Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Debaffling stock pipes

I'm going to debaffle my stock pipes, I'm not going to ask how, I've read a ton of info on the site, and I am expecting the infamous "Gunter Saw" in the mail at some point. My question is for those that have done it, how many baffles did you take out? Did you remove them all? I want my pipes to have that Triumph sound and be loud enough to be heard, but I don't want to take out one baffle to many.
And do I need to leave at least one baffle in for back pressure? I'm still a little foggy on the whole back pressure thing.

I took all mine out but left the reducer cone in for some back pressure so I would retain my bottom end torque. Don't look for that classic Triumph thump of the old twins of the 50s and 60s. You won't get that because the BA and SM are 270º timing vs. the 360º of the old bikes. I love the sound of my bike but like the 360º thump a little better.

Depends what year you have, the 06 and newer have a cat in the pipe and that can be tough to get out since it's soft. The older bikes seem to have either 3 or 4 baffles in them. Not sure if it was ever determined if it was different years that had a different number or what the determining factor was. The first baffle is the tough one when knocking them out, the rest knock out easily but no worries with a saw.

What the Dog said. I completely gutted my pipes except for the cone. Bike sounds and runs great (after rejetting of course).

I removed 3, leaving the reducer and 1 baffle. I have another set with all the baffles out, a little loud for me.

Dog, anything will sound more like a Triumph than what I've got now. I think others have described it as a sewing machine, that description fits. I have a 2003, so no issue with the cat.

The reducer cone is located in the header pipe, correct?

Mines a '04', it had 4 baffles, took them all out. Sounds great! Been running it that way for 3 years.

I removed 2 sets of baffles and I love the sound. Loud enough that my my wife hears me from a block away and has my beer ready as I roll into the garage. And I really like the tone. Nice and throaty.

Can anyone tell me how I will stand with the uk mot if I de baffle

Gordon, I would try and pick up another set of pipes for surgery and keep my standard ones.

I'm gonna argue..... me argue surely not!


But seriously, my 03 has the rear most baffle out and PASSED an MOT. If you gut them, then yes you'll need a spare pair (I now have 2....) but if you don't go daft then you'll be alright.

It all depends on where you have the bike tested , take it to your local non triumph dealership and they will try and get you sued for noise abatement , take it to a decent garage and they will probably try and talk you into taking all the baffles out

I drilled out two baffles today and ran them on my bike. OMG! I should've done that 8 years ago instead of spending $3-400 on short TORs. What a deep, rich sound (running K&N pod air filters, not the stock airbox). I can't imagine how loud it would be with the third baffle removed, but I'm not going to bother.

I haven't tried my new-to-me Specialty Spares short slashcuts. I suspect I'll like those a little more.

The Gunter saw is moving on to it's next person this week.

Another option for those hard to reach baffles is to drill them as opposed to sawing them. Four 1/4" holes equals... ya know what I mean? The nice thing about the drilling is you can dial it in incrementally, as opposed to too loud, if that's an issue.

If you encounter the dreaded cat converter at the front of the pipe - woe be unto ya. It is in a word, a bit-- to get through. Not impossible mind you, but a coffee can or 2 full of cuss words at the ready will be required.

Kinda wish I had a semi quiet 2 baffles only gone set of pipes for longer trips...

I might sell mine. Depends on how I like the SSSC's. I'll have to live with them for a while before I decide.

Kinda wish I had a semi quiet 2 baffles only gone set of pipes for longer trips...
You always wear earphones anyway

That is my only complaint about my gutted pipes is when I ride a very long trip I can't hear for a day. That is no exageration either, when we went to VA last summer I was actually a little scared it wasn't gonna come back.

Do you wear earplugs?

I did on the way home.

Yep - I wear ear plugs, for they tell me hearing loss is like carbon monoxide poisoning - a little here, a little there. I'm halfway "there" already. So is my wife. "What?" is our favorite household word. We are planning on swapping ear trumpets for Christmas.

With a 2 baffler, I don't think ear plugs were necessary.

wear ear plugs for even just down to the market. The thing is, even with stock pipes, the wind noise will ruin your hearing at highway speeds.

The next best thing to earplugs are ear buds. just don't let the silicon bud cover get loose.

I have an '05 and I removed two and it wasn't quite enough. I then drilled two 7/8" holes in the third one and it sounds great. Almost a tick too loud but I can live with it.

i have removed 2 from mine the silly thing is i wanted to wait till i had a spare set for test in case then relised i was stupid so i just did giving me a year to get spares for test.
sound is great took mine out with screwdriver and mallet really quick job as well was surprised how easy it was.
the other reason for only taking 2 out i was advised by the mech at local triumph dealership i wouldnt need to re jet or anything and it running fine

Find a new mechanic, any change in intake/exhaust goes hand in hand with jetting. These machines come lean from the factory and by pulling even 1 baffle you made the engine even more lean. The more you change the more the jets change. At the very least you probably need a larger pilot now and probably a slightly larger main. You also need to adjust the mixture screws for sure.

EDIT: Just noticed you are from the UK, are stock bikes jetted any differenly from the factory for the UK vs. the US? If the jets are larger stock over there you may just need to adjust the mixture screws. (I doubt it but the thought just popped in my head)

Hello....again. Been off this site (and not riding my '05 Speedmaster) for
2 years, but back at both and smiling. I have recently gutted my TOR's, Freak
Kit, re jetted. Runs very well, a little too loud, and a bit of popping going on. I am afraid that I may have lost some low end torque too. Has anyone experience anything like this? I've been thinking of adding something like a washer or maybe a G-Pop or maybe some else to bring down the noise just a tad and to create just a bit of back pressure. Anyone have any thoughts?

If you gutted the pipes completely you lost too much back pressure thus losing the bottom end torque. There is a reducer up near where the pipes attach to the headers you need to leave in to keep the low end torque. You can put an after market baffle in the header pipe to fix it. Not sure how well it will work but the easiest fix I can think of except another set of pipes.

Available Here among other places. There is also a selection of other baffles you may want to try in the pipes.

I had someone else take the baffles out for me and I do no know if the cone
was removed. Is there a way to tell without pulling the pipe?

Would be hard to see with the pipes on but it is very easy to pull them and look. Try a flash light first but not knowing what you are looking for might make that fruitless.

Thanks, I did put a 1" + dowel and it went all the was up to the bend in the header pipes, so I guess it is out. Do you think it would matter if I put something in the start of the slip on or at the exit end. Not sure what, maybe a disc or washer? It is jetted so rich that I am afraid of creating too much restriction at this point.

Would be best to get it as close to where the reducer was for several reasons that I won't get into since it's kind of lengthy. But has to do with exhaust pulses and reversion waves etc... a 1" dowel might make it past the cone.

Thanks,

Picture of the reducer-


Its the very first thing at the header end.

I removed 3 of the 4 baffles and WOW does my bike sound awesome. Nice deep guttural sound, exactly was I was looking for. She's very lean now tons of popping on decel, but I've ordered some new jets and rejetting is my next step. I've got a coworker who has worked on bikes for years and is going to give me a hand, as soon as the weather is nicer so I can ride to his house. It snowed here today and he lives 45 minutes away. Gotta love New England weather.

So you can remove all the baffles, leave the reducer and be ok on back pressure (after rejetting)? Wish we can get a sound bite fourm going where we have a stock sound, one baffle, two baffle, three baffle and four baffle removed sound. Has anyone found out what years have what baffle numbers (or is it luck of the draw)?

One thing to keep in mind is 07 and later models you will have to deal with the catalytic element in the pipes. (not sure if 06 had it or not)

What is your mpg ( roughly ) with 3 or 4 baffles removed/rejetted? Are you taking a huge hit?

I am not exactly sure but I go about 150 miles or so before reserve and have gone about 35 miles on reserve and not run out, hope that is of some help.