Odd rattle in right exhaust pipe.

[Valker]

My Valk (98 Tourer, stock pipes, 141,000) started making a terrible rattle. I thought it was a belt tensioner, but it is definitely coming from the right side exhaust insides. It happens as soon as the bike starts to warm up (about one minute). It speeds up and rattles louder with engine RPM. It does this whether the bike is moving or sitting still. ANY ideas?
I'm going to try taking off the pipe and seeing if something falls out. That is the extent of my ideas. I really don't want to change the exhaust if I don't have to.

[WintrSol]

It may be the inside tube in one of the head pipes; sometimes the weld on these brakes, causing a rattle.

[gordonv]

Was quite common on the Shadow ACE Tourer, double walled exhaust, and the thought was the baffle weld came loose, and would allow it to rattle inside. Each behaved differently whether cold/warm/hot made noise.

[Valker]

Thanks for the input. I used a mechanics' stethoscope. No noise at all from head pipes. Only from muffler part.

[MarkT]

Are you first owner?  Are the baffles drilled?  A previous owner may have used a sharpened rebar to poke out the front baffles - that often just knocks the plug loose, and then you have a rattle.  Can't fix it w/o taking the muffler apart. Might as well get a pipe mod...Wink wink.

[Valker]

Original owner, unmolested pipes. Always wanted one of your pipe mods, but money is an issue.
Now, If I could just sell my HUGE house here....I'd have the cash for the mod. Know anybody that needs a six bedroom, three bath house with about 4400 sq ft for about $60 per sq ft?

[greggh]

have that same problem with mine on the right side same noise and all.
nothing appeared noticeably wrong until I remove the exhaust system and the header pipes then slid into the canister with a noticeable definition of broken weld on the header pipe to the canister.
currently trying to find a good welder to weld the header pipes to the canister while the pipes are on the bike for proper fitment

[greggh]

Any news valker?

[slider]

My 97 standard  makes  a low rumble/rattle  right side as well but only  when cold after she warms up all is good,the only thing I found was the piggies had been cut ..nothing loose inside or out..so I got    used to it,but don't like it.

[Valker]

No news yet. Closing out the school year has me slammed at the moment. I'm guessing the weld thing is the right answer. Thanks

[MarkT]

I have welded quite a few broken inlet welds on OEM pipes at the collector, while using the cores to build a glasspack pipe set.  It involves mounting the pipes on a jig that holds them in the correct alignment, light welding them on the outside to force the alignment held correctly while the jig is removed.  Then cutting them apart near the inlet end, and doing a heavy weld on the inside where you can access the ends of the pipes and the muffler inlet end cap.  W/O welding on the inside, you can't weld around all three tubes, but just around their outer perimeters. Then they will leak, and fail again.  When the pipes were made, they were welded on the inside before the muffler can was added.  It's those welds that break with miles and moisture.  I do a much heavier weld than Honda does - I'd bet plenty they cannot fail again - at least at the welds.  After reassembly, I put them back on the jig to ensure they are still in alignment.  If not, get out the acetylene torch and heat the SS part of the headers close to the collector, cherry red to get the metal to relax and the jig to force them back into alignment.

My bet is - you won't find a welder to do it for you.  No one has the jigs except me.  I don't see it as being cost effective to repair them w/o upgrading the exhaust.  By the time the welds fail, they are old pipes.  The cost to fix them is at least as much as just buying another used set on ebay (or elsewhere).  I can do the repair for nominal cost while taking the cores apart anyway, for the glasspack mod.

[Valker]

Mark, Can you shoot me a best guess price for this? I really like the quiet (but I love the mellow tone of your glass pack mod. Down time is what really concerns me with this. PM me or here if you want. My email is Valker1@hotmail.com
Thanks for the comments.