Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust New Question- need help with a Debaffle PLEASE!

I am removing the baffles from my 2011 America. It has the stock tapered pipes which I prefer over any of the aftermarket slash cuts. I have removed the 1st baffle with a 1 3/8" hole saw. No problem. Then the next one is roughly 5-7 inches in from the back of the pipe, I cannot get a bite on the wall surrounding the baffle to use my hole saw because it is only 2 in long and the baffle is roughly 4 inches.. Someone please tell me how to go about removing that second baffle. I will probably only drill into the 3rd depending on how it sounds. Out of all the posts I have read, no one has gone into detail about this problem. I have read that the baffle is tack welded and I need to break them, however I cannont see any of the welds. Please Help so I can live longer cause this s@%t is driving me mad... Thanks to everyone

Use a long heavy duty screw driver or make a similar device out of 1/2 inch steel rod. Aim at the outer edge of the baffle plate and give it a good wack. Go around the plate breaking welds as you go. Easy to do. Baffles 3 and 4 just take a longer rod.

Look at The Dog's pix in this thread.....

http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/forums/...ge=0#Post519570

And by the way...welcome to the Forum!

Welcome. The problem you are encountering is the reason for the infamous "gunther saw" (see thread concerning Gunther saw). Basically to make a clean cut into the second baffle you have to cut a standard hole saw in half, then insert a long pipe and weld the toothy end of the saw to one side of the pipe and the other end of the saw to the other end of the pipe. Resulting in a 8 inch(or whatever length pipe you put in) deep hole saw.

There are ways around it, but they are not very pretty. If you use the screwdriver method BE SURE you are punching a hole in the baffle. It is very easy for the screwdriver to slide to the outside and when you hit it with a hammer you punch a whole right through to the outside of the pipe...ask me how I know :-)

Thank you for the welcome, this is my first cruiser and I love the damn thing, now I just have to let people hear that Im on a motorcycle not a scooter..Thanks for your input

All other comments and suggestions are welcome. The more the better!

Did my tapered pipes over the winter. Got a piece of 1/2" steel rod from home depot about 36" long. Used my dremel and a file to make a semi-sharp edge, stuffed it in there and carefully wailed away with my baby sledge. Checking every few whacks to see what I was doing. Just keep at it until you get it loose. Gotta be a bit creative to get the metal ring around the baffle out. I fished it out with some stiff wire and then used pliers to bend it until it would fit out the end. I took out 3 of the 4. Still not quite where I want it. Gonna take out the 4th when I get some time to tinker.

Good Luck! A little patience, a few beers, and some bad words will get it done.

Hi, you might have read my thread , I am in the process of doing the same thing, after no luck running down the famous Gunther saw. I went to Lowes and paid all of three bucks for a three foot piece of re-bar, I didn't even bother to sharpen it. You put a four pound sledge hammer behind it and those baffles are coming out haha!

I installed a set of JC Whitney 27" turnouts on my 2010 America. Now it sounds like a bike and looks the part too.

Not too bad at 150 bucks after shipping.

I did make a baffle for each side so I am at 165 for my pipes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60014732@N05/5863850997/

That is before the baffles.

You just won't get that really deep rumble from the stock pipes. They just aren't big enough in diameter. They do sound good debaffled but they just didn't work for me. I even removed the cat from my stockers

Make an extended hole saw, like the gunther

Drilling out tapered silencers.

OK, I could not knock the baffles out with a steel rod or heavy screw driver. I do not think these are just simply tacked. I had to drill holes around the baffle and use a big flathead to knock out the metal in between the holes I drilled to remove the baffle. This makes getting the 3rd completely out near impossible as far as I can see. The jagged outter rim is left from the 2nd baffle. Any ideas what I can do to remove it except for banging on it. I have a slight bump in my exhaust pipe now because of trying to hammer the baffle out. Luckily it is not noticeable. Any suggestions would help. Thanks

I f removing them all and if you have pipes with no cat in them you can push the loose baffle out from the header end with a piece of rod. ( broom handle,dowel, rebar, etc..)

You're going to need an extension for the hole saw. You can get one for about $20.00US at a hardware store. It will lock onto the hole saw with a set screw so it won't come off inside the pipe. The first baffle behind the cat will need to be done from the front, which unfortunately will require the removal of anything that may be in the way (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). I would not recommend removing the tapered restrictor right behind the joint. My 09 EFI TBA has had all the baffles removed front to back, and I love the way it sounds. My local dealer did a TOR remap on the injection, so I have no popping, no backfiring on decel; nothing but the sound we all love.

I have an extension for my hole saw.. just to clarify as this is my first debaffle. Which tapered restrictor are u referring to? Is it in the header pipe? I will need to take the exhaust pipe off to do the rest of the job correct? Thank you

No. You do not have to remove the header pipe. You have choosen a hard road debaffeling one. to me it was cheaper to go to a custom exhaust shop and buy some chrome tips that I like, and clamp them on. $100 a side easy peasy. The one I used had some sweet 3" slash cuts that where 28 inches long. The guy even welded in a sleeve that made the adaptation easier.