'85-'87 Mono Exhaust Air Balancer Replacement

[geezergolfer56]

Bike is an '86 R65 Mono. I am considering replacing the large exhaust box under the engine with an "H" pipe. Have any of you done this and what were your results? I would expect the exhaust to be louder, but I don't want to be so loud as to offend the neighbors. And I don't want to open a can of worms with carb adjustments. The bike still has the exhaust gas recirculation equipment on it. (Here's the reason behind the question. I also have a '76 R60/6 and love the exhaust sound it makes. I am trying to get the R65 to sound like the R60/6 and am wondering if this will do the job.) Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions!

 

[20774]

Don't know if it's a can of worms, but the whole intake-exhaust system is designed to operate with a certain amount of backpressure, etc. It's certain you will need to redo your carbs to some degree to be sure you're not too lean or too rich. In most cases, there will be some sort of degradation to performance, maybe to mid-range power or top-end performance. I'd be sure and save my parts so I could convert back easily in case things don't work out...or the next owner doesn't want your new set up.

 

[6322]

You may be able to replace it with the stock components from an earlier R65, ‘79 - ‘82, which only had the front crossover, similar to your R60/6. If you want the same sound, I expect you’ll want to stick with the same parts, particularly mufflers. Regarding thr recirc system, I removed mine on my ‘83 R80ST in the first 10,000 miles. It now has 130,000+. It still runs just fine. Good luck with your project and keep on the good side of your neighbors. Ride easy

 

[pauls1150]

Instead of replacing the "front muffler" with pipes (which requires $), and you don't want to be offensive to the neighbors - On one of my R100s, I removed the box, carefully drilled a hole straight through front-to-back (on both sides) and 1/2" diameter, and reinstalled it. Kept the rear mufflers stock. (You can use 3/8" if you want to be a little more conservative.)
It was only a "bit" louder (I thought it sounded pretty decent) and I only had to move the needles one notch up (richer) to compensate.