Exhaust downpipe removal

[OFD]

During the service completed during the winter, including a Valve clearance check so it now ticks over when starting up from cold like a good un. i

had a go at removing the Exhaust headers only to struggle with them.(Note freshly painted cam cover and Polished and painted wheels)

I tried levering them off and even resorted to hitting them trying to shock some movement into them but no luck. In the end 20mins with a 4" angle grinder was all it needed.


Earlier to taking the rather drastic action i had been reading through various posts it became clear that a set of Kawasaki Exhaust clamps could be persuaded to fit. Although the exact model of Kwak was not merntioned i had a look on the Bay and found a set of clamps from a GPZ1000RX so bought them thinking i could make them fit one way or another.

So after changing the studs to a set of 50mm stainless ones

i offered them up to find that they were almost perfect, a little persuading in my vice and Job Sorted.( I thought i had a completed photo but obviously not !)( Yep found it ! further down the post.)

The studs are now a bit long but i thought that in the event of finding a set of Large Bore downpipes i would leave the bolts long enought to fit. This have given me the opportunity to finally polish the downpipes as they should be.

So i have a set of exhaust Clamps that will fit a TRX so PM me if you are interested in having them for a £5 plus p&p. They will need a bit of bending to make fit but if i can do it, it can`t be hard !

[Kayla]

I had to break mine off too

[Tarwetijger]

I had some trouble with my downpipes too, but it's not always necessary to use a grinder!
http://trx850.motomaniac.net/forum/view ... 547#p48547

[OFD]

Hi Tarwetigger,
I researched on here how to remove them and read your post and even went and bought a lever the same as you had success with but after a week of soaking them in penetrating oil and wiggling them I still had no movement so more drastic action was required.

Here is a pic of the clamps fitted to the exhaust


It was only a trial fit but with the bike back roadworthy i could`nt resist a quick spin up the road, i could`nt even wait to fit the belly pan. The downpipes were polished clean before i went and they tarnished after only 20 or so miles. Its a good job we have plenty of time to clean them during the winter months !

So what i need is a good quality heat resistant paint / coating for the exhaust clamps. Does anyone have any recomendations, i have tried Hycote VHT paint but was not impressed.

So nearly finished. only the lights to sort out, a switch on its way from Ebay and after a good clean it should be ready for LeMans on the 17th April.

[Kayla]

BBQ paint for the exhaust clamps Oh, and that's not tarnishing on the pipes, it's hard work I think it looks good...

[Tarwetijger]

Hi Tarwetigger,
I researched on here how to remove them and read your post and even went and bought a lever the same as you had success with but after a week of soaking them in penetrating oil and wiggling them I still had no movement so more drastic action was required.

I see, well, better safe than sorry.

How did you polish the pipes exactly? It looks very nice!

[OFD]

I started off usig a Flap wheel in my drill.


Then some Emery cloth, its about 25mm wide and comes on a roll so just tear off as much as you need. I pinched this roll from my Dad`s shed ages ago and its still going strong.


Then finished them off with Autosol on some wire wool. I am very pleased how well they came up as they were in a real state.

Kayla, thanks for the paint tip. I`ll give it a try.