Repacking Your Can, Exhaust, Silencer or Muffler.

Shut it! I can't...

Before I start, I love quiet pipes, and wish I had the standard can for the R1. Better for my ears and attracts a lot less attention when you're bouncing off the limiter. The Bandit has quite a nice deep tone with its db killer in, but the R1 was a little more raucous. Time to repack it.

With a little research done, I've been hearing good things about Acousta-fil fibreglass packing. Not cheap, but worth it if it lasts a few years.

Here's the Australian-made Screaming Demon can that was fitted to the bike when I bought it. A little long by modern standards, and takes me back to the Hindle pipes of the nineties. It's good quality, but I want rid of the main badge and will rotate the can so the small maker's badge at the bottom is hidden around the back.

With rivets drilled out, a block of wood up through the centre was used to knock the end off. Then it was time to clean up all the bits.

The old packing was well-worn, as expected, but not the worst I've seen. I decided to shorten the can while I was at it to get rid of the holes from the badge and make it look a little more modern. This, I guess, will make it louder. But, with new packing...

The end cap has a few marks and scratches over it. A good cleanup helped, then rubbing the face down on wet & dry, and finally a spin up on the lathe to sharpen the outer edge.

A little pedantic, considering you can't see it on the bike, but why the hell not?

A good cleanup of the sleeve, and then I masked up the area I wanted to cut and shorten it as needed. I used a hacksaw, and it went really well.

With new holes drilled to suit the 316 Grade Stainless rivets (4.8mm dia/6.4mm grip), and a quick polish, the sleeve was looking like new. Notice the baffle tube will be a fair bit shorter due to the other insert not having holes drilled in it. I added my own holes where the tube slides over. You can see the cut-off sections with green masking tape in the pic.

Black sealant was applied to the end cap before fitting into the sleeve to ensure no leaks. I also drilled a small drain hole next to the badge for moisture to escape. This is normal on standard cans, not so sure about aftermarket pipes.

The Acousta-fil packing wrapped around the baffle tube. There was a fine stainless mesh that went around the baffle tube first to protect the fibreglass. This stuff looks too good to use in a dirty old pipe!

So pleased with how it looks now! Perfect length, up against what it used to look like. 

With my eBay-bought Yoshimura badge stuck in place, I'm happy with how it turned out. Sounds pretty good too. 

Turn it up loud, she sounds great!