gutting stock mufflers

[02 VFR Rider]

Hey guys. New owner on the block. So, the stage two mod looks great to me but a friend of mine said he thought that process would cause vibration then possible breakage to the exhaust. Anybody had or heard of any problems ? I don't have the money for an aftermarket set-up yet, but I don't really want my stock exhaust to fall apart. What do you think ?

no vibration what so ever and its a great mod the will not damage anything

[someguy]

I did the stage II (i guess) did not remove or cut the cans. did it on the bike.
very happy with the sound and very clean look. no vibration at all.

[bunghole]

Dumb question...bear with me...

How do I remove the end caps? Seems like I have to remove the heat shields to get to the screws to remove the caps. So the next question...how do I remove the heat shield. I removed the rear body assembly, but still can't see how the heat shields come off without removing the exhaust from the bike.

Thanks!

[02 VFR Rider]

Dumb question...bear with me...

How do I remove the end caps? Seems like I have to remove the heat shields to get to the screws to remove the caps. So the next question...how do I remove the heat shield. I removed the rear body assembly, but still can't see how the heat shields come off without removing the exhaust from the bike.

Thanks!

you can remove the plastic tail section and then remove the two bolts holding the mufflers ( one on each side ) on then you can move the exhust around to remove the heat shields w/o taking off the entire exhust.

[bakayara]

Has anyone done a gutting on a 4th Gen ('97)?

I'll probably end up putting a DELKEVIC on it eventually (tho there's a D&D on eBay, tho I'd prefer the look of a shorty) but the *only* thing that I don't care for is the super quiet nature on this bike... Love the gear cam whine, reminds me of the supercharger whine on the blown '69 surburban (with a caddy 472!) that I had in high school but I'd like a wee bit more noise for safety and a little soul...

[scotty v]

After listening to sound clips of every available exhaust for more than a week, I'm deciding to perform this. From listening to Hondawolf's clip, it sounds just as good if not better than some of the near $1k exhausts out there, IMO. I found a stock exhaust on ebay for $140 shipped. I'll gut the whole thing, have it welded and keep my exhaust just in case. $200 is far better than $750+

edit: Just found out that an oem exhaust is $903!!....good thing I found one. It's off of an 02 and looks mint.

[Hammerspur]

This thread seems devoted exclusively to latter Gen. models but if you're interested in 3rd & 4th Gen gut-work, see my post here:
http://vfrworld.com/forums/third-fou...nice-96-a.html

[Sarx]

Hi all. Does anyone maybe know what size hole saw to use to do the hole-saw/cut-off mod please?

[scotty v]

Hi all. Does anyone maybe know what size hole saw to use to do the hole-saw/cut-off mod please?

As stated in the thread, use a 25mm or 1 inch hole saw bit.

[scotty v]

Just got off the bike after the first ride with the fully gutted exhaust and I couldn't be happier. The bike sounds like an Italian sports car. It's loud, but not crazy....not as loud as my 600rr was with a slip-on. Go to hondawolf's post in this thread (post #24), click his link for the youtube vid and fast forward to around 1:26 and listen from there. That was my inspiration.

[oh whell]

ok i did the gutting of mufflers your way and holy shit they dont just slide out. around the end you have standing up has a copper mess tack welded to the end you have to tug and tug till it breaks or i just hammered the end back in to the muffler about 1/2 to and 1 inch back in which broke the gopper mess seal and then it was much easier to pull out .
the sound is just loud enough that you might break laws but a cheap fix for sound and in keeping with the original look.
i will weld them back up tomarrow
1. Total time to do this was 1.5 hours.
2. Tools
3. vise grips
4. saw zaw
5. two medal cutting blades
6. standard hammer
7. remember to cut not on but right behind the weld
8. know how to weld or someone who can weld it back together
Thanks to Molsan (i just needed the pics to confirm what i wanted to know)

[gotama]

Dude it wasn't that hard just remove the whole e haust get your self a 1 in hole saw , and a dremel withe a cut off wheel , after removing the exhaust hhole remove all the all the covers or end caps drill the hole , and dremmel out the rest cutting it back about 1 inch 2hr job at most

ok i did the gutting of mufflers your way and holy shit they dont just slide out. around the end you have standing up has a copper mess tack welded to the end you have to tug and tug till it breaks or i just hammered the end back in to the muffler about 1/2 to and 1 inch back in which broke the gopper mess seal and then it was much easier to pull out .
the sound is just loud enough that you might break laws but a cheap fix for sound and in keeping with the original look.
i will weld them back up tomarrow
1. Total time to do this was 1.5 hours.
2. Tools
3. vise grips
4. saw zaw
5. two medal cutting blades
6. standard hammer
7. remember to cut not on but right behind the weld
8. know how to weld or someone who can weld it back together
Thanks to Molsan (i just needed the pics to confirm what i wanted to know)

[oh whell]

i was quoting Sorry Powerslaves comment and pix on the first page
i just cut the backs off the stock exhaust and removed all baffles and rewelded it back up

Dude it wasn't that hard just remove the whole e haust get your self a 1 in hole saw , and a dremel withe a cut off wheel , after removing the exhaust hhole remove all the all the covers or end caps drill the hole , and dremmel out the rest cutting it back about 1 inch 2hr job at most

[Toto]

Just wondering if you have to have bike re-tuned after the exhast is gutted? Like if you take the muffler off a car it sounds louder but does not run as good without tunning it for the lack of back pressure! Just asking.

Thinking of doing it on my 07

[scotty v]

Just wondering if you have to have bike re-tuned after the exhast is gutted? Like if you take the muffler off a car it sounds louder but does not run as good without tunning it for the lack of back pressure! Just asking.

Thinking of doing it on my 07

No re-tune required. The only difference will be less back pressure, but not enough to ever have to worry about. Don't listen to some of the fools who tell that it changes compression, either. I did the full gut on my 07 RWB and could not be happier. I saved money while creating a sound that I love.

[AMDG]

This is an interesting thread that continues to grow. Read this late 2009 and did the exhaust mod on my 6thGen 07. Bottom line: it sounds awesome, better than any bike on the road. Seems to have more horsepower now on the high-end, only downside is slight drop in gas mileage.

I did the method of remove entire exhaust, cut off the end caps near the welds with a 22T hacksaw, pound and hammer out the baffles, re-weld, and test ride. Total time was about 2 hours (not counting visit to local welder), getting the baffles out is a real pain. Gotta hammer them in to break the small weld, then yank/wiggle them out. Recommend hacksaw for cutting off the endcaps, use new 22T blade. I used one new blade per pipe for the cutting. Make sure it is a nice, clean cut otherwise your welder will charge you extra.

Thanks to the VTEC, the bike is only now slightly louder at idle. But when you open throttle up above 4k and especially past VTEC, it is a joy to ride!

[engraym]

Thank you to all those who posted in this thread. Each method and audio/video clip helped me to decide how to approach my stock cans.

I decided to slice my end caps off to pull the whole assembly out so I could have more free place in tweaking the stock baffle system in order to achieve the ideal sound.

Basically I ended up with removing the packing, wire mesh, the first baffle that the exhaust runs into in each can. I sliced the flared tip of the first tube that went through the first baffle off and simply slid that off the tube.

I had the cans TIG'ed back on with stainless steel wire and they look stock.

The sound level increase is moderate, I didn't want to do a full gut because I wanted it to retain a slight muffle sound that you lose with essentially a straight pipe and wanted it to be fairly quiet at highway speeds but noticeable under acceleration.

The old CB750 in the background has no baffle in at all and it's a screamer. It's fun to take to shows or a spirited ride around the country but other than that it is just too damn loud and not a fun bike to have on any highway.

Here are the videos. As with any exhaust sound clip, it is nothing like the real thing, but it gives you a general idea.

Also in the walk around video, the rattle is from the lower exhaust heat shield which was not tightened properly. i had it removed for this whole process.

Enjoy!

YouTube - 2003 Honda VFR 800 OEM/Stock Partially Gutted Exhaust

YouTube - VFR 800 vtec gutted exhaust