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Message started by terpfan1980 on 09/10/13 at 09:58:24

Title: Muffler question
Post by terpfan1980 on 09/10/13 at 09:58:24

Greetings again everyone - thanks to some help from my father (my mechanical advisor, repairman, friend, dad, etc.), I just got the muffler on my 1998 LS650 replaced (thanks also to purchase of a used muffler from another member here, who sold me the newer parts).

We noticed a difference between the mufflers after we completed the swap out and it leads me to ask the question here. What is the part that is in the end of the old muffler that basically covered the smaller holes surrounding the larger hole coming out of the end of the muffler? On the replacement muffler, I can see where screw holes are, but on that muffler there are 6 holes around the center hole and no additional cover over those 6 holes.

On the original muffler there was another metal cover that seemed to cover those 6 holes and/or fill a couple of those holes while covering the rest.

Hopefully I'm explaining this welll. The other question is should I really even care about this piece at all? Will not having it impact performance? Since I replaced the muffler that was strapped with fiberglass ribbon around it and have now opened back up all of the original holes that should be there, I expect it will perhaps be louder, but that the heat should dissipate better than it had been with the muffler wrapped.

Advice definitely appreciated :)

Title: Re: Muffler question
Post by terpfan1980 on 09/10/13 at 09:59:18

Oh, I should note that I don't see the part that I would expect to find (that covers those 6 holes in the end of the muffler) when I check the diagrams here:

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Suzuki/Motorcycle/1998/LS650P/MUFFLER/parts.html

Title: Re: Muffler question
Post by HondaLavis on 09/10/13 at 10:13:39

A side by side picture comparison would help, but it sounds like the old muffler had extra holes drilled in the back plate by the previous owner. This is a cheap way to make the stock muffler a little louder with minimal effort. No worries, nothing wrong and you aren't missing anything. ;)

http://jonline.org/savage/Tips___How-to_s/Drilled_Muffler/drilled_muffler.htm

Title: Re: Muffler question
Post by terpfan1980 on 09/10/13 at 12:13:34

Close but not quite, the new muffler is the one that has the extra holes (which seem to be showing through because a metal cover that helps to close up that end of the muffler is gone). The old muffler didn't have those holes.

I wish I could find pictures to compare. I can take pictures of the new muffler in place, but I've tossed the old muffler and don't want to go dumpster diving for it.

My thought was that the new one was opened up to make it louder, which is fine. I'm not sure that I could get a replacement for the piece that I'm thinking of (short of buying a whole new muffler), and really, I'm not really that concerned about it if it won't impact how the bike runs.

Title: Re: Muffler question
Post by terpfan1980 on 09/10/13 at 13:40:55

Actually it wasn't too bad diving in the dumpster to find the old muffler, so yeah, now I have before and after shots.

This is before:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/9720816714_7614aaf3eb.jpg
(the shiny spots are from where my dad tried drilling out the screws in the old muffler)

This is a rear view of the new one:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7287/9720817134_5b0b1e116b.jpg

Title: Re: Muffler question
Post by terpfan1980 on 09/10/13 at 13:45:30

Just back from a longer ride on the bike, other than being louder than the pipe that was wrapped in fiberglass (which had covered over/sealed all of the factory original holes in the original muffler), I couldn't say that the performance was affected negatively (and even the louder sound isn't a negative, just noticeable since it is louder than before).

The sound has more of a rumble now rather than quiet sound that came from the wrapped muffler. While I don't really pay heed to the louder pipes save lives mantra, I'm OK with a still reasonable, but slightly louder, sound.

Title: Re: Muffler question
Post by verslagen1 on 09/10/13 at 13:53:12

In the stock pipe, the end plate is welded on.
So those aren't screws, they're welds.
If you drill all the way thru, it may come off.
look in the tech section for Hartman mod.