It finally arrived!! This afternoon when I pulled up to the house from picking up Ebony from the groomers, it was sitting on my front porch! As I suspected, the USPS Track and Confirm was useless because before I left, I checked and it showed the same darned thing.
Oh well, no need to complain. I let Ebb in the house so she wouldn't start to smell so soon after taking her bath and rushed outside to see what was in the box:
At the top, the little baggy with the 2.75" stainless steel clamp, 2.5" exhaust springs, 10mm x 1.25 Flange Nut, and the rivet. In the middle is the yoshimura tail pipe, complete with gold patina. At the bottom, the TRS muffler assembly.
The first thing I did was take the stock exhaust off, following the detailed pictures on Pat's FZ1 site. It came off a lot easier than I expected. Then I let Cruzman talk me into starting the bike without the exhaust; just so he could hear it. It kind of sounded like Dad's bike with the Vance and Hines.
Baby, stock muffler:
Baby, muffer-less:
A pic of the stock muffler and mid pipe next to the Yosh TRS:
One thing I noticed right away is how much lighter the TRS muffler is compared to stock. The stocker felt extremely heavy after handling the TRS, no wonder I always drop the bike on the right side. Maybe now I can stop dropping it all together.
Next, I took out the Barkeeper's Friend and scrubbed the patina away then tidied up the muffler. They really should repackage that same stuff calling it "Rider's Friend" and sell it for $10 a can at the Harley Shop and other motorcycle outlets. Not that I'd buy it because I know it's still Barkeeper's but Damn! it works great. Here is an after pic:
After I cleaned that up, I had to clean the clamp before I could install it on the bike:
The instructions said to drill the header where the tail pipe meets it, install the rivet, then put the clamp over the rivet. I didn't do that. Pat didn't do it either so I like the idea of being able to go back to stock without any issues plus I don't think it will hurt anything.
It was a very easy install, I think Ebony could have done it if she had thumbs and if I would have let her outside. So once that was done, I needed to clean my headers to match the clean new (to me) muffler.
Dirty pipes:
Clean pipes:
Well, as clean as I could get them, my elbow starting hurting around the 2nd pipe.
I called Dad to let him know the exhaust was here and that I was in the process of installing it. He said he'd come over to hear it so I felt the inaugural ride with the new muffler should wait until he got there.
While I was waiting, I put the staples onto the seat from when I'd mounted the top case to it and then loaded the saddlebags to see if they would fit with the hard case. If they didn't, I'd just use the seat without the mount and the matching soft tail bag. But they did:
Cruzman pointed out that they are a little high, but I think I can adjust the straps if I need to. They are empty in this pic so once they are loaded it might not be necessary.
I also wiped the bike down with the waterless cleaner I have (that I can't remember the name of at the moment--Black Hills something or other) so Baby would be ready for the weekend if I can ride.
I wanted video of it on the inaugural ride with Dad but mounting the camera to the chin bar of the helmet takes all the sound away. I'm going to have to try to put scotch tape over the mic or something if the modded ciggy box case doesn't work. I was so excited, I forgot to mount the box for the test ride so I had to settle for pics over the sound clips. The video is how Baby sounded with the stock muffler, without a muffler (for Cruzman), and with the Yoshimura TRS muffler.
I still don't know if the silencer is in or out. I've looked at pics and listened to youtube clips but I just can't tell. Maybe va_rider will know when we do the jetting. According to the Yoshimura Website:
The TRS has proved itself over the years to be an incredible exhaust. With its tri oval design, and race inspired baffle it is bound to meet your needs! Includes easily removable low volume insert, and is easily installed with our step by step directions. Slip-ons are a great way to get the performance and quality you crave from Yoshimura.
Great news, except there are no instructions for removal of the "easily removable low volume insert" so I still don't know where to look.
Next thing to do is order new jets and meet up with va_rider so we can do Ravenrider's Jetting. Other than adding HID headlights, adjustable levers, and a new windscreen, I think I'm about done "modding" Baby. He was great when I got him and even better now that he's more personalized.
7 May 2010
I took a longer ride today. My initial impressions were pretty much spot on after the ride. I now know to give up on mounting the little camera on the bike and to stick with the helmet mount. I will have to get another one, hopefully in time for the FZ1OA rally the first week of June.
Also took a pic of the whole exhaust side of the bike. Baby looks really good all dressed up in traveling trim:
Thanks for reading,
patrice, tWT
Hey how did you get the mid pipe to header clamp to fit
ReplyDelete