Ragnar cut gone bad....

[O-B-1]

I did the Ragnar cut today.

Problem - The "spot welds" did not break loose. The baffle pipe twisted off instead. So there are remnants of the end of the baffle pipe up in there obstructing the opening that use to be clear.

Not sure how I am to clear the remnants of the baffle pipe from the openings. I don't know if I can find a 5/8" bit that has a reduced shank so I can get up in there to route it out. If I can, the next question is will the bit actually drill straight without walking all over.

Any suggestions?

HEY, fixed it! Got an extension from Sears, one of those cone-shaped, multi drill bits from Harbor Freight and cleared the remains of the baffle pipes. My tailcone on the right side is all scratched up from previous owner, have had no luck findsing reasonably priced ones. E-Bay has a seller that keeps putting them up for bid, I get outbid, only to find them for sale again shortly after. I think teh seller is bidding and trying to get the price up on them. The chrome heat shields ar starting to rust, probably due to previous owner living on a Puget Sound island...

I am going to get some AirFlow 40" stacks and some Rex Marine baffles. I liek teh sound I have, but my back seater doesn't seem to care for the sound, as she suffers frmo fibromyalgia and hearing gets hypersensitive at times.

[9Ball]

It's too late for my best suggestion....leave them alone.

These pipes are now candidates for a conversion to glaspaks as long as the headers are in good shape.

Good luck.

[BF]

Maybe a four inch hole saw and gut the entire thing?  That's essentially what you've already done....except you drilled three holes instead of one. 

[Westsider]

It's too late for my best suggestion....leave them alone.

These pipes are now candidates for a conversion to glaspaks as long as the headers are in good shape.

Good luck.

+1 ..I did the Qexpress, (in the shop talk pages),,on a set and really like the glass packs, much quieter than I thought they would be,, but flow great (look in a glass pack ) I just didnt go with a whole truck stack cover thing,,just some chrome tips out back, after all I wasnt sure what the sound was going to be like, for me personally,,and kept the original untouched pipes,,. As far as drilling pipes out,,here are my thoughts , only , on it,, I have watched guys do it on all kinds of different bikes , brand new harleys even, and they have never had any problems with it as far as I know, But,, I once had a 78 KZ1000 with a vance and hines 4 into one header with a removeable baffle , I would from time to time remove, intall bafle as I felt like it,,the open header sounded nice once in a while...any way,,, when I would put the baffle back in, sometimes I would start it for my baffle trick,,I put it about halfway in the pipe, let go , and slam, the baffle would get sucked into the pipe, with athority,, good backpressure , or good suction,, to help with cylinder charge,,would anything loose,, rattling around in there ever make it all the way to a valve or cylinder,,prob not,,would I leave anything loose ,, rattling around in my pipes...not if I knew about it,,,just saying and JMHO and all that...

[olddog1946]

Come get my Cobras, they're hanging in the car port...sound good that way, lol.
They worked gr8 and did sound sweet in town, but didn't like em on the road.

[MarkT]

OB1 - can't help you with your problem now - unless you hire me to fix your problem with a glasspack mod.  Or buy a set of silencers already prepped from me. Or you could hack off the remains of your baffle section and install truck stacks and then tolerate the racket - or alternatively, not tolerate by then getting a set of silencers to put in the stacks.  I can also provide the stacks already prepped for easy install.  Or you can buy them from Airflo.com for less and prep them yourself.  However - here's a msg for other newbies -

DON'T DO THE RAGNAR CUT - IT'S A BAD MOD.  

You are much better off cutting OFF the silencer section, installing stacks, and then being able to re-insert the silencers you cut off back into the stream.  Then you will have the SOUND of the "ragnar cut", when you want it, but are able to return to stock sound level whenever you want in a few seconds.  Great for trips, or whenever you get tired of the racket - which for many, gets to be ALL THE TIME.

[sugerbear]

shame to see a good set of stock pipes ruined.
i'll bet there are a lot of "ragnar cut" sets out there for cheap, or free.

[X Ring]

It's too late for my best suggestion....leave them alone.

These pipes are now candidates for a conversion to glaspaks as long as the headers are in good shape.

Good luck.

I agree. 

Marty

[BF]

As long as the drone won't bother him, it's his choice.  I actually like the sound that came from the ragnar cut....very mean sounding......but the DRONE drove me absolutely nuts.  Learned my lesson the very hard (and deaf) way.  

Cured my drone with a set of Grumpy's tips and a set of slip in silencers from these folks.  

http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=161100&Category_Code=silencers-inline-insert

Made the bike much much quieter now, but it still has a very nice little growl to it with a nice mellow tone......best of all, the DRONE IS GONE.  I'm finally happy with my exhaust now.  

[Bugslayer]

I guess some are more sensitive than others to the "drone'. I started with the Ragnar cut, then completely opened up the end of the pipes. They sound great, didn't cost anything to do it, and really have no problems with a "drone".

[BF]

I guess some are more sensitive than others to the "drone'. I started with the Ragnar cut, then completely opened up the end of the pipes. They sound great, didn't cost anything to do it, and really have no problems with a "drone".

If you ride without a windshield, the wind noise cancels out the drone.  Even if you ride with a shield, but ride without a helmet (or a half that doesn't cover the ears), the drone probably won't be noticable (or not THAT noticable).  BUT, the minute you cover your ears with a helmet (including a half with a neck curtain), you'll get the drone.  If you have tinnitus like I do, the drone can actually be overwhelming.  It was to the point that it actually began to hurt my ears if I wore certain helmets. 

However, I'm happy with my pipes now because......the drone is gone. 

[Bugslayer]

I guess some are more sensitive than others to the "drone'. I started with the Ragnar cut, then completely opened up the end of the pipes. They sound great, didn't cost anything to do it, and really have no problems with a "drone".

If you ride without a windshield, the wind noise cancels out the drone.  Even if you ride with a shield, but ride without a helmet (or a half that doesn't cover the ears), the drone probably won't be noticable (or not THAT noticable).  BUT, the minute you cover your ears with a helmet (including a half with a neck curtain), you'll get the drone.  If you have tinnitus like I do, the drone can actually be overwhelming.  It was to the point that it actually began to hurt my ears if I wore certain helmets. 

However, I'm happy with my pipes now because......the drone is gone. 

 With my windshield and helmet, I can't say I get any drone. Guess I'm just lucky. 

[dreamchaser]

I like the look of your silencer, Mark T, in a stock muffler with no tips at all.  It makes me wish I had a botched radnar set so I could buy a pair of those from you! 

[da prez]

 O B 1 ,I mounted a 5/8 hole saw on a 3/8 th pipe  ( I think) that I threaded to go into the holesaw. I also put a magnet inside the holesaw to catch the shrapnel. It will guide itself in.
                             da prez

[tronerdog]

Old string, but this is worth posting.
I "saved" my ragnar-cut exhaust with a cheap set of Ebay inserts. First I tried 8" long pieces of 1-1/2" perforated exhaust tubing (Ebay, around $20 shipped. Came in 24" sections. I bought 2). They stuck out about 1-1/2" from the end of the holes where the piggies were, so I used a big hose-clamp to squeeze them together. Some improvement, but not enough.
Then I added 18" SS truck stacks, but that really didn't help with the drone. Looked good though! Also helped to tie in the late model "one-touch" Harley bags I had added.
Then I saw these 4" x 2" inserts that are sold to eliminate the drone from those little SS resonators...
Magic! The drone is gone, and the sound is incredible. Quieter at idle than my buddies stocker, but a nice growl when revved. The more common 1-1/2" inserts would possibly be even quieter, but I'm happy.
Like everyone else, I was ready to give up and buy an un-mollested set, but figured I'd try a few things first. Total project cost was just over $100 (stacks were $60, also Ebay).
Hopefully, this info. helps

Mike