Polarbear
Polarbear
'05 and on GSs with stock pipes, this is to you! I've always wanted a sportier sound back there in the muffler dept. and have put off the Remus 500$ option, because I've spent sooooo much already on this bike. That money for just a sound seemed steep, so I didn't spend it. WELL, yesterday riding home, the thought keeps coming back to me, this bike would be sweet with a tad more character and this happened!
Looking at the end of the muffler, you see three little hex head bolts, holding an end cap on the muffler, yes
. I've been wanting to explore that for some time and did yesterday. Took'em out and drilled the 2 rivets holding the chrome outer shield to same end cap. The cap comes right off, exposing the inner muffler, meat of this topic! Years ago, way back, we used to drill the baffles out of stock mufflers for some improvement to ones ear....Just enough to mellow the sound, not HD rip the ears apart, just mellowed. This is where I'm going with my GSA, to drill some holes in the end of the muffler wall, at its tail end, where the existing two ports exist from factory. I did it! Three half inch holes, right up the middle(in between) of the two factory exhaust ports, AND. PERFECT sound, just as the 500$ Remus, I've seen on so many. Put the end cap back on and now have the perfect GSA for my liking. Took too long to figure this out and should have done it way ealier.
150 miles with this and its so good and I swear the engine has more "snap" at midrange. Could be a mental thing, hearing the rpm's more clearly as one rips through the gears on takeoff, but somethings up. The Remus folks say the midrange is affected indeed, with their pipes. THIS is NO Remus, as they have a superior product, but a simple solution to the SAME sound and maybe even some improvement in the power band. More miles will tell. Clearly some back pressure has been released from the muffler.
Pros; a great sound the bike should have from the beginning. No money spent getting it. NOT loud, just right. Cannot be seen...Takes an hour or less.
Cons; Still have a heavy stock muffler. The tiny hex bolts on the end cap are junk and strip the heads getting them out(but easliy replaced, same as all your fairing bolts with better, larger heads). Use some penentrating oil! The heat of the muffler takes a toll on the tiny bolts, so some lube helps removing these.
One last thought; drill only two holes to start and try the startup and listen. Drill a third as needed, if you feel the need. I did three half inchers and even went a tad further, with 4 much smaller quarter inch holes at the 10,2,8,4(clock) positions, around the larger holes drilled. I am very pleased with my results. One NOTE; keeping the holes in a place to allow exhaust to escape the end cap easily, was a concern and achieved quite easily by locating the holes all around the existing stock ports. The end of the muffler is covered, almost entirely by the decorator end cap and the holes drilled are centered around the 2 stock exhaust ports. Perfect.
I'll quit this longer topic, post. Hope you get something from it. I did, Randy...Sorry for no pics, but this is my computer issue.
Looking at the end of the muffler, you see three little hex head bolts, holding an end cap on the muffler, yes
. I've been wanting to explore that for some time and did yesterday. Took'em out and drilled the 2 rivets holding the chrome outer shield to same end cap. The cap comes right off, exposing the inner muffler, meat of this topic! Years ago, way back, we used to drill the baffles out of stock mufflers for some improvement to ones ear....Just enough to mellow the sound, not HD rip the ears apart, just mellowed. This is where I'm going with my GSA, to drill some holes in the end of the muffler wall, at its tail end, where the existing two ports exist from factory. I did it! Three half inch holes, right up the middle(in between) of the two factory exhaust ports, AND. PERFECT sound, just as the 500$ Remus, I've seen on so many. Put the end cap back on and now have the perfect GSA for my liking. Took too long to figure this out and should have done it way ealier. 150 miles with this and its so good and I swear the engine has more "snap" at midrange. Could be a mental thing, hearing the rpm's more clearly as one rips through the gears on takeoff, but somethings up
. The Remus folks say the midrange is affected indeed, with their pipes. THIS is NO Remus, as they have a superior product, but a simple solution to the SAME sound and maybe even some improvement in the power band. More miles will tell. Clearly some back pressure has been released from the muffler. Pros; a great sound the bike should have from the beginning. No money spent getting it
. NOT loud, just right. Cannot be seen...Takes an hour or less.Cons; Still have a heavy stock muffler. The tiny hex bolts on the end cap are junk and strip the heads getting them out(but easliy replaced, same as all your fairing bolts with better, larger heads
). Use some penentrating oil! The heat of the muffler takes a toll on the tiny bolts, so some lube helps removing these. One last thought; drill only two holes to start and try the startup and listen. Drill a third as needed, if you feel the need. I did three half inchers and even went a tad further, with 4 much smaller quarter inch holes at the 10,2,8,4(clock) positions, around the larger holes drilled. I am very pleased with my results. One NOTE; keeping the holes in a place to allow exhaust to escape the end cap easily, was a concern and achieved quite easily by locating the holes all around the existing stock ports. The end of the muffler is covered, almost entirely by the decorator end cap and the holes drilled are centered around the 2 stock exhaust ports. Perfect.
I'll quit this longer topic, post. Hope you get something from it. I did
, Randy...Sorry for no pics, but this is my computer issue.
