M50 de-baffle?

[Jerry74]

Gee there are some growly types on this site... I was just saying what I had on my bike.... don't bite my head off guys.

Back to the M50 de baffle well worth it anyways made a large improvement to mine when I had it.

[munster]

888, if you don't have the tools or are unsure what to do etc and are willing to pop up to Pukekohe, you can use my shed & tools to drill it out.

[888]

888, if you don't have the tools or are unsure what to do etc and are willing to pop up to Pukekohe, you can use my shed & tools to drill it out.

Sounds like an excellent plan. I've had my first 400k's on the M50 and love it! the only "cons" that I have are the rear suspension is a bit harsh compared to the DR650 and the exhaust is soooo quiet I keep having to accelerate past 150kph to make sure the bike is actually turned on... Send me a PM with your cell so we can organize the modification. Of course I will bring an appropriate amount of amber nectar as payment. Oh yeah, I almost forgot- any Harley riders wanna race some of the Waikato backroads?

[The Lone Rider]

Sounds like an excellent plan. I've had my first 400k's on the M50 and love it! the only "cons" that I have are the rear suspension is a bit harsh compared to the DR650 and the exhaust is soooo quiet I keep having to accelerate past 150kph to make sure the bike is actually turned on... Send me a PM with your cell so we can organize the modification. Of course I will bring an appropriate amount of amber nectar as payment. Oh yeah, I almost forgot- any Harley riders wanna race some of the Waikato backroads?

Hey if you're keen, I could use some video of a before and after.

A video of the bike starting up, standing 1m behind then a walk around, plus a ride by

Then debaffle and the same again in video.

I can send you a DVD to burn the raw footage to, and send it back and I'll edit it up.

I'm assuming you are using the 4 large holes, 4 small holes method?

The video would be good reference for others in the future (this is around the 4 or 5th time the same thread question has started up)

[888]

very keen to see/hear a video of the before/after. Still sitting on the fence as too whether I do it or not, but the video may help in the decision.

[888]

Finally decided to stop being a pussy and got some cutting oil and a 5mm & 10mm cobalt drill bits. Used a pin punch to mark the locations of the holes and got to work- took about 15 minutes and the bike sounds FANTASTIC! What a difference, even just blipping the throttle in the shed. Can't wait to take it out for a blast. Thanks to all for the advice- well worth it, and the holes actually look like they are supposed to be there. Essential modification in my opinion.

[The Lone Rider]

Finally decided to stop being a pussy and got some cutting oil and a 5mm & 10mm cobalt drill bits. Used a pin punch to mark the locations of the holes and got to work- took about 15 minutes and the bike sounds FANTASTIC! What a difference, even just blipping the throttle in the shed. Can't wait to take it out for a blast. Thanks to all for the advice- well worth it, and the holes actually look like they are supposed to be there. Essential modification in my opinion.

So you went with x4 10mm large and x4 5mm smaller?

There is another trick but you have to be real game to try it, and you will need panel beating tools and a decent sized drop saw.

If you know where the first plate is on the inside of the muffler, you can put the muffler under a drop saw and chop a section off the end but leaving yourself 5mm of muffler before the plate that is on the inside.

You then patiently tap the 5mm overhang so that it folds over the plate. This makes the exhaust look completely stock (since it appears to be a sealed unit), but you have in fact reduced the chamber size. This changes the resonant frequency and more gases to escape. You then punch and drill that plate to suit your tastes.

[888]

Yup- went with 4x10mm and 4x5mm. So while my mod would not appear to require any remapping, I'm assuming that I would need to do something with the mapping if I cut back the muffler? Once the rain stops I'll be out for a test ride to see if there has been any effect on fuel consumption etc, but I don't think there will be any change based on all the posts I've read.

[munster]

Yup- went with 4x10mm and 4x5mm. So while my mod would not appear to require any remapping, I'm assuming that I would need to do something with the mapping if I cut back the muffler? Once the rain stops I'll be out for a test ride to see if there has been any effect on fuel consumption etc, but I don't think there will be any change based on all the posts I've read.

I still get 350km's out of a tank with my daughter on board, Dad got 400km's (debaffled - hole saw) on his last trip to Levin & back.

[888]

400 k's!!!!??? I was down to the last bar at 240k, assuming the dealership filled it up completely (which I didn't check!) that puts me at around 280 for a full tank. The bike has 17K on it, so should be broken in and I fill with 98 so I'll be interested to see how far I get on the next tank. Mind you my speed average on the highway was 110kph with bursts up to 150kph so that may be why my mileage was low compared to yours... I set up my gps and noticed that 120kph on the speedo was actually 110kph and 60kph was actually 52kph. Pretty much the same as on my old DR650.

[iYRe]

400 k's!!!!??? I was down to the last bar at 240k, assuming the dealership filled it up completely (which I didn't check!) that puts me at around 280 for a full tank. The bike has 17K on it, so should be broken in and I fill with 98 so I'll be interested to see how far I get on the next tank. Mind you my speed average on the highway was 110kph with bursts up to 150kph so that may be why my mileage was low compared to yours... I set up my gps and noticed that 120kph on the speedo was actually 110kph and 60kph was actually 52kph. Pretty much the same as on my old DR650.

I get about 270 in theory, but I always fill around 220 (usually has 14L - so should still be 2-3L "reserve" at 220km).

My GPS shows the same, 120kph on speedo is 109 kph on GPS - but just remember that GPS just gives you an average over the last xx seconds/seconds/whatever. It checks location every xx time units and works out the speed you travelled between those 2 points. The more times/sec it does it, the more accurate - but then, I have some GPS tools on my phone and I can tell you that the accuracy is fairly variable. It goes from about a metre, to hundreds of metres depending on which satellites, how many satellites, how fast you're moving (it appears the faster I go, the less accurate, but I havent _really_ checked that )

[skippa1]

thinking about doing the same to the Victory.....put some pics up and let us see the damage....

[888]

The GPS on your phone won't be anywhere near as accurate as the Garmin Csx60 I'm using, but the whole purpose of GPS'ing is to figure what speed I can cruise without risking the ol' filth nailing me with a ticket! I'll take a pix of the holes (looks very clean) tomorrow and post em. I reckon the cobalt drill bits are the only way to go- I tried using a regular drill bit and it was way too much effort, cutting oil helped out as well. Roll on good weather- next ride will be the Coromandel Loop...

[iYRe]

The GPS on your phone won't be anywhere near as accurate as the Garmin Csx60 I'm using, but the whole purpose of GPS'ing is to figure what speed I can cruise without risking the ol' filth nailing me with a ticket! I'll take a pix of the holes (looks very clean) tomorrow and post em. I reckon the cobalt drill bits are the only way to go- I tried using a regular drill bit and it was way too much effort, cutting oil helped out as well. Roll on good weather- next ride will be the Coromandel Loop...

true, I guess..

This is what the pipes on mine look like (I have original untouched ones as well):

[The Lone Rider]

thinking about doing the same to the Victory.....put some pics up and let us see the damage....

If you do do that, can you please do some video of the bike idling and riding by - before you do the drilling.

Then the same again afterwards.

I want some footage of exactly that so I can use it as an addition to an article I'll do later in the year. This baffle modding stuff comes up very often.