Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Stock pipes exhaust mod, Part 613

I have an '05 Speedmaster I picked up used a week ago. The frame is marked 12/04, and the VIN 224453. Last night I chop sawed the cones off and left a slight taper. The rear most baffles let go with the help of the cutting torch and some cool wet rags to keep the pipe cool. The chrome did not discolor from the torch. [Phew}

FWIW, there is a perforated metal liner inside the pipes that appears to run the full length.

The next baffle plate gave in after being weakened by three 3/4" hole saw cuts, then I tapped a large screwdriver between the plate and the perforated liner, and twisted the screw driver with a pair of pliers to collapse the plate. A wire coat hanger coaxed the entire assemply out of the pipe. (I could have left the 2nd baffles in the pipe, but since one started to collapse from being hole saw drilled, out they came.)

There are two more baffle plates; one at around two feet in from the end, and another near the front. All four baffles are a plate and pipe assembly.

The sound right now with the two rear baffles gone, and two baffles untouched is nice & throaty, so I'll ride with it for a while and see how the sound settles in with me. If I feel it needs more sound, I can ventilate the next baffle with a 3/4" hole and see what that does. I was surprised at how well electrical tape stabilized the joints of the hole saw contraption, and was relieved that each hole chunk fell back easily out of the pipe with some gentle tapping of the pipe in a downward position.


Many thanks to all who posted before me about their own stock pipe mods. I have around $30 invested in the hole saw / socket extension assembly and ended up with a sweet Triumph tone.

I found my modified pipes sounded even better after I removed the snorkel
mike

I removed the third baffle recently and noticed a definite performance improvement. Much louder, of course. Got an extra set of pipes on ebay, my next experiment is to remove baffles from the header end first. Started on one today, much more difficult. There is only a 1" dia. hole to work through.

I just removed the second set of baffles. A few months ago I removed the first set and was undecided whether to go out and remove the second set. As I've yet to hear anyone say they didn't like the sound even more after taking out the second set, out came mine.
After taking out the first set (a few months ago), I had a jet kit installed during the bikes first annual checkup. I'm wondering if I should get it re-set now that the second set has been removed. The bike is running great. What do you think??

I have all my baffles removed so u can see right through the pipe, all i left was the fiberglass under that mesh i guess it is and it sounds great, always get compliments and its not to loud, still quieter then my dads harley..I'll never buy pipes...

Tom, I have two baffles removed on each pipe and am seriously considering taking out the other two but don't want to make the bike give me headaches when I ride, but I think two removed plates isn't quite enough. How can you describe the sound of full-gutted pipes? Also, how was the performance? I preacticallu have the drill in my hand right now and am still deciding what to do. Anyone with ideas, suggestions or comments?

Tom- did you leave that narrow (about 1" diameter) section at the front? I was wondering if Triumph engineered that section for back pressure.

joelong1- I rode around with 2 baffles out for a long time. I took the third out, and am happy with sound. All that is in there is 1 baffle and that first narrowed section in each pipe. With 2 out, had nice, deep, rumbling tone. When I took third out, really made a difference. Now has some bark, especially under throttle. I always goose it when between buildings or under bridges.

For those of us who are mechanically inept, I wish someone could post some pics of a step by step process of how one actually goes about drilling out baffles.

I concur I want to do this myself, but have no idea how to do it, Would be nice is we had a PDF like the AI removal on the home page to work off.

I have a hole saw the size everyone uses, but without something for the pilot drill to drill into this thing is going to walk all over the place.

I can't post pics.....but this is how I instructed my dad to do it...I would have done it myself, but in hearing the noises...I couldn't have done it...I started watching but had to walk away...

Get a stick. See if the drill you have is long enough....if not go to a hardware store and get one that is. A 4mm of similar drill should be fine. Lie on the floor and drill a circle of holes in the baffle. Then get a bigger drill (that is long enough....) and drill between the holes. Then pull on the pipe thats sticking out - it may need a little wobble but it should come lose and out. You can pilot the holes, but my dad didn't have a tiny drill long enough...
Next week I'm going to get a Dremel or something and smooth out the hole. At the mo its got the pointy bits from the holes.

But the sound that come out of the back now....well I'm happy with it!

And I'm not technical....can you tell.....?

If I drill out the rear baffles only at this time will I have to rejet the carbs to offset the loss in back pressure ?

I did it, got home from work early and decided to give it a shot.

My only question now is why did I wait so long.

I love the sound what a difference,

I drilled four holes at 12 3 6 and 9 o'clock and used my rotory tool with a side cutting metal drill bit to cut between the holes. Then switched over to a grinding bit and smoothed everything out down to the mesh that covers the fiberglass. A quick shot of (hi-temp) black spray paint and it looks like they were never there.

Thanks for the offer, I would have taken you up on it.

Question though how do you get to the second set of baffles I can see the plate, but I doubt I have anything that would reach it.

the second baffles are easier, they are only secured with 2or 3 little tack welds. I bought the longest flat screw driver I could find and with a hammer used it as a chisel. a few whacks on each tack weld and the plate and tube are loose. then I used a coat hanger with bend at the end to pull it out. drilling the air box will make it louder and give it a little more umph. more air going out needs more air going in.
mike

Mike,

Thanks for the tip. Another question how do I go about drilling the airbox. Today I pulled the AI out and looking down I saw a round plate with a half dozen screws in it and with a rubber neck in the middle. This I assume is the air box. How big of a hole do you drill it and where ?

LJ3000

Stopped by Sears and picked up a 30" cold chisel and used my mash hammer three blows at the spot welds and the whole thing came loose, used your tip on the coat hanger and they came out with a little jiggling around.

That is about as loud as I want it. My question is why did Triumph want to silence them so much ?

I like the sound not to loud and now it sounds like a motorcycle.

Thanks, look forward to meeting you and hooking up for a ride.

BP, glad the exhaust help worked out for you.first of all pull that rubber neck right out, no fastners just yank it out.this is the much talked about snorkle. you could stop there if you want alot of folks do, just removing the snorkle allows alot more in. If you like to fiddle you can remove the air filter and use a 1 3/4" whole saw to drill a hole in the center of the bottom air filter.then drill the same size hole in the plastic bottom of the air box. there are 4 small tabs protruding from the bottom of the box, drill your hole in the center of those tabs and it will line up with the hole in the bottom the filter. now you have double the air coming in to the filter. it will take you less time to do the work than it took me to write this. you will notice better performance and better sound. will have to get together some time wolcott is pretty close
mike

BP, don't remember reading if you have rejetted or not but you will probably want to so you balance out all this added air flow both in and out with more fuel. this is a fairly simple job and I have several differnt size jets kicking around if you choose to go that route.

CTMIKE,

Thanks for the directions I'm going to do it tomorrow, what size jets should I put in. leads to another question.

Where and how do you replace the jets, I'm not afrid of tearing into the carbs and I know if I get into trouble I always have the website to get on the right track.

Is it my imagination or did he idle increase a few hunderd rpm after I pulled the two sets of baffles out and the AI exhaust smells richer

Has anyone bought the modified pipes off the guy on eBay? What do you think?

LJ3000

I like the new sound with the second set out, just loud enough for me. I figured out what that black knob is at the bottom of the carbs does. That is why my idle went up when I was playing with it (wonder what this does).

I am thinking about removing baffles from my stock Speedmaster pipes and was wondering if people usually take the pipes off the bike first or leave them on. Is there any risk of damaging the exhaust if left on? Also is the procedure the same as on the America pipes? If not, what is different?