'85 XJ700 Exhaust - Oh, this is great...

Hello all! An interesting thing happened today, and it's not the "fun" kind of interesting.



Yes, if you noticed that I am missing one of my exhaust header pipes, you are correct! Why is it missing? Oh, because it decided to just fall off at a stoplight. I had just finished putting about 150 lovely miles on the bike, and it happened right down the street from my house. Pretty lucky! Uhh... I think.


Here you can see right where it cracked and just snapped off. I honestly don't recall there being a crack there from last season. Maybe one was forming on the other side, and I just never noticed it?


Here's the underside.


Here's how I found the header pipe. I think I may have run over it or something as I was coming to a stop, since the top end is all bent out of shape.


So now I have a problem. My exhaust is clearly in terrible shape, and I'm down a header pipe. I was hoping to be much further into the season before I would need to address any exhaust issues. I've looked online at different options over the off-season, and it always seems basically the same - buy some old, rusted exhaust system on ebay for around 100 bucks, or spend $350 - $450 on a brand new aftermarket option. Here are some examples:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-Yamaha...-85-/321715789179?hash=item4ae7c15d7b&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-86-YAMAH...?fits=Model:XJ700&hash=item41931342e9&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-XJ70...?fits=Model:XJ700&hash=item2335858796&vxp=mtr

The entirety of of exhaust system is pretty bad. I couldn't upload the pictures because of the 5 image limit, but it's absolutely crusted with rust, and the megaphone on my left side isn't even connected to the manifold, haha. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? Definitely want to figure out a solution as quickly as possible. Gotta ride!

 

Another option could be to buy a parts bike that has good pipes and part out the rest. You'd get a reasonably quick turn around on the repair, and might even turn a profit. Of course the profit part could drag out.

 

Yet another option (that is expensive up front, but will pay dividends later) is to order sme pre-bent pipe, some scrap, and a welder. Start learning on the scrap and make your own set of headers once you can consistantly lay down a good bead with full penetration. It won't be as pretty as the fancy double-walled stuff that came from Yamaha, but it will be your work.

 

Thanks man, this is definitely an intriguing idea. I'll add whole XJ700s to my search just in case I find a good deal on a parts bike.

Dude, I would love to learn how to weld, and you're right - having that skill would open up a whole way to improve and better the bike, which is my ultimate goal. My boss actually has a flux welder that I could use too. The only downside to this idea is the downtime I would have between now and the point where I produce an actual functional header lol. I'm super bummed thinking that I'll be out of the game for a few days, let alone weeks

 

Ok, so I'm thinking about just buying an individual header pipe for like 30 bucks shipped. But then I realized that I most likely won't be able to mount the bottom part of the header into the exhaust chamber. The red lines below indicate where the breakage occurred.



My question then is, if I just buy a "new" header pipe, but am unable to mount it to the exhaust chamber, am I doomed to have this problem repeat itself? Will the engine vibrations cause the new header pipe to weaken where it joins the engine case?

 

Your collector is missing the clamp that holds the header, as well as some of the length of the pipe the clamp is a part of. You'll need a used collector, or if you have the broken off bit you can have a shop fix yours. Short of an aftermarket exhaust, or fabricating one, you are better off finding a good-used replacement.

 

Is that how it came to be in the first place? Either way, looks like you need a new H manifold and a new header pipe. If yours is rusted anything like mine was (which I think yours is probably worse) then you're going to have a bolt-shearing good time getting the other headers out of the H.

The other possibility I didn't mention due to project length is you could do what I did and hand-sand a not great but not bad set of pipes to get the rust off as best you can, then paint them with heat resistant paint. I also welded on different mufflers and then wrapped mine with exhaust wrap to hide my welding sins. I've since taken a two month welding class and wish I knew then what I know now.

 

here's another option......check with member, hogfiddles.....he's only about 20 minutes away from you it wouldn't suprise me if he has something for you. I'm sure if you ask him, I'd be........I mean-- HE'D be willing to go out even at this late hour and see what he has....even if it's something just get get you riding for temporary so you have time to look......

Dave F

 

Btw, looks like #3 is gonna break off shortly too

 

Hah! Dave you're the best lol. Yeah man I'd of course be interested in anything that gets me back on my feet-- I mean wheels. Let me know if anything presents itself! Even if it's just a band-aid that lets me ride while I'm waiting for the cure to arrive in the mail!

 

I have a fairly decent set of pipes....., a nearly mint collector box (one tiny ding in the chrome, NO rust and it's still the factory black paint), a complete set of no-name headpipes and collector in gorgeous shape if it could fit (still trying to figure that one out), and a real good set on a parts bike (that I was saving for a project but we'll see if you talk me out of it....)

Give me a call sometime tomorrow....maybe you can come down on the weekend and look at the stuff.

Now, I should ask.....considering the condition of your pipes and your collector, what is the condition of your mufflers? I have some too.............

 

I bet you're right, BaldWonder. After looking number three down at the collector, it looks like the same thing would probably happen to that pipe too. Especially since I never noticed cracking at the engine side of the header. Also, I checked out the exhaust wrap on your bike the other day, looks cool to me! The whole bike looks cool, lot of character to that one.

 

Hey, thanks for goin out and checkin on that for me Dave! I'll definitely get ahold of you tomorrow about them.

Haha oh man. Let's just say one of them works, and the other is, uh... a decoration.

And yes, those are in fact tiny dots of light shining through the... cough... joint...

 

Well, there reality is that your bike is probably more in need of stuff than my project that still has an engine torn apart.....so let's get together this weekend and see what we can do to get your's back into shape.....and probably better than when you got it.....

dave

 

Dave, you're my hero. This is exactly what the XJ community is about. I wish I was in Utica!

 

Right on! I'm definitely down.

 

Ready and waiting, Elliott--

 

Not too shabby. Nice work, Hogs.

 

Nice to have your own personal "salvage yard".... Lol

Ya know..... The wife just doesn't get it----- hahaha

 

They never do.

 

Dave, force her to read this thread. She'll feel all warm and tingly inside. She'll know what her man is all about, and Brownie Points galore for Dave!

 

No.... She'll find out I have even more bikes

 

haha!! well, can't wait to get those trophy pipes on my bike. what a relief it will be! maybe i'll donate my old pipes to science...

 

So I saturated each bolt at the flange nuts with PB Blaster, waited a few minutes, and then carefully tested the waters with a 10mm box wrench. Worked like a charm! All eight of em are loosened and ready to come out tomorrow. I even sprayed a little bit more on em afterward just for good measure!

 

Them thar' pipes shure do have a purty mouth(es)..................

 

queue the banjo music...

FU

 

The bike just got back from the doctor's. Here's a shot of it right before I unloaded it back into my driveway out of the...ambulance? I'll need to get more photos up later on this weekend. I absolutely love my new exhaust system. Brought the bike down to Dave's and we dropped the old exhaust (which was basically just a lovely, rust eaten decoration by this point) and we bolted on the new one. Start to finish couldn't have been more than 30-45 minutes. It certainly didn't seem very long.
The only "downside" to my new exhaust system is that I won't be turning as many heads as I ride by pedestrians. Although, come to think of it, I'm not sure if those were double-takes of admiration, or unintentional flinching caused by severe auditory pain... In any case, the bike sounds incredible! The only people more thankful than I am, most certainly, will have to be my neighbors. I'll be sure to tell them to direct their thanks to Dave Fox, who truly kicks ass, and got me back riding in only three days!

 

Yeah, Elliott came down late yesterday afternoon, and we dropped his old exhaust system. Well let me tell you......It's a good thing we did, cuz it came off in pieces. First, the stub of his broken pipe, then before we got pipe 3 totally disconnected, pipe 1 fell off with the connection at the bottom. Then pipe three came off....with the extension that sticks a about 3 inches into the collector. One pipe has a hairline crack around the top, the other is actually separated at the top. pipe 4 is still connected to the collector, but is rusted through at the bottom. So, at this point, Elliott had 4 decent exhaust collars and 8 flange nuts that were still good. The muffler mounts and the engine mounts bolts all came right out nicely. The collector box is totally shot, one muffler was broken, the other has rust holes through the back side.

A few minutes later, the replacement system is on with a shiny solid collector box, 4 beautiful pipes, and a couple of solid mufflers (yeah, a few dings and scrapes, but from a few feet away they don't look too bad. BUT a couple INCHES away, and the bike just purrrs.

Also, all the roughness is gone from the idle again. Purrs nice and smooth. You should have seen his face.....Elliott asked "will it run any different? Cuz the carbs are WAAY out of sync......" I said, it's probably the very uneven exhaust affecting that .....1 pipe connected, two broken, one missing, one disconnected muffler.........

He said, "what do I do about that?" To which I replied, 'START IT UP AND LISTEN TO IT". LOL

Started right up and sat there purring quietly. His response----- "OH, MAN!!!!"

Gotta love it......

So, Elliott is now on the way to restoring his bike, and it will be loved. I can tell.

Dave Fox

 

Sounds like a hilarious a hilarious afternoon. Bet Elliott was surprised by the amount of deterioration down there. Wish I could have seen his face when you guys got it started up.

 

I haven't heard from him all day… He's probably out riding!

 

Right you are! I went out quite a bit since. I would have gone out today if it wasn't so wet and miserable lol. Still can't get over the sound of the bike. Anyone who's heard it recently are blown away, too.

I went ahead and re-checked all the connections once I had put a few miles on it and let the system get hot. Most of the bolts were nice and tight but a couple wanted a be a bit more snug. The connections between the headers and the collector also wanted tightening as well. And as far as the way the mufflers look - hey, THEY WORK!

 

Working > then looks. Down the road a peice you can have them ceramic coated if you want pretty.