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)
buell1.jpg
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-Ex...VVuRlu&vxp=mtr
Last edited by redwoodGardenbridges; 08-01-2016 at 05:57 PM.
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.
Last edited by TPEHAK; 07-31-2016 at 03:35 AM.
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
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
^^ This.
I would start checking the front muffler mount bushings and see if you are missing the bolt for that mount
Last edited by oh9bolt; 07-31-2016 at 04:23 AM.
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!
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.
Last edited by rchuff; 07-31-2016 at 09:58 AM.
^^^^ that is a great tool to have and not expensive to buy
Last edited by rchuff; 07-31-2016 at 10:40 AM.
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.Originally Posted by oh9bolt
Last edited by user_deleted; 07-31-2016 at 01:35 PM.
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