What have you done to your XS today?

thuban said:
On the trail of 5Twins and the saga of the quiet peashooters

Greetings to all and salutations! I can't tell you where I been for the last year cause you'd have to kill me! I kinda been keeping up. I see a guy about 84 gave up his sidecar rig. Ain't mentioning no names but his initials are Fredintoon! Hats off to ya' Fred! MY buddy, 86, gave up his hooves but he still keeps an old nag around to scratch on. Just saying.
Lets get to it. I see 5T has made more modifications in his quest of quieter Pea Shooters. It's a love-hate relationship for sure. Quite country Sunday morning. Great time for a ride. But you got ta warm her up, don't cha know. Don't want no holes in the sump filter! I can almost hear the neighbor question my parentage. Makes me smile!
5T has been working on the pipe end with his baffle and cross bolts. I can tell he's still not happy. Me either. So I decided I'd be the crotch doctor, work on the tail end and meet him in the middle. To that end, no pun intended, I ordered two sets of 35mm baffles from different venders on e-bay. Cheap as beans, they were. They were not the same. Each had 4 rows of holes, all right, with eight holes in each row. But the holes in one set of baffles were larger. (bottom)

View attachment 197134

Remembering 5T's flat spot, I went with the large holes. I also left the plug in the end of the baffle thinking if it was too quiet, I could take it out later or if good, tack it in place. The baffle end, drilled and tapped for an M6 machine screw, was drilled out to 10-32. I selected a 10-32 button head hex stainless screw and stainless lock washer and nut. In the end of the shooter, at the 6:00 o-clock position , I skipped 5/16 inch back, punched and drilled a hole for the 10-32 button head screw. I ground down the M6 threads inside the baffle, inserted the baffle and lightly bolted it down finger tight.

View attachment 197135 View attachment 197136

With the Shooters in place, moment of truth. I fired it up and I could detect No Change in Volume! None! But now if I blipped the throttle, it racked. That went in the wrong direction but was worth a shot. I think we're at the end of our rope.
I figure if the shooters had internal plate baffles like Yamahaxs650.com's 07-0065's, they would be a wonderful thing! Was not to be, so I searched and found the mufflers with 1 1/2 inch inlets because no way was I going to go back with the reducer rings! I like, and wanted a more seamless look.

View attachment 197137 View attachment 197138

I got that and also a great sound. I believe these mufflers are the ones 5T says sound good to him. They do sound good to me, however I'm going to miss the 5 HP the look of the Shooters gave me. ( A few days before I retired the shooters, they gave me the greatest thrill this old man has had in a great while. No pix, dammit, but a story for another time)
Long story short. If your looking for great sounding mufflers for your almost stock bike, go with the $69 bucks (ea) #07-0065's from Yamahaxs650.com. Pay attention to the Note: "These have 1 1/2 inlets and come with no reducers!" You'll get the chrome strap hanger (POS), the steel channel bar w/ two bolts each, a beefed up section the channel is welded to and a nice heavy clamp. ( Or, you can use the same part number at Mike's XS for $81 bucks each and get the muffler with reducers! Same part number but NOT the same muffler!)

View attachment 197139

Mike's ($81)on the top and Yam's ($69)on the bottom.

View attachment 197140

If you weld up a couple of hangers out of 3/16 x 1 inch flat stock, the length of the lower mounting bolts will be almost perfect. ( mine are "L" shaped using two bolts on the bottom) Pix is right side. Left side has a hanger plus a strap with rubber snubber to catch the center stand.
You won't leave anything shiny in the road or run down the road looking like Jack Elam with one eye on the road and the other eye wandering around looking for the Cops.

View attachment 197141

I miss the shooters already but I'm enjoying the ride. Yes sir, I can get on it a bit in front of the Baptist church, just letting out on Sunday morning, and I don't see several people signaling me I'm number one! ( they'll lynch your azz in a heartbeat if'n they can catch ya!)
Thu
Click to expand...

Hey who’s the new guy? :laugh2: I was afraid you fell asleep and the hogs ate you! Good to see you’re still in the saddle buddy! :thumbsup:
 
@thuban glad to see you back. I've been worried and concerned that you dropped of the face of the Earth.
Again good to know you are alive and kicking!!!
 
thuban said:
On the trail of 5Twins and the saga of the quiet peashooters

Greetings to all and salutations! I can't tell you where I been for the last year cause you'd have to kill me! I kinda been keeping up. I see a guy about 84 gave up his sidecar rig. Ain't mentioning no names but his initials are Fredintoon! Hats off to ya' Fred! MY buddy, 86, gave up his hooves but he still keeps an old nag around to scratch on. Just saying.
Lets get to it. I see 5T has made more modifications in his quest of quieter Pea Shooters. It's a love-hate relationship for sure. Quite country Sunday morning. Great time for a ride. But you got ta warm her up, don't cha know. Don't want no holes in the sump filter! I can almost hear the neighbor question my parentage. Makes me smile!
5T has been working on the pipe end with his baffle and cross bolts. I can tell he's still not happy. Me either. So I decided I'd be the crotch doctor, work on the tail end and meet him in the middle. To that end, no pun intended, I ordered two sets of 35mm baffles from different venders on e-bay. Cheap as beans, they were. They were not the same. Each had 4 rows of holes, all right, with eight holes in each row. But the holes in one set of baffles were larger. (bottom)

View attachment 197134

Remembering 5T's flat spot, I went with the large holes. I also left the plug in the end of the baffle thinking if it was too quiet, I could take it out later or if good, tack it in place. The baffle end, drilled and tapped for an M6 machine screw, was drilled out to 10-32. I selected a 10-32 button head hex stainless screw and stainless lock washer and nut. In the end of the shooter, at the 6:00 o-clock position , I skipped 5/16 inch back, punched and drilled a hole for the 10-32 button head screw. I ground down the M6 threads inside the baffle, inserted the baffle and lightly bolted it down finger tight.

View attachment 197135 View attachment 197136

With the Shooters in place, moment of truth. I fired it up and I could detect No Change in Volume! None! But now if I blipped the throttle, it racked. That went in the wrong direction but was worth a shot. I think we're at the end of our rope.
I figure if the shooters had internal plate baffles like Yamahaxs650.com's 07-0065's, they would be a wonderful thing! Was not to be, so I searched and found the mufflers with 1 1/2 inch inlets because no way was I going to go back with the reducer rings! I like, and wanted a more seamless look.

View attachment 197137 View attachment 197138

I got that and also a great sound. I believe these mufflers are the ones 5T says sound good to him. They do sound good to me, however I'm going to miss the 5 HP the look of the Shooters gave me. ( A few days before I retired the shooters, they gave me the greatest thrill this old man has had in a great while. No pix, dammit, but a story for another time)
Long story short. If your looking for great sounding mufflers for your almost stock bike, go with the $69 bucks (ea) #07-0065's from Yamahaxs650.com. Pay attention to the Note: "These have 1 1/2 inlets and come with no reducers!" You'll get the chrome strap hanger (POS), the steel channel bar w/ two bolts each, a beefed up section the channel is welded to and a nice heavy clamp. ( Or, you can use the same part number at Mike's XS for $81 bucks each and get the muffler with reducers! Same part number but NOT the same muffler!)

View attachment 197139

Mike's ($81)on the top and Yam's ($69)on the bottom.

View attachment 197140

If you weld up a couple of hangers out of 3/16 x 1 inch flat stock, the length of the lower mounting bolts will be almost perfect. ( mine are "L" shaped using two bolts on the bottom) Pix is right side. Left side has a hanger plus a strap with rubber snubber to catch the center stand.
You won't leave anything shiny in the road or run down the road looking like Jack Elam with one eye on the road and the other eye wandering around looking for the Cops.

View attachment 197141

I miss the shooters already but I'm enjoying the ride. Yes sir, I can get on it a bit in front of the Baptist church, just letting out on Sunday morning, and I don't see several people signaling me I'm number one! ( they'll lynch your azz in a heartbeat if'n they can catch ya!)
Thu
Click to expand...
How do you read your taps. I spray a little WD40 on mine now and again but still can't always descipher the label. Can I scotch pad them, steel wool?
 
TeamWicked;
Taps as in to thread a hole? They ARE hard to read, especially for old eyes. Some of the etchings are real faint. Mine are in slots and their own place in the box like bits. Some are stamped and easy to read. I don't think I'd scotch at them. Might get fainter. Clean, oil and keep them dry and not banging up against each other.
 
In a day or two I'll be receiving my main peg covers. My peg rubbers are original and in rough shape. Ordered a set from Mikes. Someone here said they don't last. I don't doubt it, but... How do these things come off? Prise em' off, cuss em' off or cut em'off?
Thanks.
 
thuban said:
In a day or two I'll be receiving my main peg covers. My peg rubbers are original and in rough shape. Ordered a set from Mikes. Someone here said they don't last. I don't doubt it, but... How do these things come off? Prise em' off, cuss em' off or cut em'off?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Cut 'em off. When you put the new ones on, boil 'em in water for a few minutes. Grab some heavy gloves and slide 'em on while they're still steamin'.
Works a lot better than wrestling 'em.
 
Yes, welcome back Thuban. I'm surprised the baffles made no difference in the peashooter sound. Mine certainly did. With the end caps in place, they were actually too quiet, almost like stock mufflers. That's why I went to the crossed bolts instead. This made the sound acceptable to me, louder than stock just not too loud like they were with no added baffles. But still, they don't sound as good as those original Commandos you have now. You didn't mention whether or not you stuck the big Allen bolt "plug" in the baffles. I do and think they sound better that way, not as raspy.

The footpeg rubbers are retained by a little metal tab on the bottom rear. If you want to slide them off whole, you'll need to pry the rubber up off that as you pull .....

XKwZgDx.jpg


I'd be on the watch for some nice, used originals because as you'll find out, those MikesXS repops aren't going to last long. These are the ones that came on my '83. Both were badly worn to the point of being "bald" in spots. They were obviously the repops .....

Nbwyu6X.jpg


rudC2yz.jpg


m83sqzv.jpg


They've been replaced with nice used originals and all is well .....

fTOn11j.jpg
 
5twins said:
....because as you'll find out, those MikesXS repops aren't going to last long.
Click to expand...
A bit sad really. I mean, it's not like mixing rubber compounds is some new exotic hit or miss process. Yamaha, and others nailed the composition over 50yrs ago. Tire makers have it down to an exact science. There's textbooks and papers out there that tell you, in excruciating detail, what to mix and exactly how much to achieve what results on a durometer scale. It's a well proven and readily available science.... that MikesXS constantly gets wrong. There's no excuse really.
 
I realize you can still buy the footpeg rubbers new but they're quite expensive. This is a part I routinely search eBay for, looking for a good deal on a N.O.S. one. So far I've only scored one for about $15, lol, but I keep looking. This is also a part that Yamaha changed the number on. The current #4L0-27423-00-00 used to be #1J7-27413-01-00. I search both part #'s when looking on eBay. Yamaha used this footpeg rubber on many models .....

https://www.partshark.com/oemparts/partsearch/yamaha_motorcycle?partsearch=1j7-27413-01
 
Jim said:
A bit sad really. I mean, it's not like mixing rubber compounds is some new exotic hit or miss process. Yamaha, and others nailed the composition over 50yrs ago. Tire makers have it down to an exact science. There's textbooks and papers out there that tell you, in excruciating detail, what to mix and exactly how much to achieve what results on a durometer scale. It's a well proven and readily available science.... that MikesXS constantly gets wrong. There's no excuse really.
Click to expand...
I worked in polymers on the R & D side for a few years. We tested our products, we tested competitors products. We tested all aspects of a polymer. We often saw where someone took a short cut or a cheap almost good enough mix. I would guess that MikesXS has a source that makes rubber bits for more than just old Yamahas. I would also guess that MikesXS has no say in the mix or the QA/QC. I would gues that the supplier makes other bikes rubber bits, automotive rubber bits etc. You can bet the manufacture tries to keep the sales price down and one way is to reduce some of the additives. Tires you know that you get what you pay for. Off brands are $55 a tire and the same size Michelin is $125 The polymers are the cheap part, additives like impact modifiers, antioxidants are not cheap.
 
Last edited:
Hey 5Twins!
No, I didn't put the big bolt in but I'll try it and see how that sounds. I think the reason your baffles worked is because they were forward in the muffler where as mine were at the end. What little I ran it, the exhaust pressure actually bent that little plug cap inward. But these larger holed baffles had a thinner material plug so...
I didn't try your cross bolt mod and I may re-visit that in the future. The Shooters were made of heavier material. I liked that about them also.
Yep, I found a very nice original set of mounts. I'm going to take the rubber covers and my original mounts and put them to the side for safe keeping.
Thanks, 5T.
 
My mount rubbers were made in Taiwan. I recon they make more than just rubber dog poop! Only thing wrong with the mounts I picked up, they need new bushings. $19 and change at mikes; $12 and change at Yamxs650. And then there is about 10 bucks shipping. What's a mother to do? I'm surprised I didn't have a set. I have everything else!
 
Yes, those mount bushings are expensive too, and again, the repops may not be very good. That's another part I scrounge, lol.
 

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