| Author | Message | ||
     Bandirola |
The rear exhaust stud on my front cylinder is broken off about 1/4 inch inside the head. What is the best way to remove it? I have heard nightmare stories about broken easyouts, etc. This is on my 2000 S3T. Thanks. Dave. | ||
| Buellbozo |
Dave, if you have the head off the bike, i'd suggest checking with local machine shops to see if they have an EDM...stands for electric discharge machining.some shops will have a small unit specifically for removing broken taps-a common occurence.properly operated,it will burn out the broken bit and leave a spring like curly-cue that pulls out with pliers and leaves the thread untouched.there are drill guides for using a hand drill motor,but if you're unsure of yourself,PLEASE find someone with serious experience in this s***.it can go real easy or turn into expensive grief.technique and experience really count.if i can ask-did it break on it's own or...good luck,let us know.  | ||
| Bandirola |
I was considering trying to drill it on the bike, but I'm not sure I want to risk doing some serious damage. I just got the bike this fall and it had a V&H muffler which was blown out. I assume the excess vibration from the blown pipe caused the stud to break. Thanks for the suggestion. Dave. | ||
| Formerslimjim |
The exhaust studs breaking is a very common problem on the buells. Look in the knowledge vault exhaust section for posts on repairing this. If you are a DIY type www.americansportbike.com sells a drill guide for this situation. It's in the tools section. It's a little pricey but it supposibly works. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The Jims drill bit guide rocks. If you don't want to wait for it, I think you can replace the whole head for about $300, so that puts an upper bound on your level of risk if you start "exparimentin". I just ended up (after some incredibly painful digressions) just drilling out and retapping the head by hand. By the time I reached full depth of the hole, I was probably 20% out of line. I retapped it, put a new stud in gently, and handled it gently. No problems for the next 20k miles and two or three header removals. Not a procedure I would recommend, but it worked fine for me at the time. The Jims tool does the same thing, but does it so well that you probably won't even have to retap. It's money well spent for a solved problem. | ||
| Ceejay |
I would agree on getting that tool. I have broken three of the four and it isn't much fun trying to do by eye. You'll need a extension or an extra long drill bit too if your gonna do it while it's on the bike, just stuff a rag in the exhuast port, place the guide on, and drill. a pilot mark may help too. | ||
| Easy_rider |
On another bike I owned a "junkyard" allowed me to cut an exhaust pipe to obtain the clamp. The clamp made a decent guide. It's a longshot, but you may find someone here with a trashed pipe that's willing to provide you with the clamp. | ||
| Fusa21 |
Good luck, once you get it fixed, it's a good idea to check these nuts/studs a few times a year, atleast spring and fall. We check them every race weekend to be sure. | ||
| Oldog |
I replaced the ones on my X1 Before they broke, and avoided this task, you may want to replace the others. If I may add my 02 here if you break the stud buy the tool, theres not much "meat" there and even a small miss is a problem, Reepi's save is rather uncommon, usualy the drill wanders off line and you leave 1/3 to 1/2 of the stud in the hole and then you have a real mess, the guide with the hardened bushing is the best way to go .. | ||
| Silas_clone |
Can the head pipes be held on with springs? I haven't had my header off, so I don't know what the design is. Would there be too much leakage with a spring set-up? | ||
| Formerslimjim |
Silas, I'm not really sure how you intend on using springs but I'll say had a spring steel support on mine for awhile. I thought it would be better at absorbing the vibration. What I ended up with was a horrible buzz when the pipe harmonics were just right. | ||
| Silas_clone |
I had a setup with welded hooks on the pipes and drilled holes in the cylinder fins. I think I used Big Twin kickstand springs to stretched between the hooks and the holes that held the pipes in place. Not sure if Buell head pipes extend past the flanges. This was a race setup way back, I liked it. Just wondering if it would work with newer engines. |
