The short mufflers finally came in today. Here's a before and after (after is the top photo). I love the look of the bike without the long, upswept stock mufflers. It just seems so much cleaner and simple. And the sound is unbelievable. It thumps and womps and drums and pows and thwops with a deep, but crisp note ...I couldn't be happier.
I thought it would be a quick switch out, but man, everything that could be difficult, WAS. The clamps that kept the old mufflers on the headers were near impossible to remove. Old, rusted, stripped bolts would not give. It took a lot of sweat and about every tool I own to finally work them loose. Then my drill bits were too dull to make the holes in the new muffler mounts. So that took a long time. Then the bolts that hold the muffler on (that also go thru the rear foot pegs) were too long without the foot pegs, so I rigged up a skateboard truck bushing to both absorb some shock and space the gap, and it worked perfectly. All in all it was a sweaty, greasy time, but it ended very well. I also received the new throttle sleeve and white grips - ran out of time tonite, but they'll be in going on in the near future.
