I put a set of Hardly pipes on my CX. Used the one from a Sportster that a buddy of mine gave to me for free. They are louder than the stock pipes, but not overly loud. I had tried various things to get the holes in my stock mufflers covered to pass inspection. Foil furnace tape along with some wire was good enough to pass-the fix "blew" apart just as I was leaving the inspection station! But she got passed for her to get licensed! The welded fix may not be working, but possibly brazing some thin sheet metal over the holes and painting/powder coating may be the trick. Got any close up pics of the damage for us to look at?
http://www.jcwhitney.com/chrome-pla...468.jcwx?skuId=144195&filterid=d2468y1980u0j3 http://www.jcwhitney.com/chrome-plated-replacement-mufflers/p2006468.jcwx?filterid=d2468y1980u0j3
RagBrian - I will try to get some pictures tonight. I have bought some Harley pipes but have not fitted them. They are long and I don't know if they fit the sl350 without special adapters since straight pipes come out right where my brake pedal and kick starter go. The JCW pipes are loud. I don't want loud or I would have bought these long ago. How I use my sl350 offroad, I prefer quiet. All this has been on hold anyways since I bought another sl350 and have put priority on its rebuild. Since I do not trust mine without a new cam chain tensioner, I am learning on the new (to me) sl350. Right now, that overhaul is delayed while I attempt to get a seized piston out of the cylinder. The head is off, and the cylinder is full of MMO. The overhaul SL350 also has pipe problems and yesterday I gave up trying to get the mufflers off the header pipe and finally just hacksawed them at the joint, provably losing an inch of header. For the guys who want to patch the old pipes, they are full of rust and I can't imagine how much better the sl350 will run with something newer.
Put the sporty pipes on,go get the inspection,and then switch the pipes back. I grew up in Dallas,ask around,somebody you know will have a "friend" who does inspections that everything passes
One other thing that enters into the discussion is that I need a spark arrestor. Other old black muffler has that stamped into the muffler. Where I ride in the National Forests and Grasslands, an arrestor is required. Do any of the aftermarket muffler have an approval stamp?
Here is the pipe that started the thread. It is still on the bike and I have ridden it but not nearly as much as I would if this was fixed and registered. You can see where it was braised and how it passed one inspection in 2009. What you don't see it rust rattling around inside. Since my post I have bought several other SL350s. Here is one with cb350 pipes which I think are going to get knocked off with any kind of off pavement riding. Then there is the SL350 where I cut the mufflers off. And take a look at how the pipes are "up swept". Unrelated to the pipe problems is the work going on two of the sl350s: Seized piston SL350. and from the cut pipes SL350 is a points plate and advancer totally corroded and ruined. Does anyone think these 4 screws holding the timing box are coming off without a fight? So I have my hands (and garage) full, I just want to ride. I am going to have to get these to a point that they suffer no more damage and then just do one at a time. I really want to unstick that piston cause I took all those parts off that engine and as time goes by I lose both my memory and parts.
Stock pipe is 1-1/4". Buff Harsh at Todd Henning Racing ported the head & bored the stock 325cc jug to 362cc. With the addition of a megacycle TT grind cam, high compression pistons, and valve work, she's now running 34mm Mikunis and 1-1/2" pipe. Buff provided the headers and the local Midas shop bent the upturns for $20. Muffs are Supertrapp resonators, which are also certified spark arrestors, and sound snappy. Bracket is ho-made from hardware store parts. The electronic ignition came from Bore-Tech, and is a really well-made unit. I've been very happy with it.
When I had mine, the local dealer found some cheap chrome jobbies to fit. They were loud as hell but looked better than the stockers. The only problem was that the little shaker used to break the mounts of all the time. I say put what ever you can on to get riding.
That welding is wayyyy beyond my skills. I remember the thread when you were building that sl350, I like the luggage rack, panniers bracket you welded. Not having that skill, I chose to use a tankbag or an old generic sissy bar (or both). But I would much rather have the weight down low.
I remember those rusting out when the bikes were still current.. Let's see some images of the cancer. A talented sheet metal guy can fabricate some patches for the entire underside and weld them on with fairly decent looking results.
FYI - I am running EMGO shorties and just hate the noise. But it is legal, they were easy to install and very light weight. I will continue to look for alternatives.
I got mine from here: http://www.dropbears.com/o/overlander/exhausts.htm They fit nice and look very original. YES they are pricey!
Update - I got rid of the shorties awhile back. I tried welding spacers on the back to quiet them but it was still so loud every neighbor would just give me the look as I rode by. For about 2+ years I have been running CB pipes. I painted them black and they look ok. Quieter. Problem is that a flat tire means removing to pipe to clear the axle. It also has no way of stopping the kickstand when riding and I noticed recently the stand foot has worn on the swingarm. But I am on the road and have put several thousand miles on the old beast riding 60+ and some class II trails.
