TT250: Fitting the ebay stainless steel exhaust

[Sullybiker]

I bought my stainless 'ebay exhaust' - the one everybody uses - months ago but never had the chance to get it fitted. My neighbour (actually the maintenance guy for place I live in) offered to help me cut the flanges with his grinder and vice. On friday night we did this with the accompanying (somewhat terrifying to the uninitiated) shower of sparks.

I was a bit worried about the studs and cap nuts, already haven taken the bike through winter. In fact they came off with just a light turn of the ring spanner; but the bottom stud unscrewed rather than the cap nut. The threads were in good condition; but I couldn't get the cap nut off so resolved to get a spare. Autozone and Advance Auto Parts didn't have anything suitable - they sold M8 x 1.25 studs but they were too long. A local hardware store had a good selection so I armed myself with a couple of spares. I also bought a nut splitter and some small locking vise grips, placed the grips on the smooth part of the stud and was able to turn it off. My cleaning and scrubbing the nut while it was on the bike had let a lot of WD40 penetrate in and gum up the threads, but it was basically fine, so I put it back on the bike, screwing it in with my fingers. No problems. I bought new nuts and lock washers.

Next challenge was the gasket. I'd ordered a new one from ebay and it's basically a little copper ring, but I couldn't see the existing one; I then noticed the exhaust port appeared to have some weirdly machined interior edges. The 'wet' spots are some cleaner I had sprayed on earlier:



The photo revealed these were deformed at the top, and I realised I was looking at the existing gasket which had a squared cross section, and had been pretty well squashed. I grabbed it with some needle-nose pliers and it popped out. I put the new one in (I dabbed a little grease on it to make it stick as it kept dropping out and tried the new header for size, screwing the nuts on finger tight to get an idea of fit.

Some people have got lucky with the fit of these things. I knew straight away the clutch arm was going to be close, and I figured it would be a little clearer when it was all tightened up, but for now it made a little 'tink' every time I let the clutch lever out.

Secondly on fitting the mid pipe and muffler, it cleared the frame by about 5mm and easily passed under the airbox, but there was absolutely no way I could get it to meet the bolt eye under the seat where everyone usually fixes it. It had about an inch to spare:



I could not move it up as this would bring the pipe into contact with the frame; I could try and bend or dimple it, but it really didn't have much motion available at all. So I knew I had to make some sort of bracket.

I haven't made anything out of metal...well, ever, really. I went to Home Depot and found a length of Aluminium 'flat' that was three feet long (lol) and two inches wide, and a mini hacksaw. It was .0125 thick, so plenty stiff. I reckoned that If I cut a simple rectangle 12cm x 5cm I could drill holes in it and make a bracket, so that's what I did. Well, I sort of butchered the holes a bit (I didn't measure well) but it fitted; you can see it here:


Exhaust clearance to the license plate holder is marginal (I used the included spacer and even bought some nylon ones from Home Depot in case I needed more room) but it's fine. Lots of riding today, no melting:



I was still unhappy about the clutch clearance, so I Googled some advice about how to, er, 'shape' exhaust pipes and the most simple way appeard to be to whack it with a ball-peen hammer. So I got a regular ball peen hammer (6 bucks, Harbor Freight) and marked the spot with a sharpie where the clutch actuator was touching, and set about whacking my exhaust. A few blows made the material dimple enough to give about 2mm clearance (it actually increases when bike is hot) and it's on the underside so not visible.

Last job was to take the carb off and fit the 115 main jet (already had a 27.5 pilot which I knew is a little rich so should be fine with a more open pipe) and put it all back together.

It sounds great, and the bike pulls strongly throughout the rev range. I was pretty pleased with the result.



Hope this helps somebody.

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by Sullybiker

I bought my stainless 'ebay exhaust' - the one everybody uses - months ago but never had the chance to get it fitted. My neighbour (actually the maintenance guy for place I live in) offered to help me cut the flanges with his grinder and vice. On friday night we did this with the accompanying (somewhat terrifying to the uninitiated) shower of sparks.

I was a bit worried about the studs and cap nuts, already haven taken the bike through winter. In fact they came off with just a light turn of the ring spanner; but the bottom stud unscrewed rather than the cap nut. The threads were in good condition; but I couldn't get the cap nut off so resolved to get a spare. Autozone and Advance Auto Parts didn't have anything suitable - they sold M8 x 1.25 studs but they were too long. A local hardware store had a good selection so I armed myself with a couple of spares. I also bought a nut splitter and some small locking vise grips, placed the grips on the smooth part of the stud and was able to turn it off. My cleaning and scrubbing the nut while it was on the bike had let a lot of WD40 penetrate in and gum up the threads, but it was basically fine, so I put it back on the bike, screwing it in with my fingers. No problems. I bought new nuts and lock washers.

Next challenge was the gasket. I'd ordered a new one from ebay and it's basically a little copper ring, but I couldn't see the existing one; I then noticed the exhaust port appeared to have some weirdly machined interior edges. The 'wet' spots are some cleaner I had sprayed on earlier:



The photo revealed these were deformed at the top, and I realised I was looking at the existing gasket which had a squared cross section, and had been pretty well squashed. I grabbed it with some needle-nose pliers and it popped out. I put the new one in (I dabbed a little grease on it to make it stick as it kept dropping out and tried the new header for size, screwing the nuts on finger tight to get an idea of fit.

Some people have got lucky with the fit of these things. I knew straight away the clutch arm was going to be close, and I figured it would be a little clearer when it was all tightened up, but for now it made a little 'tink' every time I let the clutch lever out.

Secondly on fitting the mid pipe and muffler, it cleared the frame by about 5mm and easily passed under the airbox, but there was absolutely no way I could get it to meet the bolt eye under the seat where everyone usually fixes it. It had about an inch to spare:



I could not move it up as this would bring the pipe into contact with the frame; I could try and bend or dimple it, but it really didn't have much motion available at all. So I knew I had to make some sort of bracket.

I haven't made anything out of metal...well, ever, really. I went to Home Depot and found a length of Aluminium 'flat' that was three feet long (lol) and two inches wide, and a mini hacksaw. It was .0125 thick, so plenty stiff. I reckoned that If I cut a simple rectangle 12cm x 5cm I could drill holes in it and make a bracket, so that's what I did. Well, I sort of butchered the holes a bit (I didn't measure well) but it fitted; you can see it here:


Exhaust clearance to the license plate holder is marginal (I used the included spacer and even bought some nylon ones from Home Depot in case I needed more room) but it's fine. Lots of riding today, no melting:



I was still unhappy about the clutch clearance, so I Googled some advice about how to, er, 'shape' exhaust pipes and the most simple way appeard to be to whack it with a ball-peen hammer. So I got a regular ball peen hammer (6 bucks, Harbor Freight) and marked the spot with a sharpie where the clutch actuator was touching, and set about whacking my exhaust. A few blows made the material dimple enough to give about 2mm clearance (it actually increases when bike is hot) and it's on the underside so not visible.

Last job was to take the carb off and fit the 115 main jet (already had a 27.5 pilot which I knew is a little rich so should be fine with a more open pipe) and put it all back together.

It sounds great, and the bike pulls strongly throughout the rev range. I was pretty pleased with the result.



Hope this helps somebody.

Great job, and a very good story. Congrats!!....ARH

[Megadan]

You had all of the opposite fitment issues I did. These things are never the same lol.

Something worth doing to help stud and nut removal in the future is to put a dab of antiseize on those stud threads. It is worth taking the time to do, because nothing sucks more than a stuck stud...other than a broken stuck stud.

[JerryHawk250]

Looks good. Now she can breathe. You could always go by one of the muffler shops and have them re-bend it if you want the muffler to be a little higher.

[Sullybiker]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Looks good. Now she can breathe. You could always go by one of the muffler shops and have them re-bend it if you want the muffler to be a little higher.

After my first ride yesterday I thought it felt happier in the midrange and top end, but after my commute this morning I think it's quite a bit punchier. I realised I was a gear higher everywhere, in other words the midrange is pulling a lot better; there's definitely some more torque there.

The sound from the riders seat is much, much nicer.

[Sullybiker]

Originally Posted by Megadan

You had all of the opposite fitment issues I did. These things are never the same lol.

Something worth doing to help stud and nut removal in the future is to put a dab of antiseize on those stud threads. It is worth taking the time to do, because nothing sucks more than a stuck stud...other than a broken stuck stud.

Everyone seems to have a different challenge with them, it's pretty funny.

I didn't think of anti-seize! I'll keep that in mind.

[XDoubleXA]

Originally Posted by Sullybiker

Everyone seems to have a different challenge with them, it's pretty funny.

I didn't think of anti-seize! I'll keep that in mind.

I had all the same problems you did with the Shark. Clutch armand air box clearance was my main issue, and finding out there was no gasket up at the flange where the exhaust goes in. Fun times.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Sullybiker

After my first ride yesterday I thought it felt happier in the midrange and top end, but after my commute this morning I think it's quite a bit punchier. I realised I was a gear higher everywhere, in other words the midrange is pulling a lot better; there's definitely some more torque there.

The sound from the riders seat is much, much nicer.

The middle of the powerband definitely is where these motors really wake up with an intake and exhaust. I think the ports are the only thing holding the top end back at this point. Pulls damn hard and then falls off pretty quickly past peak hp. For an engine that should be able to rev past 8000, it struggles past 7500.

[Weldangrind]

Excellent write-up and pics, Sully. If you're ever again faced with "clearancing", try laying a pipe on the piece of tube and then hit the pipe. it will make a nicer concave shape without the peen marks associated with a hammer.

[BlackBike]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Excellent write-up and pics, Sully. If you're ever again faced with "clearancing", try laying a pipe on the piece of tube and then hit the pipe. it will make a nicer concave shape without the peen marks associated with a hammer.

Now he tells me!

Just kidding...nice tip.

[purpleether]

Does anyone have a link to buy this exhaust?

[Sullybiker]

BY YOUR COMMAND
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ALUMINUM-EX...cAAOSwGvhUICrU

[roundhouse]

Nice I had similar issues. Glad you got it going. enjoy!