Hey Guys,

I just took off my short shots off to wrap them and to install some baffles due to the neighbors. I am wrapping them without the heat shields on. I know the risks involved with wrapping and am going to do it anyway.

Problem is, I want to wrap them beginning all the way at the tips right where the baffle bolt is. I want to be able to switch out the baffles after they are wrapped since I got a few different options to test out (the quiet and super quiet baffles).

Do any of you know how to secure the wrap around the tip and still have the bolt accessible or is going over the bolt the only option and then have the baffle permanently installed? I can't test the baffles before wrapping, because of a few reasons I'll spare you the details on.

Thanks for any advice,
~ Blaque

 

Wrap them without the bolt then trim around the hole with an exacto knife?

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Yeah, I was thinking about doing that, but there isn't enough room to not go over the top of it. I also have a heavy duty hose clamp that doesn't have enough room to sit next to it.

 

Doesn't help your current situation but just wanted to say going with the vance and hines quiet baffles for my short shots was the best idea I could have done with that exhaust. Sounds 100% better!

 

Removed the bolt. Wrap the pipes. Take a fill and drill smaller through the bolt hole. Then screw the bolt in.

 

It sounds to me like you're choosing to start at the tips on purpose because that's what you want, but just in case it didn't occur to you yet: did you consider wrapping just the header and not the mufflers? This seems like a personal preference and style thing since I've seen it done both ways. I prefer how it looks with the mufflers unwrapped because wrapping the mufflers seems non-functional to me, but I don't know this for sure yet.



Like this doesn't look bad necessarily, but I don't think it looks as good as doing it like this:




If your goal is to black out the chrome then this won't work, which I suspect is why you're wanting to start at the tips. In that case I think you could work around the screw by folding a short bit of the wrap under itself (along the edge) and then using that as a window in the wrap for the screw. It would take some trial and error to get it to look nice by doing the fold and going backwards a bit with the next turn. The instructional video for DEI goes into this a bit: . I worked around the front O2 sensor bung on mine and it looks alright to me. That screw looks like it will point downwards and inboard as well so that will help.

I do not recommend cutting into the wrap at all because it will unravel immediately and look terrible. Even the cut on the end can get out of hand as you manipulate the initial folds to make your first turn. I recommend the DEI wrap because it looks nice and doesn't need to go on wet. Not having to wet this type of wrap really made it nicer to work with. I also recommend getting as well since it really helps get the bands tight. Apparently you can also use a CV boot clamp style band and you can modify another tool to do the job. It didn't really seem like it would do a nice job if you had any odd angles or tight bends so I got the tool instead.

I would also recommend the following for when you go to do the wrapping part. Take the pipes off the bike, and clamp one end somehow. I made a wooden vice for forks a while ago that worked real well. If you can avoid it, don't do it on any sort of time pressure. It seems like a quick job, but if you want to make it nice you'll have to redo parts of it and take your time, and it's not really the sort of thing you can rush and have it look nice. If you want the spacing to be even, use some sort of little marker stick to get the wraps spaced evenly. Any type of flaw in this sort of even, repeating pattern is very noticable to the eye. You won't necessarily notice it consciously but it will sort of read as messy and flawed aesthetically. If details matter to you, I recommend not having any time pressure on it at all.

You can see what I did in this thread about other stuff. That's and I ran out of material even though I though I was accounting for extra in my estimate. Pipe is a Kerker Supermeg, the Lowbrow customs version.

 

I think you should change the title of this thread..it’s very misleading...1st there is no problem..wrapping the pipes is a choice not a problem encountered by others, 2nd it’s not an installation problem either....again it’s your choice to wrap them all the way....

personnally I wouldn’t start so far back, I would start just behind or in front depending on which way your wrapping the pipe, leaving the hole open so you can access it for your baffle swap...

 

Thanks to everyone except Crusader. I really appreciate the advice.