable (just drill out a couple of rivets) so, as long as the shell is intact, I should be able to keep My Baby (certainly not my Honey) reasonably quiet.
I recommend them as a reasonably priced replacement for whatever mufflers you have rotting out. I purchased them from:
Shade Tree
P.O. Box 755
Middlefield, OH 44062
Ph (888) 742-3387 or (800) 927-8562.
1997 catalog # 45, Part# 14-39, $163.30 + S&H.