Triumphrat

beastman487

Decided to drill out my exhaust today. For some reason I thought I should unscrew the bracket from the silencer, instead of unscrewing the bracket from the subframe.

I loosened the two hex head screws on the bracket, then realized that approach would take forever. So I took the silencer off with the mounting bracket still attached (see photo). Once the silencer was off, I decided to tighten up those hex head screws. One tightened up nicely, and the other just kept spinning. If there's a nut on the other side, it's not grabbing. I don't want that thing rattling around inside the silencer. Any ideas?

Slinky

Unfortunately it's a known issue on these bikes, the captive nuts are not very captive. I'm not sure how (or if) you can fix it. You could try wedging a screwdriver between the bracket and muffler, and using it as a lever to put some pressure on the nut.

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98 Thunderbird, 03 Speed Master

beastman487

Well the bolt kept on spinning. I mounted the silencer back on the bike, and didn't drill out the baffles. My dad told me that drilled baffles can cause you to fail inspection. Massachusetts is very strict about EVERYTHING. I'll have to do some homework before I get a rejection for something I can't undo.

Woody1911a1

where about do you live in mass ? i haven't found them strict at all . i'm running tors on my adventurer and never have a problem getting a sticker . wife's buell has a glass pack that's way louder and i never get hassled . not to mention my friends sporty that is so f'ing loud i feel like calling the cops on him , but he's got a sticker and never get's stopped .

if you're anywhere near the north shore , check out north river cycles in salem . my local triumph dealer and inspection station .

cheers Woody

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If you love it , let it go . If it comes back to you , you've highsided ;-)

beastman487

I live in Leominster, this is my first bike (got plates thursday), so I have no experience with motorcycle inspection. I used to drive a highly modified 280hp acura integra, so I've developed a hatred for the RMV and inspection stations. Bikes in MA have to get inspected every year right?

My dad told me to check out the rules before drilling my baffles. I looked up the info on the RMV website and read that drilled baffles will cause you to fail. I'm sure some inspection stations are probably less strict than others. I'm just going to get inspected before I drill my baffles, and see what happens next year.

Woody1911a1

hint : motorcycle inspection stations in Mass are motorcycle shops , not the same place you take your car . all the little harley chopper shops near me do em . you have no worries of failing .

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If you love it , let it go . If it comes back to you , you've highsided ;-)

jwolf

If you do run into trouble with the drilled out exhausts, I happen to have an extra set of stock Legend exhausts on hand. Just send a private message to me and we can work out something for a whole lot less that the cost of new replacements.
Hope it doesn't come to that - nothing worse than a new bike that can't be ridden.

MickMaguire

If you are worried find a spare set of stock mufflers and swap them on at inspection time. I've not had trouble with my TORs that are clearly marked "for off road use only" either in NH or VT.

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Mick...

Just remember; an awful lot of the free advice you will get on forums is worth exactly what you paid for it. There will always be somebody trying to convince you to do something really stupid, just because they did it or want to do it.

RickN

I had the same thing happen, except it was all four of the inner nuts. I drilled though the bracket and through the wall of the muffler with a 1/8th inch drill. Then I jammed a scratch awl in through the hole to keep the nut in place while I loosened the bolt.

As it turns out the "nut" really isn't a regular nut at all, it is a very narrow piece of tube, I think; with an internal thread. I am only telling you this to explain why it is very hard to keep it from rotating even with the scratch awl jamming it in place.

I did get all the bolts out eventually, in order to mig-weld the "nuts" in place and to weld shut the holes . (These welded holes are below the brackets, so not visible.)

Rick

MickMaguire

its a rivnut type of fastener kind of a threaded insert rivet affair. the problem is they used loctite on the screws. Trouble is people tend to find out the hard way (like this) that you really shouldn't touch them. They can be replaced with the appropriate tool and correct sized rivnut

The brackets themselves used to be very cheap - around 10bucks IIRC - so its never worth trying to seperate the originals form the mufflers.

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Mick...

Just remember; an awful lot of the free advice you will get on forums is worth exactly what you paid for it. There will always be somebody trying to convince you to do something really stupid, just because they did it or want to do it.