gutting stock mufflers

The sound i'm after is the cool sound you get with stock and your declerating in first gear....I love that sound.
Will this give you that deeper tone?

 

Yes!

I now enjoy blipping the throttle on downshifts.

 

Isn't this really gutting the can?................:wink:

 

I my 04, i took out the whole baffle. Cut off the end cap, pull out the packing/guts, and reweld the ends back on. Gives a good deep idle and opens up nice.

YouTube - 2004 vfr800 Gutted Exhaust

and yes, my buddy rides the bike in shorts. we know this is not safe.

 

This is my new exhaust I just did a couple weeks ago..Short 9" tips with glass pack insert. Straight through and surprisingly quieter than the gutted stock cans.

 

and here, same job as HondaWolf

VideoofTheGooseVFR-Photobucket-Vide.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

I used a grinder and zipcut wheels to do the cut, very little material lost and really straight cut, fast too, 1 to 2 min. per side.

 

I upgraded my semi gutted stock cans with this. JK.......I have a yosh jacket and I had to figure out a way to tie it in with my Honda bike.

 

haha, I can't wait to get started on this, but don't get my garage till fall...

 

Wow...that gutted exhaust sounds pretty sweet. I may need to do this to my bike soon.

Regards,
Rollin

 

Another thing. I've had the gutted exhaust on my bike for about a year and 10,000 miles worth of riding. This did not seem to effect my bike in a negative way and still got 50mpg on freeway cruising. I do not have a special map or pcIII. My bike is bone stock with the exhuast.

 

So I was filling up at my neighborhood gas stn when a guy in a pick up truck pulled up beside me and asked what kind of bike I had. So I proceed to tell him, then he said "I never seen one of them before....is it a 1200?" Of course I tell him it's an 800. His eyes widened with disbelief...he said he had been following me for a couple of km and from the sound of my bike's exhaust he assumed that it was a t least a 1200. Then he made the ultimate goof comment, he said "it sounds like a freakin Harley!"

 

I helped a guy gut an exhaust one time and we used the hole saw method. (Not a VFR) But after we sawed we stuck a dowel rod down the tube and worked it up, down, back, forth, and so on until it popped off. That removed all of the exhaust tube. Will that work here?

 

Borg, I used your pictures as guides and did the mod on my 6th gen pearl white this past weekend. The sound is awesome! It's not to tinny and still has the low rumble to it. It took me approx. 3 hours to do the mod. We might add, if your going to use the dremel tool cutoff wheels you must grind them down a bit or they won't fit into the exhaust tubes. That was my experience anyway. I went thru 30 or so of those cutoff wheels! They are very fragile and once you start cutting don't last but just a few seconds and then must be replaced. You are also cutting blind, you must feel your way around the exhaust tube as the wheel is cutting it and it will take several before you get the feel. However, it's well worth it! I figure the whole set up cost approx $15 bucks and three hours time. The hole saw was $12 dollars and the cutoff wheels came with my dremel kit. I also used a four and a half inch grinder with a cutoff wheel to help remove some of the exterior metal. As I said, it was well worth the effort. The bike sounds like it's got some meat on it's bones now and the best thing is I saved approx. $1,000 bucks and I've always liked the looks of the stock pipes. Thanx for putting the info out here.

 

i apologize for the late reply....glad to hear the positive result you got from the mod...also the additonal info on grinding down the cutting blade and being patient is important..should help those that are considering the mod.

still enjoying the sound of my modded exhaust and no performance issues or concerns at all.

ride safe!

 

Took the plunge...

Took the plunge. Did a 'stage 2' exhaust mod. (this is the four pipe cut (NO WELDING), not the full gut/stage 3) I left the pipes mounted, and about 4 hours of work (i have a long learning curve apparently), sweet sweet music!

First, thanks to all of you for sharing your wisdom and giving me the courage...

I learned a lot and now, could probably do it in about 2 hrs....

Thought i'd share some wisdom, perhaps it will save others some money and some time:

This is essentially the same method posted above by Borg, except the pipes stayed on the bike and the chrome end pieces remained in place. I also did not remove the endcaps, only cut the internal mufflers approx. 1.5-2 inches inside the can.

Tools I used:

1. Patience. First and formost. perhaps you will doubt yourself as you begin the first cuts, but take your time, the hard work and patience is worth it. Also if you prep your hole saw bits (see below) this helps.

2. Safety glasses. There's going to tons of metel bits everywhere...

3. Bike Cover. See #2.

4. powerful drill. you need one with some balls, a plug in Dewalt or similar works great.

5. 25 mm or 1 inch hole saws. I used two Rigid brand, (Home Depot). (Sears brand has straighter teeth, but the ID (inside diameter) is too tight) One of the most important things i learned regarding hole saws. As mentioned by other posters, the teeth are offset and alternating In/Out. This will chew the Shite out of your endcaps and cause a significant amount of seizing/grabbing. I used a Dremel tool 1/2 in. Sanding drum #407 to take the offset off the tips/realign on both the inside and the outside of the hole saw...just enough to reduce the seizing effect. I did this prep grind after the first cut and noted significant improvement in the smoothness of the cut and decreased seizing. I also used slow steady off/on pressure and the second i got smoke, i pulled out and went to the next hole, allowing the hot one to cool (no need to further harden that weld). I also used plenty of cutting oil. Before i went 'around' again, i hit each hole with the shop vac and compressed air to clear the metel shaving. Overall, this worked very well and went very smoothly. Another thing is to be sure to push all the way through the weld, essentially cleaning off the outside diameter of the exhaust pipe so it can be easily removed. this is very important. Ideally, one would use a 1 inch hole saw with Carbide grind tips, not teeth, but i was unable to find a carbide tipped one smaller than 2 inches.

6. Dremel Tool. I have the flex extension. love it but it's not critical. After a lot of experimentation with mutiple cutting discs (spendy) i have finallized on this. Don't waste your money on the Dremel EZ lock. They cut fine but once you get them down to the 3/4 inches you need to get into the exhaust pipe, you have only a few seconds before you are burned down to the locking mechanism. I used the Reinforeced Cutoff Wheels #456 or #423. One could go through about 30-40 of the heavy duty ceramic wheels and it's a PIA. Or you can grind down the reinforced wheels to the correct diameter.
HERE's the TRICK: It take a hell of a lot of grinding to get them down to 3/4 even on a tool steel file or stone ( burned through a hardened 10 inch file just getting two down to size. don't waste your time. Grab your Shears (I used the Wiss straight cutting metal shears) and start snipping off the edges of the wheel. This is surprisingly easy and does not compromise the integrity of the wheel. Work your way around it until you are close (very close) to 3/4in. Spin it on a file or stone to prep and round the edge, then get to cutting. I started the cuts at the 12 oclock and gradually worked my way around. I burned through about 2 wheels per tube (8 total). The exhaust tip dropped loose and i was able to pull it out with needle nose. During the wheel cutting, i again hit the can's with the shop vac and compressed air, trying to keep as much material from building up and interfering with the cutting and i also want a clean can when its over. While vacuuming i would alternate blocking the airflow through the opposite can or the secondary whole to shift airflow in the can and grab more shavings. I then ran a magnet in there to pick up any stray pieces.

I then took a fresh cutoff wheel and inserted back into the cans to clean up the cuts on the ends of the pipes. polished out nice.
I used the Dremel 1/2 in Sanding Drum to clean up any errent cutting marks in the outlet pipes. This gave a very nice cleaned up appearance on the interior diameter of the outlet pipes.

Finally, I used the 511E EZ Lock Finishing Abrasive Buffs - 180 & 280 grit (2 Pack) to polish out the outlet pipes. These are a perfect fit into the pipe and leave a nice brilliant shine on the ID of this pipes.

Overall, i'm very happy.
haven't road tested yet, but looking forward to a warm day off work...
At low and high idle, sound amazing.

Give it a shot, i'll try to post pics when i'm not at work (which is almost never) and PM me if you have any questions.

Good luck!!!!!!!!

 

is the exhust Stainless steel ?? so welder must be a TIG welder??

 

Yes it is stainless steel, and it is also quite thin.
I would hire a good welder do the zapping unless you are 100% sure of your welding skill.

 

so no way to mig it if it is thin???

 

I did this mod and I cut the entire end cap off and cut the pipes to make it flush. In my opinion cut on the outside of the welds not the back side and you won't have to re-weld them. It takes a good bit to time to cut through. I used a dremel with flex attachment. The flex isn't necessary but helped my get into a comfortable cutting position. I had to get the heavier cutting wheels for the dremel not the little thin wheels that came with the dremel.