i am building one right now and just ordered a universal drag pipe baffle for hardley's from dennis kirk for $12.99

Baffle is 1 5/8" outside diameter and 7 7/8" in length.

it should be here Tuesday and i will post up whether or not it works.

FYI-the specs on mcm's website says the 02-03 kit is 17 1/2" in length (total). the tip i have (not chrome but stainless as i will be powdercoating it black) is a 2 1/2" turn down tip that measures 11" in lenth. i figure that gives me 1 3/8" of length to stuff into the tip so that i can bolt the tip and the baffle together. we'll see next week i guess...

 

I lost mine during a trip to Tenn., let me know how it goes guys. My projext this winter will be cutting down a Ackro to fit underneith so it will be a little quieter.

 

a la Buell? I have a buddy with a XB-9 and they run exhausts under the chassis so it looks alot like an MCM-style with the exception that there is a full muffler under there...

 

Alright, couldn't get it completed today due to the fact that the powdercoater was not done with my parts. So, i still have no rear sets, heel guards, passenger pegs, tip to this little exhaust, bar ends, or swingarm spools.

Not one to be defeated, i decided i would do as much as i could to complete the exhaust without the tip, as the baffle came in today. so, here is what i got so far.

The tip i bought (pre-powdercoating). It measures 11" long and has an inside diameter of 2 1/2" at the header mounting side:

After test fitting i saw that it stuck out a little too far for my taste, so i decided to trim about an inch off the header mounting side:

Now that went off to get powdercoated. Next up, i bought a sheet of packing from my local bike shop ($8 and some change after tax):

The baffle i bought from www.denniskirk.com and it measures 1 7/8" inside diameter (1 3/4" OD) x 7 7/8" length. It cost $12.99 + $6 shipping and came with a little bit of packing which i wrapped under a layer of the other packing to make it a little more quiet.

Closer pic of the tag so you can see the part numbers and such:

And last but not least, bought 2 rolls of teflon tape because for the life of me i could not figure out where in the world i left the other 15 rolls i have got to have laying around this house somewhere:

 

Alright, got all the materials (well, almost...) and we are ready to get to work. Now, be careful because you are in for a long haul. This process will take every bit of 15 minutes of really really hard work.

First, i unfolded the packing from the bike shop and cut it nearly in half to match the width of the baffle. I also thought this was nice because that means i have exactly 2 packings per $7.95 package.

Next, i removed my stock exhaust and kept nothing but the stock exhaust clamp which i will use when i mount the tip.

C'mon, you really don't need me to post pictures of how to remove the stock exhaust, right? No? Good. Moving along. Here's what we are looking at stuffing this exhaust into once built:

Now, we take the baffle, wrap the packing that came with it around as tight as we can, and then wrap (in the opposite direction to keep the first baffle tight) one of the 2 sections of white packing around the yellow packing. Should look like this:

 

Next, we grab one of our rolls of teflon tape and start wrapping. I used 2 full roles of this stuff and still had a little packing sticking out the ends. Remember, any packing that is sticking out when installed is just going to get burned up and thrown out. A little is okay, but i didn't stick it in there to blow right back out. here's what we are looking at now:

and

Noticed i left the right side a little more bare. I did this to have a decent place to drill a hole so i can bolt the baffle to the exhaust tip when it is ready.

Now you are ready for a test fit. Mine was a little loose (guess i wrapped the teflon tape a little too tightly) so i began to wonder if it was going to cause a problem. Since i didn't have my tip i had no way to test it. Until the little bulb in my head went off and i decided to use the midpipe from a spare D&D i had around the shop and stuffed it in there to test. bolted the midpipe up with the baffle inside, fired it up, and marveled in my glory. It was loud, no doubt about that. It ran rich, but the sound wasn't half bad. Little raspy for my taste, but a far cleaner sound then the D&D, and much louder then stock. So a + in both books.

So, here is where i am at. Got the baffle wrapped and taped, got the exhaust off, just waiting on the stupid little fink that is supposed to be a professional businessman to complete his "shouldn take more'n uh cupple hers, buud" job which he received all the parts for 5 days ago.

All that should be left is for me to fit the baffle in the tip when it comes in, drill holes through the two of them, bolt it up, shove her on the exhaust, and use the factory exhaust clamp tight as i can get it (since i am paranoid about GXRKLR's falling out). She should be up and running tomorrow!

And the most important part of the write-up, even though it is not complete: cost.

Here's where i am at:

Exhaust Tip and 2 Rolls Teflon Tape: $7.39 @ Auto-Zone
Muffler Packing: $8.43 @ local Bike Shop
Baffle: $18.99 @ www.denniskirk.com
Powdercoating of Tip: About $10 (paid $65 for all the stuff) @ local hillbilly powdercoater

Getting 3 beautiful sky blue cloudless days to ride and having a bike that cannot be ridden due to an overweight, beer drinking, dope smoking typical Kentucky slack jawed, drooling, and most importantly inbred ****** not doing the damn job he said he was going to do: priceless

Will update as i get it finished.

 

Alright, here we go. So, i decided while at work that she was a little too loose in there and needed one more layer of packing. wrapped that up, taped it up, and she looked like this:

So, got my pretty new powdercoated exhaust tip and now the baffle/packing fits in there very snugly, just as i think it should.

Stuffed the baffle/packing in the header up to this point:

Realized after i put the tip on that she was still too long. Turns out the flaring of the exhaust tip at the end made it a little too big to fit over the header and be clamped down securely. So, i cut it down to the point where it narrows down. About 1 1/4"

Put it all together, and clamped it down using the stock exhaust clamp. BIG mistake. Will show you why in a sec...

Take her out for a test spin. She was bogging really bad and is VERY VERY loud. Sounds almost like open headers. Runs like shit. Revved her to 7-8K (took a while to get up that high) and the tip and baffle pop out...shit.

Turn around, drive real slow back to find the baffle and tip. Let it cool a sec and shove it in my pocket and limp home.

Turns out i had the baffle turned so that the openings in it were facing towards the header. I figured that would force as much exhaust into the packing and keep it as quiet as possible with as much backpressure. I was wrong. It needed to be the other way around. Also, the stock exhaust clamp is dookie and could not be used. It was designed to only fit and work with the stock mid. Here is what my little error cost me:

So, i had to use the exhaust clamp from the D&D. Took it out again and this time the sound was much quieter, much smoother, and sounded quite a bit better. I still long for the sound that my Cat had with that V&H S4, but oh well. Power seemed to be much more back to normal, though there still seemed to be some hesitation in the higher RPM's. Didn't really dig into it though as it was 11:00 at night and i was on a highway in town with a couple of cars here and there. Will investigate this further this weekend and see what the deal is. Tomorrow i start calling around looking for a dyno.

Here she is complete with newly powdercoated parts and $45 exhaust.

 

better pics tomorrow when it is daytime...

 

:thumbup :bow
if you built 1 for me how much will be?:crash

 

Very nice work there BroncoHound - I am looking at doing the same thing sometime. You post has inspired me to give it a whirl.

BTW, you have a PM - let's go ride sometime, fellow Kentuckian.

 

:thumbup :bow
if you built 1 for me how much will be?:crash

Well, i need to do a little more experimenting with this before i make them for anyone else. If this thing seems to be a worthwile modification with little to no side effects, i will think about assembling them for people for a nominal fee to cover the gas of driving 85 miles one way to the powdercoater, and the beer i must drink to keep myself from beating him mercilessly when he doesn't have them done when he tells me they will be.

I really want to try to find a dyno around here that i can do a stock exhaust run and an MCM run on back to back. This way it should eliminate as much dyno error as possible as it will be the same bike, same tires, same oil, same gas, same everything just different pipes and testing on same dyno on same day about an hour apart.

If i can't find a dyno, i guess i will just have to make a good determination based on seat of the pants feel, but that is not nearly accurate enough for me. I really would like to find a dyno...

I guess also, since the MCM website says they are patent pending and my design is slightly different i should use a different name, so if i do produce these for others i don't get slapped with patent infringement lawsuit or a copyright infringement lawsuit for calling it an MCM. So from now on, since my tip is powdercoated black, i will call it the "stealth" exhaust...ooooohh, that makes me giddy...

Skanky, you know of any dyno's around here? I don't think the two whopping bike shops in E-Town have one (well, i know Fun 4 All doesn't, not sure about the Honda/Kwak shop) but do you know of any in Louisville?

 

Don't know - I'll try to remember to ask Mike's cycle here and in Bowling Green (going to get a tire replaced tomorrow). I'm really intrigued by your work on the, uh, "stealth".

Does the majority of the exhaust gas pass directly through the middle of the pipe? I don't know much about exhaust design, but it would seem that maybe there's a way to restrict the air movement within the pipe to make it a) quieter and b) not run so lean.

Anyway, what's the final word on your exhaust? You like it? Too loud? Performance?

 

I thought mine was a little too loud and it sounded like those ricer cars. I thought it sounded like shiet but others liked it, even my dad. I was going to keep it for the shear fact that the whole two weeks I had it no one tried to share my lane with me. That's usually a daily occurence.

 

Pipe sounds pretty crappy, and with the baffle i used it was severely bogging down. I used a far too small a baffle. There is one at the local bike shop that is a 2 1/8" OD that i plan on using and trying again. i may have to cut it down to length, but i think it will work quite a bit better. As for now, i have the D&D back on the bike.

Once i get the new baffle i will post more pics and let everyone know of the results.

 

the loudness doesn't bother me, as like GXRKLR noone got anywhere near me with that thing on, but the tone just wasn't all that good sounding. sounded like a riding lawn mower. hopefully a different baffle with change her tone...

 

Does anyone know specifically the dimensions of the MCM pipe, so we can make better copies? Perhaps someone with an MCM can post measurements and exact descriptions when they take it off to repack?

Thanks!

 

SUCCESS! Got the new baffle, cut it down to size, rewrapped in 4 stroke packing (that i had to separate a bit so as to allow it to be able to fit in the header), installed, and took for a test run. Runs great! There is still a little hesitation in pre-3K RPM's but i believe a little less then the D&D.

I think a power commander will help even out the power band as will a set of V-Stacks and a dyno tune, but none i can afford right now. Maybe over the winter i will be able to scrape the cash for a PC, some stacks, and a day on the dyno.

I am now confident enough that what i am making is a good product. I can now start making them for others if there is anyone interested. If you are interested, PM me and we can work out the details. I will be charging $60 + Shipping for an unpowdercoated tip or $80 + Shipping for a powdercoated tip. If you want it powdercoated a color other then black, PM me and i will call the powdercoater and see what we can do.

If interested, let me know.

Pic of the new baffle vs. the old:

And two of the bike w/the exhaust installed:

 

SUCCESS! Got the new baffle, cut it down to size, rewrapped in 4 stroke packing (that i had to separate a bit so as to allow it to be able to fit in the header), installed, and took for a test run. Runs great! There is still a little hesitation in pre-3K RPM's but i believe a little less then the D&D.

I think a power commander will help even out the power band as will a set of V-Stacks and a dyno tune, but none i can afford right now. Maybe over the winter i will be able to scrape the cash for a PC, some stacks, and a day on the dyno.

I am now confident enough that what i am making is a good product. I can now start making them for others if there is anyone interested. If you are interested, PM me and we can work out the details. I will be charging $60 + Shipping for an unpowdercoated tip or $80 + Shipping for a powdercoated tip. If you want it powdercoated a color other then black, PM me and i will call the powdercoater and see what we can do.

If interested, let me know.

Pic of the new baffle vs. the old:

And two of the bike w/the exhaust installed:

Broncohound, are you still making and selling the the stealth slip-on above? If so, I am highly interested.

 

Remember guys, this is not an MCM Mirage exhaust. I am in no way affiliated with MCM nor do i claim this exhaust to be like an MCM in any way. This is simply a homemade exhaust made from parts available at local parts stores. This is a Bud Arnold "Stealth" Exhaust, NOT an MCM Mirage or MCM Mirage-copy.

 

Put that pretty wife of yours on the bike and you might sell a few more.:fact


That new baffle looks much better. :thumbup

 

Bud - damn nice work there. How about taking some pics with the lower cowl off? Let's see how it looks from the header to the tip.

Very nice again - I might be contacting you about how to build one. Looks like you know your stuff.

Also, we still need to get together to ride sometime before it starts getting really cold here.

 

anytime dude, just give me a call. if you are free this weekend we can go out for a bit, i think it isn't going to be raining. can't say much else about the weather, but i think it wont be raining.

there really isn't much to see with the fairing off. i didn't even take it off to do this. the header comes nearly to the end of the fairing itself, and the tip just slides over it. you can take a look at it this weekend if we get together...

GXRKLR--if i throw the wifey into the deal, i am gonna have to get at LEAST $150 per build! :lol

 

anytime dude, just give me a call. if you are free this weekend we can go out for a bit, i think it isn't going to be raining. can't say much else about the weather, but i think it wont be raining.

there really isn't much to see with the fairing off. i didn't even take it off to do this. the header comes nearly to the end of the fairing itself, and the tip just slides over it. you can take a look at it this weekend if we get together...

GXRKLR--if i throw the wifey into the deal, i am gonna have to get at LEAST $150 per build! :lol

Well, Saturday is probably out, but Sunday may work?

 

GXRKLR--if i throw the wifey into the deal, i am gonna have to get at LEAST $150 per build! :lol

Sorry, I just meant in the pics. A hot chick can sell water to a drowning man.:lol

 

here is my exhaust that I build this past spring-

parts used but not including the welded flange I made for the baffle.

Here is the pipe assembled

Here it is installed on my bike

For my baffle I used a race baffle for a big dog dirtbike exhaust and cut it to length. I then machined a stainless flange and welded the baffle to it. This slides into and then bolts to the exhaust tip with two 1/4-20 bolts. My pipe also accepts the factory exhaust gasket and uses the factory exhaust clamp.
The exhaust tip was sand blasted and I powdercoated with a high temp satin black. I rode all summer with it and its awesome!!! somewhat loud but not much louder then my friends micron at idle. When you get into it though it SCREAMS and sounds completely EVIL!!! I love it.

 

Oh, man, I've got to do this mod. I love how it cleans up the rear end of the bike. Damn the loudness.