MULTIPLE exhaust leaks... yuck :(

[Clumzi]

So its cold as hell and snowing up here in the Northwest but I just got a Costco barn for my bike. Hurray for the bike not getting soaked all winter long and having a dry place to work on the thing. However, I just went out back to fire her up (it just makes me happy ) and noticed lots of white smoke coming from underneath the bike (not white smoke, just hot air you can see because of how cold it is). On both sides of the bike, where the exhaust meets the muffler, there are sizable exhaust leaks with a possible third leak (hard to tell where though).

Now, I have no delusions that this will ever be a show bike. But I still hope I can make it a functional around town bike (my knowledge base is slim to nil ). My question is this... besides not giving adequate back pressure and causing a loss of power, what issues come up because of exhaust leaks? Is the power loss it? I'll get to fixing it eventually, but does it hurt the bike? in terms of safety should I be worried? -nick

[Mr. Brown]

Good question. I know getting my airbox sealed was huge, but I haven't gotten around to dealing with the crappy connections at the premuffler and headers. Other than popping under decelleration, is there a problem?

[bwringer]

The sealing sleeves for these joints are only about $16-$17 each. Put some new ones on there.

The bike definitely will not run right if the exhaust, including the joints underneath, is not sealed.

[Big T]

So its cold as hell and snowing up here in the Northwest but I just got a Costco barn for my bike. Hurray for the bike not getting soaked all winter long and having a dry place to work on the thing. However, I just went out back to fire her up (it just makes me happy ) and noticed lots of white smoke coming from underneath the bike (not white smoke, just hot air you can see because of how cold it is). On both sides of the bike, where the exhaust meets the muffler, there are sizable exhaust leaks with a possible third leak (hard to tell where though).

Now, I have no delusions that this will ever be a show bike. But I still hope I can make it a functional around town bike (my knowledge base is slim to nil ). My question is this... besides not giving adequate back pressure and causing a loss of power, what issues come up because of exhaust leaks? Is the power loss it? I'll get to fixing it eventually, but does it hurt the bike? in terms of safety should I be worried? -nick

You are referring to the joint where the #1 and #4 exhaust pipes join into the mufflers, right??

[Steve]

Once you get your gaskets and get them installed, do NOT start the bike unless you are going for a ride.

Starting it to "charge the battery" or "just because it sounds so good" is a good way to acellerate damage to the engine and exhaust systems. Unless everything gets hot enough to burn off the condensation, it will just gather there and rust. You are much better off to just give it an oil change, put some stabilizer in the gas and connect a battery tender, then cover it to keep dust off and ignore it until you are ready to ride.

.

[Clumzi]

Once you get your gaskets and get them installed, do NOT start the bike unless you are going for a ride.

Starting it to "charge the battery" or "just because it sounds so good" is a good way to acellerate damage to the engine and exhaust systems. Unless everything gets hot enough to burn off the condensation, it will just gather there and rust. You are much better off to just give it an oil change, put some stabilizer in the gas and connect a battery tender, then cover it to keep dust off and ignore it until you are ready to ride.

.

No kidding? Aw hell. I thought I was supposed to start it up every once in a while during the winter so the gas doesn't go bad and muck up the carbs again. So stabilizer and battery tender and an oil change before I put it back on the road come spring?

It is at the joint where 1 and 4 meet the muffler. I just looked again and one of the holes looks like a little pin prick hole and the other looks like a bad spot in the weld that's opened up. Is JB weld ok for high heat? It looks like my best bet is just to plug these spots up with something. -nick

[hikermikem]

I plugged some small leaks in my 550 exhaust with some stuff I got from Napa. Don't remember the name of the stuff, but it was almost like a ceramic paint, except it cured rock hard & could withstand very high heat. I used several coats of it - still working 2 years later...

Scope out all the exhaust patch products at Napa, & I'm sure you'll find it. Its silver in color, & came in a bottle I think.

Good luck

[Clumzi]

I got some VersaChem stuff at Shucks. I just put in Seafoam, some more gas, let it run for about ten minutes and shut it down. I marked on the exhaust with a sharpie where the two holes are (looking again, I think its just two). Tomorrow I'll try to pull the exhaust off and plug those holes. -nick

[hikermikem]

Might be a good idea to start spraying those exhaust header bolts with PB Blaster - don't want to snap those, kinda ruins your day... They can be a bear to remove - take your time with them. If you get them to at least move a little, keep working it in & out a little at a time (with liberal amounts of PB Blaster) until it threads out.

Use some anti-seize on the threads when you re-install.

Hopefully you've already had those off recently, so this advice may be moot. Inspect the exhaust seals, if they're not too crunched or burnt you can reuse them. However, new ones are always nice.

Good luck,

mike

[Clumzi]

I hadn't even thought about the exhaust seals. I'll take the PB Blaster advice on the exhaust header bolts. I'm still angry it took 26 years to find out PB Blaster exists . That reminds me... is the exhaust only connected to the bike at the headers? If the exhaust seals are shot, where can I buy those? Is that easy to find at Z1 or other motorcycle places online?