Exhaust gaskets.....

[Tony Varadero]

need replacing according to the Honda dealer who is servicing my bike. They quoted me £ 300.00 which seems to me far too expensive. Any opinions/advise pls...?

They also say this may be an issue when it comes to the MoT renewal date (not due yet) is this correct..?
Any comments greatly appreciated as always...

[Windmill John]

Any good to you?
The International Honda Varadero Pages
Print Page - Never Have to Replace an Exhaust Gasket Ever Again !

[Tony Varadero]

that helps thank you but it is certainly not a job I would try to do by myself.....

[YEN_POWELL]

Mine's gone as well. I'm not looking forward to sorting it out. Exhausts related bolts have a nasty habit of breaking when undoing them. Three gaskets the same yet the same one goes again and again!

I have been putting my earplugs in extra deep to compensate.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

You definitely need to get this fixed as it would be an MOT fail. You'll need three replacement exhaust clamps, three replacement gaskets (I believe they're called bladders!), and a replacement gasket for the front exhaust/cylinder head. (The clamps and bladders aren't all the same size.)

One of the bladders will wear out from time-to-time, so if you can source brass/whatever then do so!

The job requires removing the rear indicators, pannier racks, rear rack, rear bodywork. Then you have to grind off the old clamps - tricky as they're in enclosed spaces. The last two times I got J (once) and my Dad (the other time) to do this as they're more experienced at using grinders than I. After removing the silencers you have to undo the front exhaust down-pipe/collector box from the front cylinder. Then retrieve the remains of the bladders, clean everything up, insert new bladders, replace silencers, replace bodywork and racks and indicators.

A member here reckons he can do this job without removing bodywork and silencers. He says you can undo the exhaust downpipe from the rear cylinder and lift it up from the collector box. Remove the remains of just the one bladder, replace and put the downpipe back. When I looked I couldn't work out how there was space to do all that. Space looked too tight for me but maybe if you're an expert...!

£300 seems about the going rate from a main dealer, but maybe you can negotiate a discount? A local mechanic should do it more cheaply and do as good a job since it's just basic mechanicking. Or maybe you can seek a volunteer from this forum to help you?

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Oh, and... Several people - including the main dealer - suggested replacing the clamps with after-market stainless steel clamps. I think this was a mistake! The original Honda clamps fit the silencers evenly and spread the load. After-market items are narrower and put too much stress on a narrow part of the silencers.

The ends of my bike's silencers split due to stress/metal fatigue so I had to replace the whole things - expensive! (Okay, the replacement carbon-fibre Leo Vince cans are gorgeous, but it would have been nice to have the option to retain the originals.)

[Tony Varadero]

. Or maybe you can seek a volunteer from this forum to help you?

I think I have been pestering this forum for far too long to find any volunteer... but there is hope and cash waiting to compensate.......

[saitek]

Not so sure that it's an MoT fail. Mine have been causing interesting pops and farts for the last nine years... No apparent effect on performance or fuel consumption either.

[clutchspring]

Hi, All.
I managed to replace the rear down pipe seal on my 04 varadero, did it with out removing any thing ells ,
There seemed bags of room to get the down pipe out and back in again & I did replace the clamp with a stainless steel one,
Ian

[YEN_POWELL]

Hi, All.
I managed to replace the rear down pipe seal on my 04 varadero, did it with out removing any thing ells ,
There seemed bags of room to get the down pipe out and back in again & I did replace the clamp with a stainless steel one,
Ian

You are now officially My Hero!!!!! I'm gonna try that way first.