I'm Having Mufflers Fabricated!

[Julio A.]

Hi Guys, I'm having a slight problem with regards in what to do with my R65 in which I will need your opinions and experience.

I'll start with a brief history.
When my father got the R65 waaaaay back, the original exhaust pipes had so much corrosion to the point that it had to be replaced. Buying a new pair costs 1/5 of the acquisition price of the bike itself. There was a lot of muffler fabricator here in my city which specialized in making aftermarket pipes for underbone motorcycles. They were more than happy for the challenge of having to make one for a BMW. They just copied the original(with a few modifications) with tig weld and stainless steel. The muffler design they used was the single perforated baffle inside the muffler body which in then stuffed with fiberglass packing material.

This time around, The Fiberglass packing they stuffed inside the muffler has already eroded and my R65 really sounds like a Harley already. when I wet to the shop to have the thing cracked open, restuffed, re welded and repolished, they people asked me if I waned to have another design copied as the labor to create a new one and cracking my old one open again would be roughly the same.

________________________________________________________________

I was looking at cafe'd airheads on the internet for a design that would look better, but I'm having second thoughts on doing something radical. I wanted to do something different. Something that looks sportier but not screaming modified. Something that compliments the lines of the R65 rather than destroying it. I want it to look like an Airhead with a subtle hint of cafe racer. Maybe a little shorter, but not too much.

I remembered the brief discussion between me and Steve Hawkins regarding the cafe racer with the "must try harder" award.  I really don't want my bike to end up like that. Hahaha

What do you guys think I should do or end up with?

Current Mufflers look like this:

[steve hawkins]

As you know, I think 'Café Racering' (if there is such a word) a bike is an all or nothing sort of thing. Where there are many things to change/remove, and whilst I am a fan of the 'rolling restoration' outlook, you have only just finished a tidy restoration.

As your bike is in a pretty standard configuration.  I would keep it at that.  Love it for what it is and rejoice in the fact that you have a local cottage industry that can do these things for you.

Although my R100 does sport a set of Norton style reverse cone mega's that have a lovely sound to them.

Also be aware, that when you change something, it often leads to further changes, so they do have to be planned.  I notice that you have pannier frames and I am sure you have the panniers.  I would not want short pipes melting the bottom of your panniers.......

Cheers

Rev Light

[montmil]

I don't know about freight costs to you, Julio, but EMGO -that's a synonym for Chinese- makes some very nice BMW repops that may not have the glass mat packing. Could be a supplier in your part of the world.

I have their Norton Peashooter repops on the '83 R65. Not an offensive exhaust note but they do sound motorcycle proper.

[nhmaf]

I would certainly keep mindful of not melting the underside of the panniers - so I think sticking with standard/longer mufflers versus some of the shorty version on some cafe/bobbers would be ideal for your application.   If you don't care to use your panniers, that would be one thing, but I get the impression that you use your motorcycle for basic transport with some regularity, and having that cargo capacity would be a tough thing to lose.

[Julio A.]

Thanks for the input guys! I never did like the short reverse cones, so my panniers are safe, But I did like the longer peashooters. They unsuspectingly look good on an airhead. My Dad and a couple of friends agree.








Anyway, I'm still having the existing ones repacked, so If I suddenly feel sentimental I could always swap mufflers.  

[saintell]

Hi Julio,I presume the packing went between the outside wall and the perforated tube,I have a single muffler on my four and I was able to purchase muffler packing already rolled tight so it would go into the end of the muffler,it was tied together with very light string or wire and when the bike was started and got hot the string broke and the packing then expanded out to the sides,worked well too,cheers Nev

[tvrla]

I'd suggest two ways to go - making yours repackable with a removable rear cone. Either use rivets, or one screw through the bottom. I've seen three rivets spaced around the cone, that would need to be drilled out to remove the core to repack.

Or... you could have them build a solid baffle like the originals, tack it in, then weld it all back up. No need to go back in there ever again.

With the resources at your disposal, that's the route I'd take. If you want, I'll dig around here for a pic of a stock airhead muffler cut in half lengthwise.

The basic idea in the stock muffler is to re-direct the flow three times before exiting. Exhaust hits a chamber, flows to another chamber, etc. It's a series of baffles with passages in between.

And, this is my opinion, of course, but I love the look of the stock mufflers. A friend in the 70s had a Norton Commando and I always loved the look of those mufflers angling up. It's the same with these bikes - a distinctive and beautiful feature. It looks like your fabricators did a wonderful job duplicating the look of the stock mufflers. I'm impressed.

[MR.E]

Julio

For me it's got to be a 2-1 setup, the pea shooters/reverse cones are ugly, and they're on every BMW Cafe Racer going, though they do sound amazing!!

You could join the pipes just behind the gearbox, and put a small ish tail pipe out behid the left footpeg.
Are you leaving the foot position as is or moving them??

I've a spare 2-1 system i knocked up if you want some photos of what i mean, i made them for a Trail bike R65 project im planning next!!

All the best