XBR500 exhaust pipe mounting.

[richardeblack]

Hello All
I was very lucky at a recent autojumble and got a reasonable standard syste for £20. Very pleased. Only thing is the bottom mounting brackets only have a 10mm hole unlike all my others which are much larger and rubber mounted. I notice they were like this on the earlier XBRs, changing to rubber mounts with the H models.
Anyone had any problems solidly mounting them please,
Thanks very much
Richard

[tommy]

hi richard   £20  for a std exhaust  wow you did well there

[richardeblack]

Yes, I was really pleased. By no means perfect with a rusty patch on one pipe and a welded patch on one silencer but quite presentable. It's for a bike I want to sell so didn't want to spend too much. He was a really nice chap too.
I just turned up at the jumble and couldn't believe my eyes. Talk about rocking horse excrement! First exhaust I've seen at an autojumble  for an XBR in years. I was about to start making one.

[Rossco500]

Hi Richard - definitely a lucky find. I know the earlier systems were two piece and the later ones were one. Maybe the change in mounting was related to that. I can't see any harm mounting them solidly. I was lucky enough to buy a new old stock Micron system from Timbo a few years back.

Regards

Tony

[richardeblack]

I've managed to fit them but they definitely took a bit of "fixing".  I had to grind out the bottom bracket holes and fit spacers to get the silencers to line up with their holes.  I wonder if the frame brackets were in a slightly different place?  Anyway, got them on and they don't look bad.
I must confess I liked the Micron system.  Seem to be reasonably quiet and good for performance (not top end which I don't use any more!).  I just wish there were some reasonably priced exhausts about for them now.  I'm not paying £400 for a predator system or £169 for a pair of down pipes.  Why are they so expensive when you can get a set of Triumph downpipes for £100?
My next plan is to make my own up.  I can't imagine it will be any good but will have a go.
Cheers,
Richard.

[welland99]

Hi Richard,
You definitely did well there. 
Last time out on mine, I became aware that the exhaust had got much noisier, so I stopped to take a look.  The LH down pipe had snapped just after the clamp that holds it to the cylinder head.  It's a micron 2-1. Considering taking it in to a local-ish exhaust centre to see if they can replace the pipes.  Unless anybody else has any other ideas?

Is it a difficult job to remove and refit an exhaust?

[richardeblack]

That's a shame,
I very much doubt if an exhaust centre will be much help but you can't lose anything by asking.  Getting the Micron off is very easy but be VERY careful undoing the clamp nuts.  I have broken off  those in the past and it can be very difficult to get the broken studs out.  The last one I ended up TIG welding a new stud on.  The last one I was struggling with, I carefully cut the nut down with a dremmel to avoid breaking the stud.  I always use brass nuts to prevent problems later.
Once off, the reason for the break will decide what you need to do.  If it was because of excess corrosion, you may be able to find someone who can weld in a new section although, again, an exhaust fitting place is unlikely to be able to help.
If corrosion is not too bad, and the fracture is clean, it should be quite easy to get it repaired but there would probably be a reason for it to break such as too much tension in the system which would need addressing.
If you are not sure of any of it, get back to us and someone will be able to help.
Cheers,
Richard.

[welland99]

Hi Richard,
The exhaust place I was thinking of is one which makes exhausts, not just a fitting centre, such as Kwik fit.  Even though the pipe has fractured all the way through, it is holding in the right place right, so I doubt there is much tension/stress in it.  Tbh, corrosion is probably the major factor in the fracture.  Although it may be possible to weld It back together, or just fit a new end, it still won't look much good. 

The place is called A44 exhausts in Worcester.  Does anybody know of them?

[themoudie]

If you are removing exhaust nuts and they have not been assembled with lashings of copper grease and or are not bronze or stainless steel nuts or stainless steel studs, then I would advise that you use 'Bulldog BDX' and leave it to soak for 24 hours. A friend had a seized Kawasaki Z1000LTD engine that he was able to remove the rear sprocket from without locking up the engine. He then removed the spark plugs, gave each cylinder a good alround blast and let them soak overnight. Next day he was able to turn the engine over by hand on the end of the crankshaft.

I use it for everything where I would have used PlusGas 'A', or diesel/paraffin mix and for lubricating cables, nipples and the final drive chain, which it does very well.

Here is a link for 'Bulldog BDX': Bulldog_BDX   There are other local suppliers, you need to check the web.

Good health, Bill

[richardeblack]

Thanks Welland99, I will be very interested to hear how you get on with the exhaust  people. Even if you are using Bill's wonder fluid I would definitely give the studs a very thorough wire brushing right into all the threads and maybe apply some heat to the nuts before having a go.  Whilst I haven't tried Bulldog BDX, I have tried extensive soaking in plus gas and still broken studs off.
That sounds like good stuff Bill, I will definitely get some.  It might cut down on the number of nuts I end up cutting off. Thanks for the suggestion.
If anyone does have broken studs that they can't get out of an XBR, I made up a jig using an old exhaust clamp and bit of aluminium turned to allow fairly precise location of new studs which I was able to TIG weld to the remains of the old ones which has worked very well.  One of the studs was broken off flush and I was able to build up above the level of the head with the TIG and then weld the stud onto that.  I was surprised at how well it worked. 
Good luck with it, and thanks to Bill as usual.
Cheers,
Richard.

[themoudie]

My pleasure Richard.

Bill

[welland99]

I rang A44 exhausts today and got some bad news. They are not making or repairing exhausts at present, just supplying components for others to assemble or use.  Their website for selling components is 304stainlessparts.com . 

So, will now probably need to find somebody else who is handy with a welder. 

Could anybody possibly supply any photos and / or diagrams of the top end of the exhaust where it fits to the head?  I'm curious to see how the collars and the exhaust fit together to the head. 

Once the nuts are removed (hopefully without breaking the studs), does the  exhaust come away from the head easily?

One idea I have is to remove the whole exhaust myself and try to find a sleeve that might be welded around the broken part.  Or alternatively, get a new top end made in a straight piece which could be joined up to the fracture.  (The fracture  is between the cylinder head and the first bend in the pipe.  )

[CrazyFrog]

I've never used these people, but somebody recommended them to me at some time, and they list the XBR 500 on their samples pages, which I think means they've made one before and have the patterns.

http://www.osmc.co.uk/exhaust.htm

[themoudie]

Aye Welland,

I bought a secondhand OSMC exhaust for a Honda Bros 400 and it was a well made, substantial exhaust that fitted without any problems. However, we had to remove the centre stand from the bike and after about 18 months we decided to refit the original exhaust and centre stand. The OSMC exhaust went to Canada via eBay and the purchaser was delighted, with the quality of the exhaust and the note it produced!

Certainly OSMC are a company worth contacting. Be aware steel prices have risen by at least 40% since we left the EU and are still rising, so these things may not be a "cheap alternative" any longer.

Good health, Bill

[welland99]

I managed to get the old exhaust off today.  The nuts were tight, but with care, they came off without breaking the studs.  The ends of the pipes were not how I imagined.  I was expecting the pipe ends to be rolled, but they were straight. I expected the collars to be in two pieces, but they were solid, and appeared to be fixed (bonded invisibly) to the pipes. 
I'm going to put it back on and try to seal the fracture with high temp epoxy putty as a temporary measure until the autumn.