Okay, here's an update of my baffle replacement "experience" with my Rinehart TD's:

I've got the newer style Rineharts (in case you wonder what you've got, the new ones have three screws holding the end cap on -- the old ones only have two). I damn near beat the end cap to death until I realized there was another screw on the bottom!

Jim Rego with Bub was a BIG help in getting me info that I needed to replace my stock baffles with Quiet baffles, including how to wrap them to make them a little quieter. Here's what Jim had me do:

1. For the newer style TD's, the baffles look different from the ones for the older style TD's. The new style has a venturi flow restriction built into one end of the baffle, whereas the old style has a ring, or doughnut, on one end. When you look at the stock baffle and new 2" Quiet baffle, they look the same on the outside and are the same pipe sizes, but the Quiet baffle has a 2" inner pipe which provides additional restriction and quieting. The venturi on both goes in the front of the muffler, and since both ends are different sizes, the baffles can only fit one way, so you can't screw it up.

2. To remove the end caps, first remove the screws (all of the screws), then spray the joint between the endcaps and the mufflers with Windex to provide some lubrication. Next, support one side of the end cap with your hand and rap the other side with a rubber mallet. The end caps are pretty tough, so as long as your using a soft head mallet, don't worry about hitting it. Do this all around the end cap and it will slowly back itself off. It's a tight fit and is being held on by both the muffler and baffle, so it will take more than a few taps to get it off. DO NOT use a screw driver to try and spread the end cap from the muffler; you could scratch both the muffler and end cap that way.

3. Once you have removed the end caps, Jim told me to use a sliding hammer with a hook on one end to remove the baffles, but neither of mine was that tight and I was able to grab them with some pliers, wiggle back and forth slightly, and they pulled right out. If you have any trouble, you can always use the sliding hammer method hooked to the penetrations in the baffles to back them out.

4. I wrapped my new 2" Quiet Baffles with fiberglass before installing them, so don't know how they would have sounded without the wrapping. They are still loud, but not too loud and actually are about right for me. When cruising at steady speed they are not loud at all, but when you get on the throttle they still have a bark, albeit a muffled bark. At highway speed they are a good sound, still a little loud, but not so much as to interfere with the radio. For me they are about right so that cars around me know I'm there.

5. To wrap the baffles, get some fiberglass repair sheets (I found some Bondo material that worked great -- it was packaged in 8 sq. ft. pieces, and I used two packages per baffle). Wrap the fiberglass around the baffles and secure with steel wire. I used 20 gauge stainless steel wire to wrap multiple times around the fiberglass. Some suggested using steel wool instead of fiberglass, which would be a more permanent setup, but I could not find steel wool in other than pads, so went with the fiberglass.

6. Once the baffles are wrapped, just insert into each muffler, tap in place (use a piece of wood over the end of the baffle to protect the end), then reinstall the end caps with the rubber mallet. Once in place, reinstall the screws (I added some Locktite since they'd had something on them before).

Pretty simple mod actually, once Jim Rego, myself, and Mark at M&M Cycle figured out what I had and what type of baffle I needed. My Rinehart TD model number is 1800-0242, and the 2" Quiet Baffle model number is 1861-0332. Bub had changed some part numbers when they came out with the new style TD exhaust, and some vendors have been confused over what goes with w

 

Thanks Jim, very informative post. I know I learned something. I have the newer Rineharts like you do, so the instructions are quite enlightening. I have never had my mufflers apart, but the quiet baffles are being considered. Like you said, people that have went to the quiet baffle say that they can barely tell the difference until they get up to cruising speed. Thanks again!


nogood o~`o

 

You're welcome, nogood. Figure someone will be able to use the info in a future search, and I went through too much confusion not to write it down.

Now on to the next bike project -- getting my PCIII map tweaked. Guess I better mow the yard first, though, starting to lose the dachshounds in the tall grass!

 

Looks like my dealer installed the wrong quiet baffels for my Rinehardts. I have the newer Rinehardts and they installed the old style baffels. The dealer even told me when he installed them he had to cut them down to make it fit. Charged 1 hour of labor to install the baffels.

My question is will it still work in my Rinehardts? I should be able to go back to the dealer and get them to give me the right ones. I have only had them for one week. I am not too happy with the sound of them anyway. It went from this deep sound to a higher sound.

Travis

 

This has been a very helpful thread. I'm not replacing my Rinehart baffles but I have one rattling in the right pipe. Drove me crazy in Daytona and I've been putting off fixing it because I didn't know what I needed to do. I don't think I will have a problem now.

 

TBone, you might want to call Jim Rego at Bub Tech Support to see if they should be used with your new style Rineharts, but IMHO, I'd get the dealer to get you the right baffles. I can understand how they made the mistake, though, because I thought I needed the "ring" style baffle based on pictures I pulled up on other vendors' sites -- they had the wrong pictures with the right part numbers and vice versa. Very confusing for even dealers to know what to get. If I hadn't contacted Bub several times, I wouldn't have known -- I even had M&M Cycles send me the "ring" style baffle because I thought they had sent me the wrong venturi style baffle first. Oh well, no sense in beating a dead horse, I'd get what you really should have for your setup. Good luck.

 

Thanks, Terry. I'd heard that Bub had a rattling problem with some baffles. At least you shouldn't have any problem in replacing them.

 

This is an old thread but well worth reading for those thinking about changing baffles on their Rineharts.

 

Very interesting post. I was wondering if anyone has tried wrapping the standard baffles with fiberglass? Will this quiet them down a little without sacrificing high end??

 

It probably will a little but not much. The fiberglass will act as a sound deadener and probably stop that chirping sound the stock baffles make. However the stock baffles are pretty much straight through so I don't think it will make a huge difference.