If you've been following the previous thread ("Fuel Moto Experiments") about Fuel Moto's custom asymetrical baffles for Rush slip-ons (touring bikes only), I can now report on this kit first-hand after receiving and installing the baffles today. I decided to start a new thread since the first involved a preview of what it was all about, while this one deals with actual installation, observations, and a few tips.

First, a shot of one baffle, with the requisite blurred license plate in the background. Why do we blur our license numbers in photos when license plates are exposed for all to see when riding? From the side, both baffles look alike, the difference in the two being internal. The right shot is the rear of the baffle, unchanged from standard except the left side starts out a 1.75" (modified) and the right 2.0" (unmodified). Note the grab bar, which must be a new addition since my old baffles had none, making the originals tricky to remove. Also note the new high-quality packing material made by Silent Sport. The old packing did not cover the entire baffle on my mufflers, but the new packing does. This undoubtedly impacts the sound and loudness, which I'll go into later.



The following photo shows the front of both baffles, clearly showing the modification to the left muffler, the right remaining unchanged. On the left is, appropriately, the left baffle showing the reversion cone welded into the baffle at Fuel Moto. The hole is only 3/4", and it is the key to the effectiveness of this option. Jamie experimented with many baffle sizes, cone sizes, and even tried blocking the left side completely--but this was the best combo. Jamie developed this kit for performance and sound quality while keeping noise reasonable. I can report that he succeeded on all counts.



I'll give some tips on installing this kit, and some impressions after the fact.

1. Remove Allen bolt/nut holding the old baffle in. I used a 1/2" ratchet with 1/2" socket for the nut on the inside, Allen wrench holding the bolt on the outside bottom of the muffler. Loosen from the nut side, as my bolt wouldn't budge and I didn't want to strip it.

2. As I mentioned, I didn't have the grab bar on the rear of the baffle to aid in removing it. I used the same Allen wrench and clamped some vice grips on the end, using the hooked end to grab the bolt hole. It was tricky but the right side came on out without much ado. The packing material apparently jammed on the left and it took some twists and pulls with vice grips to remove it.

3. After the old baffles are out, get a vacuum cleaner and remove the crud that remains in the muffler, which is a mix of old packing material and rust. The baffles are a tight fit and are a bear to install unless you do this. I didn't on the right and it took 10 min. to shoehorn it in, while the left was cleaned and it took 2 min. After spraying some WD40 on the ends, not the packing material, I gently hammered them in with a 1½" PVC pipe section (about 12" long) and a rubber hammer. A large piece of wood would likely work as well, but be careful not to deform any part of the baffle. The tricky part of installing the new baffles is lining up the hole in the muffler with the slot in the baffle to fit the bolt.

That's about it, so what about the result? Take a look at the dyno chart, which Jamie says is a conservative representation, not the best curve he had obtained. He didn't want to exaggerate the kit's effectiveness, and that's the way Jamie does things.



Jus

 

Very interesting analysis.

You mention in your observations that... "To my surprise and delight this setup is quieter than the 1.75" setup I had--not immensely, but a meaningful and welcome improvement."

Did you feel the sound/noise was too loud with the stock baffles?

I have 2" baffles with my RUSH slash up mufflers on my 08 EGUC and really like the sound. Just curious.

 

Borderline. I'm getting old, I guess, and I value listening to 40-year-old music more than a loud exhaust system. I do want to hear the exhaust, just not at the expense of my ears ringing after a long ride and my ability to hear tunes. It is a delicate balance, and this is pretty damn close to ideal for my taste.

Jamie told me that Rush had changed the baffling material recently, so maybe I had the old type and it had gradually deteriorated to a point where I considered it a bit too loud. Rush sent me some new packing material about a week ago but I never got around to installing it.

 

Thanks for the pics and writeup!.....I'll get mine when the big brown toy truck shows up Monday......By the time he shows I'll have the old slipon's off and also the old A/C removed, plus to custom map loaded.....

Oh, BTW.....Those ain't "grab bars"......and they ain't stock from Rush.....Trust me on this......I'll leave it to Jamie to reveal why they are there if he elects......Just be glad he added them.

 

Ah, no wonder my old ones didn't have them installed. Jamie didn't mention that he had added them, but told me he was going to try them without the bars to see if it made any difference, and left the impression they were on the baffles from Rush. He later said he didn't think they'd make any difference and didn't want to bother removing them considering their value in removing the baffles.

BTW, if Jamie said you'd be first on the list you probably were. I had mine overnighted, so while yours probably were shipped first, mine were delivered first, not that I was trying to one-up anybody on being the first on my block. I am also borrowing a PCIII LCD display from a friend and will be playing with that in the near future. I have some ideas, like logging analog info from the O2 sensor to determine A/F ratio at various positions on the map. Do you guys in Dry Prong root for the Tigers?

Geaux Tigers! SEC champs!!!

 

I have the 1.75" & 1.50" baffles and both came stock with the grab bars. Makes for quick & easyremoval.
Both of these were pretty loud, I've since converted to a Supermeg 2-1. Bye bye noise.

 

Yoda:

The Bars inthe bafflescame standard on my 2 inch baffles right out of the box.

 

I found out that Rush has been installing them since late spring, so they are stock on all baffles now. This is good because without them the baffles are tough to remove, as I found out with mine. Jamie told me last week that he was going to try removing them to see if there would be a slight performance increase, but changed his mind with the presumption it would make no meaningful difference.

 

Perhaps Rush has been paying attention........I've been searching like crazy but I can't find the site where I saw it.

There is some guy with a dyno who discovered a little extra boostwhen he held a screwdriver shaft across the azz end of the muffs...From there he started welding a steel bar of acertain diameter across the exit ends....Then other guys started coping his efforts by drilling holes and installing long bolts thru the end or their pipes.

THAT is what I recalled when I saw the "grab bars" on your baffs.....I figured Jamie had learned of the trick and tried it on yours.

I just wish I could find that site so's I could link you to it.

 

That "trick" has been around for many years. There was a tech article in AIM on it earlier this year.