Guest Titan800 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 My quest began when I was shuffling through the DIY threads looking for topics on ripping the baffles out of the stock exhaust. The process seemed straight forward enough. Cut the caps off, rip the baffles out. Everything was great till the welding part and the sound perhaps being a little too raspy. UNTIL! I found this thread. http://www.vfrdiscus...th-gen-exhaust/ Now this I could do and the sound I heard was incredible. Lets be real for a second. You buy exhaust for the 5-10hp gain(pft whatever, the bike is fast enough), but the real reason, the 99% of us, is the change in tune. V4s make for the best sound engines. The sewing machine had to go. At what cost though? $1100 for Staintunes? Hell no. How about $26 for the same sound. The 2nd part of my project was blacking out the heat shields. The color combo on my bike over the past year or so has been going red/black. The wheels are going black later this year. Lets begin with the paint. Shields and exhaust removed. Simple enough. No need to explain the process. I used 80 grit sandpaper to rough up the chrome. I know I know people will say that I should have sandblasted. I have painted on chrome before though and have had it looking great for years. No problems. I primed, painted, and cleared the pieces over 5 days. 1 coat primer, 3 coats black, 4 coats clear. The paint was Rustoleum 500 degree Black. They make the primer and clear also. The 2000 degree seemed like overkill. Plus its $4 more. I wasn't comfortable cooking the pieces in the oven which food gets cooked in. SO, I made my own. Just a cardboard box lined with tin foil to bake in the FL sun. Temps ranged from 205-220. The damn shields only get around 180-200 after a long ride. Used my trusty temp reader I use on my nitro R/C truck. Phase 2: Exhaust mod. This is the same mod as linked above. However I will share some tips and tricks I used to complete the process. Exhaust off and on the bench. End caps taken off. I used a 1 3/8" hole saw. Its a perfect fit around the exhaust tip and a perfect guide to keep the drill from walking. If you use a 1 1/4" hole saw, it wont fit around the tip(I know, I had to make a return trip to Home Depot). I then Sawzalled the tips off. Now here is the most dreadful part. Cutting from the inside out of the pipes, burning through countless cutoff wheels. But I come bearing a time saving tip. The only pipe that has to be cut using the Dremel is the lower pipe. I burned through about 16 wheels for the 2 pipes. Once the lower pipe has been cut and pulled out. Grab the damn SawzAll, jam it up there with a metal cutting blade and have at it. Zips it off in 10 seconds. Bam, done. One side finished. One to go. Finished. Total time including run back to Home Depot. 1.5 hrs. Total cost was $26. Tools used: Sawzall with Bi-Metal blade + Used about 5-6. They burn up real quick 1 3/8" Bi-Metal hole saw + Just needed 1 Dremel + Dont need the Dremel extension if you cut the tips off after you punch the holes Dremel 420 Cutoff Wheel + Bought 2 packs of 20. Just used 1 pack though because the Sawzall saved so much time 1 friend with the tools :) + You need another set of hands if you go the Sawzall route. Trust me. Also, I couldn't imagine doing this on the bike. VFR! ASSEMBLE! When I fired it up I had the biggest shit eating grin on my face. I couldn't contain the excitement. Just leaned up against the bench for 5 min and listened. I just finished the assembly 2 hrs ago and was hoping to go for a quick ride. But you know, the one day of the week it wants to rain all day, it decides to do so. Nothing fancy in this video at all. Just some casual riding to give anyone who's interested in the sound a taste. I have to be on my best behavior. I hit the streets as a LEO in May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dallasb Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Looks great! I have done the same with mine, just flat black! I like it when the end caps match as well, paint them black! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VietHorse Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Looks great. I prefer all (exhausts) black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smackdoogle Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Very nice!!! I did the same thing when I had my '02 and loved it. I regret selling that bike ever since and if my ankle heals up well and I can ride that will be the bike I have in my garage. I powder coated my heat shields though. I'm to impatient and I know the job I'd do with paint wouldn't be up to the extra $50 spent for powder coating and getting it done right. Yours looks awesome though. Very nice. (yes, I know the rear tire was on backwards, it got fixed) By smackdoogle at 2010-01-07 By smackdoogle at 2010-01-07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Looks great! I have done the same with mine, just flat black! I like it when the end caps match as well, paint them black! Thanks! Yeah I know I should paint them black. My concern is since the exhaust will now be blowing on the end caps directly, the paint might not hold up. I thought about it for a few days though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Very nice!!! I did the same thing when I had my '02 and loved it. I regret selling that bike ever since and if my ankle heals up well and I can ride that will be the bike I have in my garage. I powder coated my heat shields though. I'm to impatient and I know the job I'd do with paint wouldn't be up to the extra $50 spent for powder coating and getting it done right. Yours looks awesome though. Very nice. (yes, I know the rear tire was on backwards, it got fixed) By smackdoogle at 2010-01-07 By smackdoogle at 2010-01-07 Very nice! I like the matte black powder coat. I thought about not putting a clear on mine but it was too rough and scratched easily. There was no turning back once I started or else I would have dropped them off to be powder coated. Also, let's hear the story about that tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smackdoogle Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Very nice!!! I did the same thing when I had my '02 and loved it. I regret selling that bike ever since and if my ankle heals up well and I can ride that will be the bike I have in my garage. I powder coated my heat shields though. I'm to impatient and I know the job I'd do with paint wouldn't be up to the extra $50 spent for powder coating and getting it done right. Yours looks awesome though. Very nice. (yes, I know the rear tire was on backwards, it got fixed) By smackdoogle at 2010-01-07 By smackdoogle at 2010-01-07 Very nice! I like the matte black powder coat. I thought about not putting a clear on mine but it was too rough and scratched easily. There was no turning back once I started or else I would have dropped them off to be powder coated. Also, let's hear the story about that tire. Ha!!!! Well, I found the bike for sale near Albany, NY and I was in Boston at the time. It was a great price at the time ($4100 w/ 4500 miles on it). I called the seller around 9 am and he said it was ready to ride home so I convinced the wife to drive me out there and follow her home on it. I left Boston at 10 am and got there around 2 pm. The bike looked great but the owner (younger guy) was bragging about his riding skills and how he had no chicken strips on the tires. I asked about the tire then and he said they put it on like that so it'll grip better!!!!!! The title was clean though so I traded him the cash for the bike. About 5 miles down the road I also found out why there were no chicken strips........ about 20 psi in each tire Anyway, air in the tires it was a good ride home. I took it all apart once home and did the exhaust and fluids, etc. etc. and then it started snowing and such as that happens in New England in winter. Soon after that pic I had the tire turned right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Ha!!!! Well, I found the bike for sale near Albany, NY and I was in Boston at the time. It was a great price at the time ($4100 w/ 4500 miles on it). I called the seller around 9 am and he said it was ready to ride home so I convinced the wife to drive me out there and follow her home on it. I left Boston at 10 am and got there around 2 pm. The bike looked great but the owner (younger guy) was bragging about his riding skills and how he had no chicken strips on the tires. I asked about the tire then and he said they put it on like that so it'll grip better!!!!!! The title was clean though so I traded him the cash for the bike. About 5 miles down the road I also found out why there were no chicken strips........ about 20 psi in each tire Anyway, air in the tires it was a good ride home. I took it all apart once home and did the exhaust and fluids, etc. etc. and then it started snowing and such as that happens in New England in winter. Soon after that pic I had the tire turned right. Haha, nice. Better grip, that's a new one. I get the low air pressure for doing stunts, but putting a tire on backwards. Yeeeeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Thanks! Yeah I know I should paint them black. My concern is since the exhaust will now be blowing on the end caps directly, the paint might not hold up. I thought about it for a few days though. I painted my end caps black and they have held up for about 1000 or so miles so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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