Exhaust clearance problem

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Shetland Woody · #1 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Sun May 06, 2012 8:53 pm

Hi guy's, iv'e been fitting my mille swing arm over the weekend and come across a snag. The left exhaust can was rubbing on the old arm and i had it shimmed out with washers to clear, now i have the new arm on it's worse still. It's as though the previous owner has some how possibly bent

the collector pipes underneath as the left sits way to close to the arm. It would take a lot of shimming to get the can to clear infact it's that close i'm not sure even shimming would clear the arm. So i'm assuming the pipes underneath are some how not as they should be.
Anybody come across this before and any solutions?
My idea's so far are
1) take the collector pipes off again and have the left pipe heated and try to bend to a better angle.
2) again take off collectors and cut the left pipe and have it welded with an extra piece to make the can sit further out, don't really fancy doing this though.
3)Make up a strap and weld it on the collector and fix it back to perhaps the side stand bolts as there is alot of side to side movement on the collector and only when pulled across to the left does it look like the can would clear the swinger, i don't know what effect this would have on the exhaust as it's held with springs for a reason but i need to do something.
Any tips or suggestions guy's and are any of my suggestions a no no
Cheers

Aladinsaneuk · #2 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Sun May 06, 2012 9:07 pm

I would start by ensuring everything else is correct - start by checking the headers are snug / tight ....

Next check the mid section is correctly fitted - take time and look to see if that is correctly fitted

I am guessing one of the above is not quite right....

Shetland Woody · #3 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Sun May 06, 2012 9:24 pm

Thanks for the reply Alad,
when i fitted the new arm i had to remove the rear down pipe so i made sure it was well button'd up. The mid section was so tight to seperate i cleaned the pipes with wire wool and WD40 so they would be easier to go back together which they were but have now gone from tight to loose almost.
I have had my falco for 4-5 years and i noticed a small grind mark on the original swing arm which almost looked standard which i'd assumed it was until i seen a pic of another swing arm without this mark so the previous had done it, so it's been rubbing a while. I checked the front pipe and there is no movement there so it should be secure. The new arm has rubber protectors on the side which do stick out slightly further but it shouldn't be an issue with clearance, I'm leaning towards the welding on a thin s/s strap to hold the mid section where it would need to be to allow both cans to clear the arm

Shetland Woody · #4 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Sun May 06, 2012 9:58 pm

nipped out to the garage to double check everything and front and rear pipes tight. mid section loose fitting ie you can freely move them in and out of there respective places against the tension of the springs. The amount of shims i have tried in behind the foot peg hangers are so thick there is not alot of thread left on the bolts to hold the hangers on and the amount of washers i have between the exhaust strap and hanger is crazy it makes the can sit away out at the tip but still touches the swinger at the base. I'm thinking the mid section must be out of shape.

Rather than using washers to shim things i'm thinking to use aluminium rod with slight angles filed on the ends to make the hangers etc sit slightly off, that might help slightly

D-Rider · #5 Post by **D-Rider** » Sun May 06, 2012 10:13 pm

The best way to stop the left exhaust rubbing is to ditch the left exhaust ..... Mille 2 into 1 .... you know it makes sense

#6 Post by **Kwackerz** » Mon May 07, 2012 12:47 am

pics please. easier to figure solutions with pics.

Shetland Woody · #7 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Mon May 07, 2012 9:20 pm

2 into 1 now there's a plan

Here some pics not sure if they will really show how bad it is but here goes

just a quick pic to show my nice new swinger on and the hugger just set in place to get an idea of how it looks

here's to show how much shimming is on the hanger allready and it still touches the arm

exhaust bracket allready shimmed aswell as the hanger

I have more pics but this computer is playing funny beggers so i'll post these up now before i lose them alltoghether lol

Shetland Woody · #8 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Mon May 07, 2012 9:28 pm

okay one more now the laptop knows what it wants to do now lol

this is how far the can sits out with all the shimming in place i think something drastic needs doing to the mid section. I could get more pics of a particular part of the exhaust if it'll help

Aladinsaneuk · #9 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon May 07, 2012 9:45 pm

I would get beg or borrow a mid section

Having seen the photo from the side, something is not right I fear

Shetland Woody · #10 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Mon May 07, 2012 9:56 pm

aww poo, probably not that easy to come by

Aladinsaneuk · #11 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon May 07, 2012 9:59 pm

You mAy be surprised

#12 Post by **Kwackerz** » Mon May 07, 2012 10:00 pm

Fekkinell! yes deffo summat amiss there.

How are you reassembling? As in the reassembly order of march..

I think decent collector box view pics, including the routing of the headers as they come down (as in the angle they come down and into the collector)
side on view pics of the link pipes left and right may shed a bit more info.

Youre running Akra cans and link pipes, so there's little reason to doubt them, and they should sit right pretty much straight away when fitted (with the obligatory small faff around with looks) so all that leaves is the collector and how it sits when fitted to the headers..

Zorsts are simple, but a small misalignment at the collector, can and does throw cans out at silly angles, especially aftermarket ones!

#13 Post by **Kwackerz** » Mon May 07, 2012 10:03 pm

Are you refitting whilst its on a paddock stand or on the sidestand?

Shetland Woody · #14 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Mon May 07, 2012 10:11 pm

Okay, cheers guy's i'll get some more pics tommorow and try and show every angle i can get. I have a horrible feeling the mid section must be bent somewhere although to look at it it all looks fine on the ground

Shetland Woody · #15 Post by **Shetland Woody** » Mon May 07, 2012 10:15 pm

Kwackerz wrote:Are you refitting whilst its on a paddock stand or on the sidestand?

I refitted on the paddock stand, i had to remove the rear header to fit the arm but i slipped the rear into the mid section and offered it up from there to make getting the two together easier if you get my drift but i button'd it up well