Mufflers and Baffles
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 4:32 pm
Hi - I have a '65 R50 that I have owned for over 30 years. The bike has Ghost Motorcycle stickers, but the previous owner was from West Virginia. It came with aftermarket mufflers, that one of you might recognize from the photograph. I think they are funky period pieces and I'd like to keep them. The bike has a nice original/used patina.
Recently, I was trying to adjust the idle by ear by listening to the exhaust notes from the rear of the bike. I noticed the right side had a stronger exhaust pressure. However, when I disconnected the plug from the right cylinder, the right muffler still had a stronger exhaust pressure.
On closer examination, I realized the left muffler has a baffle about a foot from the exit, but this baffle is missing from the right side. So the exhaust from both cylinders is always taking the path of least resistance and going (mostly, say 70/30) out the right side.
Here's a muffler colonoscopy:
With the baffle: No baffle: I think I have three options:
1) Do nothing. It might have been this way for years. However, I'm worried about the imbalance of the cylinders because each side is behaving differently.
2) Remove the baffle so neither side has a baffle. At least then they would be equal and balanced. It's not too noisy on the side with no baffle, so there is some 'silencing' going on. I could try to hammer out the baffle or drill a large hole through it.
3) Buy stock mufflers and maybe pipes because it's all rusted together. New mufflers are around $700, half the original purchase price of the entire bike.
Mike Green
Riverside, RI
Recently, I was trying to adjust the idle by ear by listening to the exhaust notes from the rear of the bike. I noticed the right side had a stronger exhaust pressure. However, when I disconnected the plug from the right cylinder, the right muffler still had a stronger exhaust pressure.
On closer examination, I realized the left muffler has a baffle about a foot from the exit, but this baffle is missing from the right side. So the exhaust from both cylinders is always taking the path of least resistance and going (mostly, say 70/30) out the right side.
Here's a muffler colonoscopy:
With the baffle: No baffle: I think I have three options:
1) Do nothing. It might have been this way for years. However, I'm worried about the imbalance of the cylinders because each side is behaving differently.
2) Remove the baffle so neither side has a baffle. At least then they would be equal and balanced. It's not too noisy on the side with no baffle, so there is some 'silencing' going on. I could try to hammer out the baffle or drill a large hole through it.
3) Buy stock mufflers and maybe pipes because it's all rusted together. New mufflers are around $700, half the original purchase price of the entire bike.
Mike Green
Riverside, RI