| Author | Message | ||
     Xbolt12 |
I opened it up and guess what, no more packing except a little wad near the back of the pipe. Repacking was not much fun, but here are some tips. First as Al Lighton recommended I used a drill bit bigger than the rivet diameter (shank, not the head)in order to just pop the heads off the rivets and not mess up the holes or spin the rivets. It doesn't take much pressure and you should let up as soon as the bit breaks through the head. That was the easy part. Next I took a drift punch and tapped the rivets through into the can. The third step was getting the rear section out of the can. Believe it or not it appears that Jardine used masking tape to seal the joint. I found the best way to cut it was to use a razor type carpet knife and carefully (no more superglue stitch substitutes)and using gloves I cut the bond between the can and the outlet piece. Once that was done I tapped on the side of the outlet until the pipe separated. American Sportbike had a Jardine repack kit (if you can call it that). It was really just a fiberglass sheet without any instructions. I took out the core, centered it in the fiberglass and rolled it up in the middle tightly. Then I spiraled the assembly into the can. Once it was about a half inch from the core pipe engaging the inlet, I worked my way around the pipe, pushing the fiber glass into the can with a tire iron though the inlet and clearing the pipe so it would fit into the inlet pipe. Then I pressed it in all the way and and worked on the outlet end. On the outlet, I found the best method was to use the tire iron and cram the excess into the can, being careful to work my way around the can in order to keep the core centered. Then I cleaned off the edge of the outlet end with lacquer thinner and squeezed the can back into the correct shape and started the outlet into the can. At this point I had to buy some 3/32 stainless rivets (Gee Jardine-it would be nice if you guys would include these). Home Depot doesn't have these, but an industrial hardware store did (it takes six). Next I put Yamabond sealant on the end plate (outlet) and pushed it all the way into the can and lined it up by inserting the rivets. Then I used a good hand rivet tool to install the rivets. Lastly, I cleaned up the can and put it on the bike and started her up. Wow, what a difference. It's actually not offensively loud anymore. I am suspicious that my pipe was never fully packed with fiberglass when it was new. It not only seems quieter now than when I first installed it, but I notice the can seems heavier than when I originally installed it. For those of you who are trying to quiet the RT1 down, I suggest you first check the packing. If you pull the can and it weighs next to nothing, that is a dead giveaway that the packing is gone. xbolt12 |
