pfortin
XS650 New Member
Hello
Just thought I should share my simple modification to make my short mufflers sound better and be quieter.
The bike is a 1972 XS with the stock 650 engine. On the stock head pipes I have two Tapered tip 16 inches long free flowing mufflers.
The sound with these mufflers was too loud for my taste and they also sounded like rusted out mufflers. You know, the loud engine sound plus the rattling sound as if you could hear the valve train noises mixed with the thumps.
I looked at adding a set of baffles on the inside of the muffler before the outlet, but that was difficult to do without drilling or welding on the good looking shorties.
I got the idea of adding something to the head pipes, before the exhaust enters the mufflers and made a few prototypes. I ended up using an 8 inches long piece of 1" diameter galvanized steel electrical conduit. I drilled 20 holes 3/8" in diameter in the last half of these pipes and capped the end. The 1" steel conduit enters and fits snugly in the inside diameter of the head pipes. I tapped them in about one inch and made some steel wedges which I pushed between the conduit and the end of the head pipes. A few weld tacks keeps the wedges in place and secures the assembly to the end of the head pipe.
Simply slides the muffler over the conduit and on to the end of the head pipe in the normal way. The baffles can't be seen, don't seem to restrict the exhaust as the bike still runs perfect at idle or WFO.
The sound is great, no more rattling sound, quite a few less decibels at all RPMs and just the thump, thump we all like are left as back ground music. Still not a quiet bike but just a tad louder than a stock muffled Harley Sportster as an example.
I hope this can help someone.
Just thought I should share my simple modification to make my short mufflers sound better and be quieter.
The bike is a 1972 XS with the stock 650 engine. On the stock head pipes I have two Tapered tip 16 inches long free flowing mufflers.
The sound with these mufflers was too loud for my taste and they also sounded like rusted out mufflers. You know, the loud engine sound plus the rattling sound as if you could hear the valve train noises mixed with the thumps.
I looked at adding a set of baffles on the inside of the muffler before the outlet, but that was difficult to do without drilling or welding on the good looking shorties.
I got the idea of adding something to the head pipes, before the exhaust enters the mufflers and made a few prototypes. I ended up using an 8 inches long piece of 1" diameter galvanized steel electrical conduit. I drilled 20 holes 3/8" in diameter in the last half of these pipes and capped the end. The 1" steel conduit enters and fits snugly in the inside diameter of the head pipes. I tapped them in about one inch and made some steel wedges which I pushed between the conduit and the end of the head pipes. A few weld tacks keeps the wedges in place and secures the assembly to the end of the head pipe.
Simply slides the muffler over the conduit and on to the end of the head pipe in the normal way. The baffles can't be seen, don't seem to restrict the exhaust as the bike still runs perfect at idle or WFO.
The sound is great, no more rattling sound, quite a few less decibels at all RPMs and just the thump, thump we all like are left as back ground music. Still not a quiet bike but just a tad louder than a stock muffled Harley Sportster as an example.
I hope this can help someone.
