Bit of a long post so grab a beer...

Last month I did a post about my Rush slip-ons being just too loud for me. From the post, I got a lot of good feedback and suggestions on how to correct. The general opinion was to contact Fuel Moto and ask them so I did just that.

I called Fuel Moto spoke with Keith and explained my problem. Keith told me that my complaint is a common one with the Rush slip-ons but is easy to correct by repacking the muffler. So I ordered up their repacking material. Think it was called quiet performance packing or something like that. Keith also gave me some good pointers on how to repack your mufflers that I'll outline below:

1. First step is to remove the nut and bolt that holds the baffle in place. Best way to do this is hit it with a bit of penetrating oil and then use a wrench on the nut to loosen it. It is a tight fit inside the muffler but you can do it. Once it's loose, then you can use the allen to completely unscrew it. If you try to use the allen head to loosen it, it will strip out pretty quickly. Don't ask me how I know... Then remove the muffler from the bike.

2. To get the baffle out take a broom handle, insert it into the inlet side and then wrap the broom handle (with a fair amount of force) to force the baffle out. It took several strong hit to get it to start moving. Once it did, it came out quickly.

3. When I took out my baffles I found out why my mufflers were so loud. On one muffler there was only about 25% of the packing left. The other had maybe 50% No wonder it was loud and tinny sounding.

4. To repack the baffle, you want to use not quite half of the material for each muffler that was shipped to you. I wound up with maybe 6 to 8 inches left over once I was finished repacking. The repacking material looks like yarn.

5. I was told that you want enough packing material wrapped around the baffle to provide the needed sound attenuation but not so much that it can't expand once the baffle is placed back in the muffler. You basically layout the material on the floor and then begin to wrap it around the baffle until you have used half the material.

6. The next tip was key. Once you wrap the packing material around the baffle, use clear packing tape to hold the material in place and to keep it compressed while you reinsert the baffle. Keith said to wrap it from one end to the other. Of course, I tried to just put a few pieces wrapped around at intervals on the baffle. Tried to put it in but the packing kept getting caught on the muffler because is was expanding. So, out came the baffle and I did what Keith told me to do in the first place. Baffle slide in with no problems.

7. I also told Keith that I had issues with decel popping and knew I had a leak in the muffler connection. Keith said to use some Ultra Copper around the inside of the muffler and then slide it on. It would help seal the connection and most likely fix the decel popping plus make it easier to remove in the future.

8. The first muffler took about 30 minutes to figure this all out. The second one was maybe 10 minutes now that I was a semi-pro.

9. Last piece of advice from Keith is the mufflers will sound better right away but the full effect will take about 100 or so miles. This is about how long it takes the tape to deintergrate and allow the packing material to expand into the muffler space around the baffle.

So, what are the results?

1. Immediately upon starting the scoot, the sound was much lower and not as sharp or harse. Still had a bark when you cracked the throttle.

2. Went for a 25 mile test ride and was actually able to hear my radio with our making my ears hurt. Bike ran better (maybe just my imagination) and the decel pop was gone!

3. I have taken it out a couple more time and I am getting close to the 100 mile mark since repacking. The sound is getting better with each ride. I now have a nice low rumble at idle and a nice low volume 'throaty' sound when crusing down the road. Not at all annoying. When you crack the throttle it is a bit louder but not obnoxious.

All in all, I am very pleased with the outcome and I am thinking this will get me the elusive sound that I was looking for from my bike.

Bottom-line is speaking with Fuel Moto was a very positive experience and helped me take care of a couple of issues. Good people to work with up in good 'ol Wisconsin.

Ride on!

Dave

 

Just did mine today. Ive noticed a little popping on decel this spring. Seen some posts on the subject so maybe i was paying better attention. A little over 10000 miles and packing is just about gone. no prob getting baffles out, the entire job took maybe an hour and a few beers. took for ride and could tell the difference right away. Love the exhaust tone with duals so i guess i will be doing this every spring.

 

Check out the difference between these two baffles, old style Rush and new style. Looks like Rush has got smart about the packing bunching up and making it a pain to get the old baffle out.

 

when you have the baffle out install a 5/16 bolt vertically near the outlet of the baffle. amazing how much quieter it will be and will make more torque, an old 60s trick. to keep the packing in place i used a sheet of aluminum roofing flashing wrapped around the packing and secured with safety wire. easy to reinstall the baffle and much easier to remove next time.

 

Interesting because the 1.75'' quieter baffle that Fuel Moto sells for their Jackpots comes with that kind of structure in place. I thought it was just to make it easier to remove the baffle!

 

How often should you look at repacking?