Junk that exhaust

[wheeliebin]

After 19 months and 22,000 miles the downpipes have started blowing (front cylinder connection) :shock: .

I could claim on the warranty :? ?

Now's the perfect chance to junk that under 'sub-camber' , next week I'm having a set of stainless steel downpipes made up minus that power sapping fugly camber :twisted: .

Just hope it doesn't mess the fuelling up too much.

[Recycler]

I've got a Staintune on order so will be very interested to see how you get on with junking the nanny state plumbing - ROARRRRRRRR!

Headers by Predator? If they are I had some for my 600 and the 2 connecting sections were slightly oval. If so check when you collect. Other than that good quality.

Make sure you thoroughly clean your new pipes before first firing the bike up as any fingerprints etc will be difficult to remove after first heating - I've learnt this from life's best teacher - experience (twice).

[Unmutual]

I would have said that's a definite warranty claim there.

[wheeliebin]

Honda will replace the front short pipe only, leaves me high and dry when the rest falls apart at the end of the warranty period.

Besides, I've be dying to junk the thing. Made of tin ya know. Glows in the dark and everything.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ta6500/hot.jpg

[jackafrica]

Okay Wheeliebin, ya got me. I hate that subchamber bigtime. It's ugly and poorly finished, a POS !
Please let us know how you get on, where you purchased and the cost of the pipes. I'm a likely starter.
As you know I made the first oval Staintune which has worked out really well. A set of headers would complete the picture.
Good luck on the transformation.

Don't forget to make a warrantyclaim on the original if it's possible.

[Fatjohn]

Ah,

How I dream of ditching that 'kin subchamber. Let us know how you get on.

[paultheold]

Wheeliebin,

I have the midsection for the Lazer Can. The Lazer on my AT came from my TA.

That is if you go for the Lazer Can. :P

[wheeliebin]

Thanks Paul, but I'm sorted now.

Stainless steel downpipes were made up by Zorstec for £170. I've also had a small link pipe made up for my (really poor quality) LeoVince can (which I've shortened and doctored :twisted: ).

The very nice Andy at Zorstec has also cut off the rotten joining part of the standard silencer and replaced it with stainless, only noticed tonight.
Swapping from Standard to doctored (really poor quality) silencers is now a piece of cake.

8) Very Pleased

[jackafrica]

The difference in sound level and performance is ?? What sort of weight is there in that stock subchamber ?
Any backfiring ? though this should be taken care of by retaining the airvalve arrangement near the right radiator.
C'mon mate, spill the beans.

[wheeliebin]

I'll be keeping an eye on fuel useage, soot on endcan and plug colour over the next couple of weeks.

The biggest difference I'll noticed so far is in the handling :shock: ! Rear shock feels firmer and doesn't swat as much.

How much the standard weighs ? No idea, but the front section (downpipes + sub-camber) is heavier than the standard silencer ! Add them together and it's a very heavy system.

Noise levels vary, on tickover there's no difference, 2 - 4 thousand revs just sounds a tad beefier, 4 - 7 thou gets a bit of a rasp on and the over-run is very, very deep (with no popping). It's not loud enough for the filth to suspect anything.

The short and doctored (very poor quality) Leo can is a different story :shock: They will lock me up and throw away the key !

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ta6500/Ex_Leo_mod.jpg

[jackafrica]

Looks a 100% improvement on the stocker - brilliant. That's a tidy job indeed.
The stock muffler alone weighs 4kg.
Should make changing/adjusting preload on the rear shock easier.
Does the seat of the pants dyno detect any change in torque ?
Any chance od a piccy without the plastic engine guard in place.
Thanks for the follow up info.

[Recycler]

Just spent the day re-greasing s/arm & linkage bearings. Would have been a lot easier without that collector box - how I laughed.
Nice pipes.

[wheeliebin]

Balancing on the kitchen scales, I make the stock silencer 4.5kg, the downpipes with sub-chamber 6kg :shock: .

Seat of the pants dyno ? you mean the way the bike now stands on it's back wheel in the first three gears....I wish :?
1,000 to 3,000 rpm seems smoother, riding at walking pace or burbling along in top, apart from that there's no differance :cry: .

I'll have to try the stock silencer for a couple of weeks, see which the bike prefers.
:roll: .

[jackafrica]

Thanks mate, the added smoothness would be a bonus and likely indicate a difference in the torque curve rather than outright horsepower.
Good, that's another reason to try and do the job ! The weight reduction is yet another side benefit. The stainless muffler I fabricated is 2.4kg, saving 2kg on that section.
Toughest part of the fabrication is the joining piece which is difficult to fabricate at home. Sourcing a 1.2mm tubing length also somewhat ticky.
I've been looking at a 600TA system which is available in Germany for 169 Euros, then maybe modifying to suit the 650TA. At this point I don't know how similar the two models are with regard to shape and clearances.
Any ideas on the differences between the 600 and 650 header pipe shape/location/clearance, anyone ?

[Recycler]

Jack,
Forget ordering 600 header pipes. They enter the cylinders at a totally different angle- straight out of the exhaust ports instead of roughly 45 degrees to the right. Plus the silencer on the 600 is much bigger without the sub chamber meaning they may come up short.

[jackafrica]

Thanks for that Recycler, saves me wondering if it might work on a cut and shut basis.
The postage cost/duty from the UK and the poor currency exhange rate precludes purchasing Wheeliebins good looking system. Bummer.
Will probably look at some sort of modification/reworking of the existing pipework. I'm working up to the task.

[jackafrica]

Damn Wheeliebin, I like that set of headers.
So much so, I won an auction on ebay ( in Germany ) for a 650 rear header with the subchamber attached. It will get the cut and shut treatment on arrival in Oz ( after a friend cuts out the subchamber prior to posting ).
The intent will be to modify the end of the pipe to make it circular, then weld in a joining piece.
The tyranny of distance, the exchange rate between the pound and the Oz$, duties and extortionate postage from the UK prevent my purchase of that lovely piece of kit you had made.

[jackafrica]

Finally the cut up rear header pipe is on its way from Germany, along with a couple of other ebay scores. Should arrive here in the next few weeks, then the fun begins :-)
I wonder why it is I can get 10kgs posted from Germany for 50 Euros, when a similar price from the UK to Oz is three times that amount ??

[wheeliebin]

Quick update, fuel consumption dropped from an average of 47mpg to 43mpg.
The bike always used to run a little on the rich side (black sooty plugs), but now it's running really rich (black, wet, sooty plugs), made the choke redundant though (even on the coldest mornings).

Oh well, fcuk it, ordered a K&N now. If Yen's RD04 leaned off a little with a K&N, maybe the TA will :happy8:

[Lord Stig]

Sounds more like the dreaded stuck choke plungers. Worth a check?

Stig

[wheeliebin]

Stig, thanks. Worth a check, but as the plugs from both cylinders are the same I wouldn't have thought that one's stuck.
I know the choke's working by the rough running and it stinks really bad of petrol.
Got the K&N today (very quick turnaround from http://www.motorcycleroadandrace.net ) so I'll have a poke about, aren't the plungers hard to get at ? And what do I do with them ? Just clean them or a little grease ?

[Lord Stig]

Yes, you're probably right; normally only one is affected. On the TA it seems to be normally the nearside carb (front?), maybe because water naturally finds its way in there when the bike is on the side stand. Although the plungers aren't that difficult to get at (possible with the tank on, but easier if it's off), getting the plastic retaining screws back afterwards always seems to be a pain. If water has got in, the brass eventually corrodes and needs refinishing with some fine wet and dry, then a bit of grease. Luckily they just pop of the end of the cable. On my last TA the spring was also very rusty, and the channel in the carb was full of water and gunge. I used carb cleaner to clean the channel, rather than dismantling the whole carb.

It's a bit of a design fault, and I haven't heard of any effective prevention (does anyone know different?) - I tried packing the boot with grease where the choke cable splits into two, but it didn't work. It would probably be worth taking them out from time to time to give them a bit of a clean and some light grease, because once the plunger starts to stick it probably is never the same again. Yen might know some trick there.....

Stig

[Fatjohn]

Wheeliebin,

Any further news on the rich running? I'm toying with the idea of getting a Staintune pipe at the minute, but that subchamber is still taunting me from underneath the engine. The fat *******.
I don't know, it must be my annual spend-money-you-don't have and try-to-make-your-bike-broken phase. Hopefully it doesn't pass before I've talked myself in to buying a new can for my 'alp!

[wheeliebin]

LOL, I'm a happy :albino: now, the K&N has leaned the mixture nicely, plugs are now a dark brown around the outside and light brown on the tips (although only a rolling road would tell the whole story).

Still couldn't understand why I wasn't see more MPG, until I checked the tyre pressures, 20 PSI in both :clown: . Last checked them in November :clown: . I have started doing them weekly again :clown: .

I'm also running a 44 rear sprocket (which I think is a tad to small, 75 MPH @ 4800RPM), on really windy days I'm using more throttle to keep a constant speed, I'll be fitting a 46 tooth soon.

At the end of the day, after all the fcuking around, the bike's running about the same as before I started, although it's happier a lower RPM and returns more MPG around town, it uses more at higher RPM (think the sprocket is to blame).

And talking of spending money you don't have, may get another end-can as the salt has just about killed the alloy one, and the standard one's not looking too good either.

[Gaelach]

I like to see some other photos with Leovince exhaust, is possible?
I want to buy a Leo, but if I change only the exhaust it's look like the one in this photo or is much longer ?

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ta6500/Ex_Leo_mod.jpg


Thanks

[wheeliebin]

One standard Leo silencer, before the rot set in :sad5:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ta6500/Ex_leo1.jpg

[Gaelach]

Many thanks.

I like your new configuration of Leo, do you think is possible for me to install Leo like you without change the downpipes?
Or maybe do you know some other kind of exhaust (short) that looks like your Leo?

Sorry for all this questions :cheese: :cheese:

Thank you Wheeliebin!!!

[wheeliebin]

My Leo is about to go in the bin, it's rotten. Very poor materials.

Currently looking into getting a round stainless silencer made up to the same length. So sorry, don't know of any over the counter pipes like mine.

[wheeliebin]

Or maybe a Laser pipe ? can anyone give me the diameter of the pipe that joins the linkpipe ?

[Gaelach]

I have found another silencer that I like to try.

http://www.mivv.it/

Below you can see the exhaust. Is possible to have alu, carbon or titanium



http://www.mivv.it/documenti_upload/foto_marmitte/H.023.S3.jpg

Nice look
Today I call for the price.

Bye

[jackafrica]

Late last year from ebay germany I purchased a damaged header pipe. Coupla days ago finally got round to fabricating the pipe without the colostomy bag ( sub chamber ).
Best part about the stock system is that it is stainless. a cut and shut on a 45 degree 1 3/4" stainless bend, some TIG welding and away we go. So now the Staintune is quite meaty ( read loud ). Still sounds like a Honda twin.
The louds are only really apparent when in town, at highway speeds there is little if any difference. At least the car drivers can hear me coming - loud pipes save lives !!
As wheeliebin mentioned, it is smoother at idle and down low, maybe more responsive at low to mid range rpm.
Side advantages include being able to remove the rear chocker easier for adjustments to spring preload and greasing the linkages/bushings etc., better access to the rear brake pedal retaining clip, plus the weight loss.
Yet to make a new heat shield, will get around to it sometime in the future.
my work isn't quite as pretty as the guys who did the work on wheeliebins bike, but it's a budget alternative.
All up cost about $100 Aussies. :D

[Recycler]

Post photos of your handy work - show it off!!

[jackafrica]

I can take a pic and send it to you, otherwise, it's computer stuff and I'm as dumb as dog****e in those things.
It's nothin' fancy, better though than the seam welding from Mr. Honda.
The subchamber piping is not circular.

[Fatjohn]

I'll try and do the honours for you again if you like....

...on condition you ask your mates at Staintune to consider making an exhaust for a 2000v-y Transalp. :wink:

[jackafrica]

Thanks John,
Will take one in the next day or so.
Re the 2000 model, unfortunately we didn't start getting them until the 2003 model.
Supposedly Oz is getting the 2005 model but it hasn't shown up yet, or isn't in any dealer showrooms.

[Fatjohn]

(at long last...)

Here's the promised pictures from Jackafrica, and what he had to say about them..

"The shape is a tad " off ", not following the lines of the original. A heat guard will make it look more formal. I didn't want to change the junction as there is an antireversion cone which does make a difference, somewhere !
I beleive there will be a difference to the performance when I install the Unifilter airfilter - freeflowing inlet and exhaust."



http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RAAeAxkTuW1q9cpmlvXLRFAE*ZMSjeQ!jDI6PFTKR2sYq*oYx ljEtskMJU!oLaoxv7rCmwaUd76CgEjuzJcz2Pq9t9kPKhSMaPj lVwD5xbo/MVC-003S0.JPG?dc=4675525642195224620

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RAAAABcTQW1q9cpmlvXLRLIcFff3rxff3kSAPg63QnvvK!C8f Ge7ptz2zhqb6*hjJxUAzRPLn4t*yMsuQETp1tX!Sz71zZQvct* mTBvqoEU/MVC-001S0.JPG?dc=4675525642138107917

[wheeliebin]

Looks good to me :shock: TOP MARKS.

[Fatjohn]

Looks good to me :shock: TOP MARKS.

I would agree. By the way, that "at long last" was referring to me taking my time in putting up the pictures.

Hmm, really should think about pimping my ride some....

[Recycler]

Nice job!! :D

[Fatjohn]

Can anyone answer me one question: is there a frame difference between the 2000v-y Transalp and the models from 2001 on? The reason I ask is that I noticed that Remus say their transalp pipe is for 01-04 only. Couple this with the fact that I couldn't get that lovely staintune on my bike and I'm beginning to wonder! I thought the only changes from 2000 to 2004 were cosmetic, but it's not looking that way any more.

Am I destined to only being able to put honda pea-shooters on my bike?*

*an academic question now, due to being at that stage of my life where I have to go shopping for sofa's with my girlfriend.

On an unrelated note - saw a Vstrom the other day. They don't look as ugly in the flesh (and in black), don't yez think?

[wheeliebin]

Your welcome to my old link pipe and can (you know the **** leo one), I was only going to bin it.

[Fatjohn]

Your welcome to my old link pipe and can (you know the sh*t leo one), I was only going to bin it.

Interesting.....

I remember you saying you thought the build quality was crap, but are there any other problems with it? What I really want is that Lazer pipe - it looks the business! Was there much involved in mounting it on your 650?

Thanks mate!

[wheeliebin]

What I really want is that Lazer pipe

There's only one thing to do then, come up to middle england (Notts) and we'll see if a Lazer will fit your bike.

(the other can is a little furry, will polish up)

[Fatjohn]

You're only about an hour up the road so I guess it'd be rude not to! I'll be in touch - cheers! :D

[wheeliebin]

Sorry Fatjohn, will not fit.

Tried putting my standard downpipes back on and there's a very slight difference in the angle of the exit pipe from the sub-camber.

[Fatjohn]

Sorry Fatjohn, will not fit.

Tried putting my standard downpipes back on and there's a very slight difference in the angle of the exit pipe from the sub-camber.

What downpipes do you have on at the minute?

I must find out once and for all what changes were made to the 650 frame from year to year...

But at the minute, it looks as though the only pipe which *might* fit, is a Remus one. Hmmm, annoying; the Laser looks class and the Staintune appeared to be a quality bit of kit. :cry:

[wheeliebin]

I was unable to fit the standard downpipes as I no longer have a silencer that fits with them.

Next time you go into a Honda dealer ask the parts bloke for part numbers on frames and compare ?

[Dessert Storm]

Wheeliebin, does your new downpipe system do away with the air injection gubbins?

I wonder if Dynajet do a kit for the TA? - might be worth considering if you feel carburation isn't quite quite tickety-boo with the non-standard exhaust set-up

Alan

[wheeliebin]

Wheeliebin, does your new downpipe system do away with the air injection gubbins?



The 'air injection' lives in the head, nothing to do with the exhaust.

carburation isn't quite quite tickety-boo with the non-standard exhaust set-up

LOL, carburation has never been tickety-boo on my bike since I bought it, it always ran rich.
Going just by plug colour, I'm happy now, seems to run OK.

:wink: Welcome to the forum by the way