Last night I pulled the exhaust off the Rune. Fairly easy, straight forward job. The only really tricky part is pulling the exhaust out from under the bike after it has been removed. This CANNOT be done without lifting the bike. As we all know, lifts that work with the Rune are very scarce. I ended up using a floor jack and a long board.
My plan was to cut open the resonance chambers and remove all of the internals and then weld them back together. I'm a pretty decent welder for a lawyer, having grown up on a farm. I've been welding since I was about 10 years old. I am way out of practice though and the job looked like it could be tricky. So I decided to take the exhaust to a local welding shop and pay them to do it for me. I should have the exhaust back on the bike by the end of the week. I'll post my observations about sound and performance.
I know a few of you are greatly opposed to making any mods to the exhaust. Keep in mind that there are some of us who believe that sound is a part of the enjoyment of a bike. I also do not believe that the performance of the bike was optimized by the factory settings. I do not expect improvement from removing the internals of the mufflers, but do not believe that I am upsetting some delicate, perfect balance either. A few tenths of a second one way or another is something that will be completely un-noticeable from the seat.
I saw where a performance exhaust is in development. That's great. I wouldn't do anything that would compete with someone who is spending time and developing a new Rune product. I fully expect to buy one when/if it gets finished. In the meantime, I'll be testing out my short term solution to the Rune's less than impressive audible presence.
Dirk
My plan was to cut open the resonance chambers and remove all of the internals and then weld them back together. I'm a pretty decent welder for a lawyer, having grown up on a farm. I've been welding since I was about 10 years old. I am way out of practice though and the job looked like it could be tricky. So I decided to take the exhaust to a local welding shop and pay them to do it for me. I should have the exhaust back on the bike by the end of the week. I'll post my observations about sound and performance.
I know a few of you are greatly opposed to making any mods to the exhaust. Keep in mind that there are some of us who believe that sound is a part of the enjoyment of a bike. I also do not believe that the performance of the bike was optimized by the factory settings. I do not expect improvement from removing the internals of the mufflers, but do not believe that I am upsetting some delicate, perfect balance either. A few tenths of a second one way or another is something that will be completely un-noticeable from the seat.
I saw where a performance exhaust is in development. That's great. I wouldn't do anything that would compete with someone who is spending time and developing a new Rune product. I fully expect to buy one when/if it gets finished. In the meantime, I'll be testing out my short term solution to the Rune's less than impressive audible presence.
Dirk