heard a lot of noise on the road today

[JonDredd]

I was out today and made a few stops around town. As I pulled away from my last stop, I noticed a bit of a "braaappp" noise along with the exhaust, that I had not heard before. It was not too loud, just a slight addition to the regular motor and exhaust sounds. It kinda went a way after a bit, and I went on my way, but after about 20 mins it came back, and by then I was on a higher speed road, and then it got louder and louder so I slowed down. I also noticed a "jingle" sound at that point, and I knew something was up. When I pulled over to inspect, I found that the front exhaust pipe was not fastened securely to the motor, and upon further inspection, it looks like one of the bolts was missing the nut... but the other bolt had been broken off completely, leaving the hardware hanging loose. The headers are pretty sturdy and in place, but clearly the seal is open on the front port.
I know this looks beyond my expertise to repair myself, but I thought I'd reach out here to see if anyone knows what it will take to repair, and if there is anyone near Maryland / Delaware (eastern shore) that may be able to help do the work? (The closest Harley shop that will work on a Buell is 3 hours drive from me)

 

[redwoodGardenbridges]

It looks like your stud broke off, you will need to use a tool to drill in the center off the stud and then use a easy out to remove it , If you arent good with these types of tools, take it to the shop or a friend help , you dont want to mess up your head $$$$

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jims-1705-E...ash=item4d35df3bad:g:Sv4AAOSwPcVVuRlu&vxp=mtr

 

[TPEHAK]

It looks like the fiberglass wrap on the pipes caused excessive heat and excessive thermal deformation of the pipes and as the result the stud has been broken. I would not use the headers wrap. By the way it looks like you need to replace the rubber boot on the clutch cable, water can go in the rubber boot through the rubber boot cracks and it will cause severe corrosion.

 

[JonDredd]

I forgot to mention, it is a 2009 XB9SX

I have not yet heard of pipe wrapping leading to any severe issues, and I thought the idea behind it was to help with moving the heat out through the pipe rather than radiating through the walls. I have had a few issues with fiberglass shredding and have replaced the wrap twice since I got the bike, so doing away with that aspect is a welcome situation for me, but the previous owner wrapped the pipes, and when I removed it, I noticed the wrap had left the pipes looking rough and speckled with a wrap imprint...(not too pretty) so I just re wrapped it. It looks much cleaner with the wrap, and I don't want to replace the pipes, but I also would like them to look better then they do without wrap. I guess I have to concentrate on getting it all working well first. If you know of any ideas to get the pipes in good condition, or a suitable coating (which I am doubtful) please let me know.

in the mean time, it looks like I will need to find someone to help me with this bolt stud replacement, and hopefully we can do it without having to break too much of the bike down

 

[Chicknstripn]

I would venture to say the header wrap has nothing to do with the stud breaking. It's more likely that it was not properly torqued rather than some sort of thermal expansion anomaly. A loose and rattling header flange is more likely to cause that breakage. Or somewhere else down the exhaust system something isn't mounted correctly and it caused an abnormal stress and the stud. Only reason I say this is due to that fact that I've had header wrap on my bike for as long as I can remember. ZERO ISSUES WITH HEADER HARDWARE.
BTW rotate the engine, remove the exhaust, then use a pair of vice grips to remove what's lefts of the stud.
Only if the stud breaks while attempting to remove it with vice grips would I start drilling.

Good luck

 

[oh9bolt]

^^ This.

I would start checking the front muffler mount bushings and see if you are missing the bolt for that mount

 

[ToneTheMoan]

Also it looks like the retaining snap ring that the clamp pushes on has worked loose and i believe that needs to be a tight fit on the header when you put it all back together!

 

[rchuff]

Like chicken said wrap had nothing to do with it. You probably lost one nut on the header do to vibration and it was just hanging by one stud. Then that one stud said goodbye do to vibration and the weight of the exhaust.Totally check for missing bolt under motor at the hanger for the muffler it might be missing to.

 

[rchuff]

^^^^ that is a great tool to have and not expensive to buy:up:

 

[user_deleted]

^^ This.

I would start checking the front muffler mount bushings and see if you are missing the bolt for that mount

what jesse said. these stock XB exhaust systems both complex and like no other in the world. they are tedious, challenging and tempermental to install CORRECTLY and achieve longevity. the operative word here being correctly. if it helps you out do the following as i'm in southern PA: get the stud repaired...remove the heat wrap....clean everything up....have header correctly and securely mounted to bike.....then bring it up to my shop. you should have stock muffler, muffler to header clamp, 3 band clamps, front and rear muffler mounts attached to motor case, lower cowling, 7 cowling torx screws. load it all up, bring it up here and i will correctly mount everything to the bike for you free of charge. again....operative word being correctly which entails front pulley cover removal....rear axle unloaded 21 turns, pinch bolt removal, belt tensioner removal, case fasteners checked and torqued.

 

[Cooter]

That's a generous offer^^^^^ I'd take him up on it and stock his beer fridge too

Buell248, I've been working on cars and bikes a very long time and never knew that awesome drill guide existed! Thanks for the heads up! (Pun alert!!!)

Time to go shopping....

 

[rchuff]

You would have to be a fool if you didn't take it to John. He is the man for sure. It don't get any better than that!

 

[JonDredd]

wow... thanks so much for the offer Lunatic! I will see if I can find a way to make that happen. I am south of Salisbury MD out on the shore, so getting to you will take some planning. How long do you think it might take to do?

Can someone tell me the correct threading on the bolt? and what replacement bolt I should look for?

 

[user_deleted]

wow... thanks so much for the offer Lunatic! I will see if I can find a way to make that happen. I am south of Salisbury MD out on the shore, so getting to you will take some planning. How long do you think it might take to do?

2 hours max for the job....2 more hours of BS'ing about buells and bikes.

 

[oh9bolt]

So I am guessing that bolt was missing?

The bolt size is a grade 8 5/16-18 x 2-1/4" socket head and get a nut that fits.

 

[JonDredd]

UPDATE... I found a guy to drill out the leftover bolt, and replace it. Luckily it was the front pipe, so we could get to it without much hassle. I got one day in to ride for a few hours, and parked it in my garage. When I went out this morning to get it out to ride in to work, I noticed a bit of the exhaust wrap was missing, and as I leaned down to inspect, I found this....

So I suspect that when the exhaust was re attached, it was "pulling" a bit on the pipe, and I guess this has probably been stressing that pipe for a long time, and may have even been the cause of the original bolt problem.

Anyone have an idea of a good place to start looking for new pipes?

 

[Chicknstripn]

You can find headers on eBay.
I honestly don't think you need them. Looks to me like you need to replace some worn out header wrap. That stuff doesn't last forever and gets quite brittle.
I would remove all the header wrap and inspect the headers. If you don't see any cracks, then the headers don't need to be replaced. After inspection you can either replace the wrap or clean the headers.

Personally, I think it would be more advantageous of you to take Lunatic up on his offer. Taking the time to have an expert look at your exhaust system, and insure everything is installed correctly, is better time and money spent on your bike than replacing a part you're not even sure is faulty.

 

[ToneTheMoan]

chickn totally agree with a visit to lunatic but look at the picture is that black line a crack? i could be wrong but looks like get headers then go see lunatic!

 

[Chicknstripn]

Looks to me like someone drew on the header wrap with a sharpie(marker).
I don't see any metal in that photo.

You wearing your trifocals Tone? Ha ha!
Post the picture you're inspecting Tone, it's obviously differs from the one I'm looking at?

 

[ryashon01]

Looks to me like someone drew on the header wrap with a sharpie(marker).
I don't see any metal in that photo.

You wearing your trifocals Tone? Ha ha!
Post the picture you're inspecting Tone, it's obviously differs from the one I'm looking at?

The headers are cracked, hard to tell if you are looking at it with a small screen, but you can see its not a mark or a blemish when you really take a look.