Exhaust: Remove or replace?

Alright, this weekend I'm going to attempt a carb sync. Though I've also been told to check valve clearance, which i dont know how to do. Also been told to look at pilot jet screws, spark plugs, and to examine "black boot" between the motor and carb for missing caps or screws.

OK, the carbs are one thing (or several...) but my next issue is going to be the pipes. They are silent, especially when you're used to riding a 1200cc HD with a nice bang.

I've googled, youtubed, xjbike forum searched and everything in between and need some help/advice.
Can I simply remove the 4 into 2 pipes and leave the exhaust "naked" or is this going to ruin something?
Other options?

 

First off, welcome from WI.

Before you do the carb work, you really should check your valve clearances. If you don't you'll be chasing your tail if they're out of spec and you'll never get the sync right. Look for a thread in the FAQ section by Big Fitz on valve clearance...use the search button...should come right up.

You certainly "can" remove your pipes (many do), but you could open up a whole new can of worms. That is unless you enjoy fiddling around with jets and air/fuel mixture. These bike get excellent performance and fuel economy in stock condition (if well tuned)...the gains you'll get from opening up the pipes and/or adding pod air filters will be virtually unnoticeable. Add to that, there is no "book" on which jets/what length pipes will work best in your application...it's mostly trial & error.

My advise...get your bike dialed in to factory specs, then maybe change one thing at a time....if it improves performance..let's us all know/do a write up...if it doesn't...just put it back to original condition...

 

if you want to sync the carbs first, go ahead no big deal, but after you do the valves your going to have to tweak the sync again. the second time should take about five minutes.
when you say take the pipes off i hope you mean the mufflers.
they run better with some kind of mufflers (HD take-offs).
if you run it very long with straight pipes and stock jets your exhaust valves will hate you

 

Big thanks to everyone. Good advice is hard to find, and good FREE advice even harder. I'll start with the basics, valve clearance and carb sync. Then i'll consider messing with the pipes. I'll post pictures so you guys can see how a real novice handles things. Hopefully I will be on fire in zero pictures.

thanks again,

 

These are great bikes and a blast to ride, but very temperamental when it comes to tuning, carbs, modifications, etc. I've been cleaning, re-cleaning, adjusting, readjusting, valve setting, re-valve setting, syncing, re-syncing, colortuning, re-colortuning, etc, re-etc, --you get the picture. Why? --I assumed too much. Unless you just want to waste a lot of time, follow the instructions these guys give you and in the order they recommend and it will be a whole lot easier.

As temperamental as these bikes are, I'd stay stock and let the Harley's make the noise.

 

They're NOT "temperamental."

They ARE precision, high performance machines from a nearly bygone era.

All one needs do is to return them to a clean, properly maintained and tuned state, and they perform impeccably.

The problem is that about 95% of them were bought, thrashed, and then parked. Never maintained. Valve clearances? Why take it back to the dealer and pay for something I don't understand, the bike "runs fine." Then when it gets hard to start, or the battery dies, or the PO gets married, whatever--- it sits. For years.

Yamaha got them right to begin with; put them back to their original state, and they're reliable rockets that handle well and get good fuel economy.

Take shortcuts, skip over stuff, continue to ignore things that shouldn't be--- you'll have "problems." Repeatedly.

Try to out-engineer Yamaha? Good luck with that. (You're outnumbered, at least 1000 to 1.) Better to return it to a truly "stock" condition, and prepare to be amazed.

I was.

 

Now Fitz, I didn't mean to insult the XJ's by calling them temperamental. Precision is a better description for sure, but by temperamental I meant that they like to be well maintained and kept stock. I've always kept my bikes, cars, outboards, etc. completely stock, believing that the manufacturer was a hell of a lot smarter than I am and knew what it took to get the most out of them. Peace, brother, peace.