I'll get a bright flashlight in there tonight and see if I can find anything. I had my LED lights last night and couldn't detect anything in either port. I have the SE Gaskets for the install.

 

They also can take a bit of prying to remove them.

 

I'll look closely. The eyesight isn't what it used to be. I know to get the pipes off, the rear port was tight. I had to get in there with a small screw driver and pop it slightly to get it loose.

I had a note from Fuelmoto that I need to use the "tapered" gaskets. The SE gaskets I have don't appear to be tapered. Probably need to run to the dealership at lunch to see about tapered ones.

 

Good to know.

 

The gaskets are still in the port. They crush down and you'll have to coax them out with a little screwdriver or pick. The SE gaskets are for head pipes that have a flatter profile where they mate with the head.

 

Put the tapered gaskets in the freezer for an hour before you install and they should go right in (well easier shall I say). Someone else told me about this on here and it worked wonders.

There is a SEPST sticky in the ECM section of this forum, if you have all the cables, program disc, laptop and eager to learn about Smart tune, head other there. Many folks can help you out.

 

I exchanged the incorrect gaskets I had and they told me how to get the old ones out. The ones I had were the round SE gaskets, looked nothing like the correct ones, so I was probably looking at the ones in the ports and just not recognizing them (duh).

I'll try the freezer thing ... nothing to lose.

 

Got the gaskets out, but didn't have time to start the install. One more question. When I removed the stock head pipes, the front most nut on the front cylinder head was a bitch to reach, ended up using a box wrench to remove that one. Any suggestion for re-installing? I'm not sure I can get there with my torque wrench. The other three shouldn't be an issue.

 

Ended up using a small socket wrench with small extension and universal joint to get to my 2-1-2 around the frame. I think someone noted to reinstall the flange nuts should be snugged and tightened in stages so header is pulled in uniformly. Do not have my service book at the moment but if you have one take a look.

 

Installed the new head pipe last weekend, reflashed the ECM with the stock "All Market Exhaust with Race Muffler" option and the bike seems to fine fine. I do have a couple of minor issues.

I had a heck of a time getting the muffler on the head pipe as far as I wanted. It leaves about a 1/2" space between the rear heat shield and the flange on the muffler. This isn't any different from when I had the stock head pipe, but I still find it annoying. I did reuse the existing muffler clamp (less thank 5K miles on the bike), but I do have a new clamp in the parts bin. Any suggestions for getting the Nightstick on another 1/2" or so? I dropped a note to Jaime at Fuelmoto and he suggested using a piece of wood to open the head pipe end of the muffler a bit, and then lubricate the end of the head pipe.

Second, the heat shields on from the stock pipe, although they're supposed to work with the Fuelmoto head pipe, just don't sit right. The two coming off the engine are a perfect fit, but the third piece that covers the area where the pipes converge just doesn't seem to sit right. Snug at the top (although not rubbing), but quite a bit of space on the bottom. It covers the ends of the other heat shields, but it almost looks like it needs to angle in on the bottom to make it a good fit. Has anyone else had this experience?

Overall the installation was pretty straight-forward, just these couple of annoyances that I'd like to resolve since I'm into it right now.