M50 fiberglass rebaffle for low $$$ (merged)

[05HDRAM]

Option #1 is what I used to wrap my baffles. It will work, you just need to use safety wire or packing tape to keep it in place. #2 would be much easier, I just didn't feel like waiting.

[dispatchbob]

I did the fibrosleeve on mine over the weekend but made the decision to drill a small hole in the bottom of the mufflers, ran a #6 threaded screw up the middle to the inside top of the mufflers to secure the baffles from flying out unexpectedly. Sprayed a bit of flat black paint inside and this is unnoticeable (unless you get on the ground looking for it). Located some fiberglass packing on Ebay in a 10 x 38 inch roll that was 1/4" thick. I doubled it around the screen and slid it in place - no problem. The bike sounds much, much, nicer now. deeper but not ratty sounding anymore. I am going to (probably) get a couple of pieces of copper pipe and drill as many holes in it as possible and wrap it with new glass once these do burn out. Won't be concerned about the spring tension keeping the baffles in place and will be a rapid replacement from now on. Sorry for rambling along but really happy with the results!

[diamond_jim]

I've had the best success with the Moose brand fiberglass. There are other companies that make the same stuff and just as good. If you're not sure what to get, look for Moose.

[old new biker]

Two extra FibroSleeve steps that I have found to be very helpful:

1) I had trouble with the entire fibrosleeves blowing out of the pipes until I saw this idea in a another thread, and tried it.

Cut a piece of coat hanger or similar wire about a foot long. Bend a 3/4" hook on one end and leave it sort of open so that it will not quite clear the opening in Mickey's ear. Shove this hook into one of Mickey's ears till it springs into place, and pull in back tight against the Mickey plate. Install the fibrosleeve, keeping the wire completely outboard of the packing, and against the inner wall of the exhaust pipe. Cut the wire so that you have approx. 2" beyond the end of the mesh, and then bend the excess over around the fibrosleeve. This will keep the mesh in place so that it can not blow out of the pipe.

2) I, then, had trouble with the packing blowing out from between the mesh and the pipe until I did this:

Instead of cutting the mesh 6" wide, cut it 6 1/2" wide, and bend an approx. 3/8" flange along one edge so that, when rolled up, it makes an outer flange at the rear end that, when inserted into the pipe, will hold the packing in place.

Summery: The flange, holding the packing in place, and the wire holding the mesh in place secures this whole assembly very well. When you need to remove the fibrosleeve just bend the wire back, and slide the mesh out. If you need to remove the wire, just grab it with a with a vise grip and just yank it out. You can not heart the Mickey plate by doing this.

[NoRegrets78]

Deleted, decided to go back to stock pipes...found a set cheap.

[squale]

any better fibrosleeves from the original instructions on page 1? My fibrosleeves blew out on me after one year following the instructions on page 1..

[Quantumcat]

If you are thinking of doing fibrosleeves and haven't thought of it yet, I suggest using a 10-14" length x 12" wide section of very thin gage sheetmetal as a compression sleeve to ease insertion of the fibrosleeve. This was for 6" fibrosleeves in debaffled stock pipes. You'll want something longer for a debaffled & de-mickey'd pipe.

I wrapped a section into a small tube and inserted it into the debaffled muffler prior to inserting the fibrosleeve. I inserted it until about an inch or two of the "mickey" plate. Expand it until it matches the inside diameter of the muffler and twist the end sticking out a little bit to create a very slight cone.

I then wrap the packing around a compressed sleeve cage and slide it into the end of the "compression sleeve". The fibrosleeve should slide smoothly down the compression sleeve while gently twisting the fibrosleeve (twist in a direction so that the packing doesn't catch/grab on the inner overlap of the compression sleeve). You can always grab the free-end of the compression sleeve and give it a twist to help compress the packing. Once the fibrosleeve is well into the muffler, use a 2-3/4" PVC pipe to keep the fibrosleeve seated at the bottom, I ease out the compression sleeve. Alternating between a pull out on the compression sleeve and a seating tap with the PVC pipe, the compression sleeve will be removed while leaving the fibrosleeve fully seated in the debaffled muffler.

[crides420]

Hello all,

Thank you for all the information in this thread, I am interested to try the Fibrosleeve out! I have just a quick question and I hope someone can help. I own a 2003 Vulcan 800 and have debaffled recently and although it sounds great, I am thinking if I can tame it just a bit I might like it even more. However, I have been looking everywhere online to see if anyone had pointers for a Kawasaki and can not find any information. Has anyone here seen/done the Fibrosleeve on a Kawasaki? If so, any suggestions or changes that I need to be aware of?

Thank you in advance!
Matt

[fargoben67]

i would assume it would be the same process. it cant be that different. but then again... im not a mechanic.