In over my head F500F exhaust

Today I tried to remove the collector chamber from the VF so I could have the hole patched up ready for rego. I undid all required bolts and hose clamps.



You can se two of the headers enter the chamber from the front and the other two come in from the top.

After emptying about as much WD40 as I could afford onto the joins I still could not get the thing to budge.

So.

We decided (ever growing crowd) to remove the headers from the engine and try to remove the chamber with the headers attached.

Turns out that to gain access to the cap nuts to remove the rear header the whole bloody swing arm needed to be removed. Fine, only took ten mins.

So now I have a free floating exhaust system that due to the fact that all joins are seized to the point that no penetrating lubricant, levering or belting will budge them, is impossible to remove. I cant even put it back in place...

Think of the problem as the 4 headers acting as a claw grabbing the engine.

Any hints? I'm starting to think I may have to take to the rear headers with a hack saw....
HELP!!!

 

Have you tried using a torch to heat up the parts first?

Regards,
Rollin

 

:vfrshorty:Got a pretty big oil leak. Don't want to set the bike on fire...

 

Dont feel like the Lone Ranger.

I've had to spend over half a day just getting a slip on off before.

I use an industrial penetrating oil call Kroil.......similar to WD 40 but works better

Keep soaking it into the joints, then "warm" them up with a rubber mallet

I know , it sucks , but patience, it will work

 

An excellent penetrating solution can be made from 50% acetone and 50% automatic transmission fluid. It sounds weird, but it works well, particularly on rusted/seized components.

 

the way ive did mine was, i took a pry bar, sounds a little harsh but it works do it a little at a time so not bend up the chamber, youve got a leak out of the oil pan right? the same thing happen to me and i had to take the oil pan off the gasket on mine was shot, makes sure the two bolts that hold the chamber to the oil pan are unbolted, also try loosening up the front tubes that might help you. good luck

the swing arm will have to come off to take the back tubes off, ive just got down putting mine back together its a pain, but
it can be done in a daythe hardest thing that i incountered was the swing arm bolts were tight as a mofo.

 

thanks guys

I've pretty much tried all those things other than the alternative penetrating oils..

I'll find some today and keep working at it.

It's good to hear that I didn't take off the swing arm unnessecarily

 

just dont bend any of those exhaust studs, it took bikebadit two weeks before the shipped another one out

 

Don't forget that there are two bolts that attach the collector to the rear of the engine cases just behind the oil pan. Did you remove those??? If you start prying without these removed you are going to do some serious damage. A hole in the cases is a LOT worse than a hole in the collector.

 

yeah what he said

 

I've set aside tomorrow to try and get this collector off, but I'm starting to think I may end up pulling out the hack saw or grinder.

If I have to kill the thing I have found an aftermarket replacement



My concerns are that because it is basically a box with some pipes welded on, that not enough effort has been putt in to ensure that it will enable the flow of exhaust to be the same as with the OEM part.

Does this thing sound like a good idea or should I hand the bike over to an exhaust expert who can hopefully salvage what on there? It certainly looks completely different from the original.

At this stage the new collector may be the cheapest option at $100 plus postage from the UK. To have the old one removed and welded up may cost more?

 

where did you find that, shit ill dump my old collector for that

i dont see the harm off putting that on all that is, is a cross over box, just smaller.

 

I'm not sure its as simple as that. Surely the smaller volume of the collector would result in different back pressure, requiring specific tuning..??

CALLING JAMIE....

 

well yea. it being small will give alot more backpressure, and the lager the area less backpressure, that is commen sense,


you cant get the collector off at all?

 

no. no I can't.

I'm trying for the last time today with an industrial penetrating oil called "Yield"

 

why dont you just take al the tubes lose from the motor and drop the whole system as one uint, im sure this way will be a bit harder but that might work, make sure those two bolts that hold the collector to the motor are off, i know everyone has told you this but, if there not you could crack the case like jamie said.

 

Yeah, that looks similar to the Laser system. It's for "stock replacement" only. Some parts of the world require an exhaust that is un-modified so performance stuff is OUT. Since you have to be able to repair your vehicle there are companies that offer parts such as this. They are known for performing worse than stock, to say the least.

Don't forget that you can't remove the rear head pipes with the engine in the frame.

Did you ever confirm that you removed those two bolts I mentioned earlier?????????????????

 

jamie i beg to differ with you i have removed the back header tubes with the motor in the frame, when i was on that makeing my own exhaust system thing i had to remove the swing arm to do it but it is possible to do.

 

For most people, having to remove the swingarm is part of "can't be removed with the engine in the frame". I guess I should have been more specific!

 

now yes ou should have. lol :cheersaf: