After doing a lot of reading, I finally decided to take the plunge and pop out some baffles in my 07 SM this weekend. It started raining before I could take it for a test drive, but so far it seems to have been a success. Hopefully I'll get to take it for a spin tonight ... in the mean time I wanted to share my experience for anyone else looking for info, and had some remaining questions (below).
First, let me just say I am amazed at the amount of thorough information available here for those who are willing to be patient and look. Coming into this knowing nothing of my exhaust options and never having worked on carbs before, I was able to find all the information I needed to make an informed decision and learned enough to comfortable do my own exhaust mod and carb work ... all without making a single post asking a question. Between the posts already here and a few conversations at the recent GA rally, I learned all I needed to know to get started.
Dinqua's site, and The_Dog33's posts were particularly helpful.
As for my experience ... I decided to go the hole saw route. I could not find a hole saw deep enough to reach the baffle over the center tube, so I had to pull that out first. Drilling a bunch of holes around the center tube then doing a lot of wiggling with pliers did the trick.
After that I used a 2.5" hole saw with some 3-in-1 oil (couldn't find cutting oil, but good call The_Dog33). My cordless drill only lasted long enough to do one, but eventually i made it through.
I had planned on using the hole saw to do the second baffle as well, but after seeing I'd have the same problem with the center tube, and realizing my drill extension didn't fit in my drill, I decided to take the "beat the ****** out of it" approach. I used a piece of rebar (couldn't sharpen it though, no grinder) and a big ****** hammer. Had to beat the ****** out of the one on the right side, but the left side only took a few swings (I guess I chose better placement that time).
So I took out the first two baffles and stopped there. I considered drilling holes in the third, but again, drill extension doesn't fit.
I then removed the snorkel from the air box, and re-jetted to 125 Mains (used Dinqua's calculator), and swapped out the d screws for the thumb screws from newspeedmaster.com. Reassembled and everything started up right away. Like I said, no chance for a test drive, so we'll see about tonight.
I did have a few more questions for those inclined to help. Since I made it this far without asking any I feel ok throwing a few out there :-)
1. I've read some bikes have 3 baffles, some have 4 (not counting the reducer cone). Now that I have 2 out, is there an easy way to tell?
2. Now that I have 2 out, will removing/drilling holes in the 3rd baffle only get me more volume? Or can I expect further change in the tone of the sound? i.e. will taking out another baffle result in a more throaty sound, or more raspy?
Actually I think that's it. Thanks again for all the great information.
