My '99 Xplorer stock pipe/muffler looks like the muffler is actually welded on to the pipe at a rather large-diameter portion. Has anyone ever cut-off the stock muffler and fabbed a 1.5" or 2" OD termination pipe onto which a free flow aftermarket muffler can be attached?

Are there gains to be seen from such a mod?
Any ideas on cutting the muffler off?

I'm trying to find something in-between the noisy, no bottom-end, high RPM, Aaen "performnce" kit that I invested in, and the quiet, all-round, stock system. I am assuming that with a less restrictive muffler, a Polaris white or green spring and a tighter red secondary position, I'll get better-than-stock performance throughout. Is this a wrong assumption?

My other option is to send my Aaen pipe to Rick Ritter for modification - something that will cost me more downtime and $, than I would prefer right now. But I sure do appreciate Rick's innovation and effort in helping customers! Not too sure I am satisfied with Aaen at this time, but I'll let you know after I try their latest suggestion (switching back to stock flyweights)

 

BTW, Additional info...

the reason that Aaen didn't recommend the "torquer" or "Bottom-end" pipe is that "they don't have one" for the '99 Xplorer (Concentric drive caused engine offset that a pipe hasn't been designed for yet). Also, HPD doesn't have one for same reason.

 

C'mon can't anyone give me some advice. I modified my thoughts a little by thinking I'll do the pipe extension at 1.25 inch

 

I would go for a Torquer pipe.And make it fit.I have one on my 400 SP and love it.Dont see why it would work on yours.And use the Aaen silencer too.Mine is not too loud.I wouldnt try chopping a stock pipe up.

 

Sorry dave, been away a bit. All the below assumes you want dual pupose, not absolute fastest. At the end of the day though, realize that you're in a tough spot with noise vs. power. Nothing, comes close to a pipe (Compression is close) in power per dollar, but they are always louder. Generally a good silencer helps. You're going to have to decide what the boundary's are pretty quick, as it will gate a lot of other decisions. I'm always surprised how loud my scrammy is too, as its even behind a heat shield. I get the same input from the 310r guys, so maybe single cylinders are just louder.

You'll never really get the noise situation under control by modding the aftermarket pipe. Its the thin single wall vs doublewall issue. Nor is modding a pipe a great answer. Rick can improve on it, but not fix it, as inlet diameter, length to chamber, chamber taper and chamber length all matter. Changing chamber length only fixes part. Chamber taper may be a minimal issues. Ask Rick.

Back in the day folks used to buy "Torque stuffers". The where a sleeve that was inserted into the pipe inlet to reduce its diameter a bit. This increased velocity and helped the pipe come on a little earlier. It will also take power away on the big end. Maybe a better answer is to seek more bore. Not only more power as a result, but it gets the velocity back up in the exhaust. That's part of your problem and part of why a rev pipe is harder to make go well on the lower rpm's

I've noticed pipe wall thickness makes a big sound signature difference. Thicker seems to be quieter. I wonder if getting one of these "jet coat" type coatings will quiet it down some. I've never pursued it that way, but it seems like it might cut both volume and tone down.

Power band on a 2 stoke is set by the pipe. Silencers can, and on stocks ones almost certainly does, reduce power. So, I suppose an aftermarket silencer will make some improvements on the quad. Remember more compression will give you your bottom back, so please do that before you decide you can't live with the pipe. Unless its noise.

On my scrambler the silencer looked welded on, but wasn't. You need somebody w/an explorer to confirm this, as an aftermarket silencer on the stock pipe might not a bad thing to try. It WILL NOT be as good as with the pipe.

Think about this several times. it will sound obvious, but its a key concept. the clutch kit can't affect engine power, it only affects; A) how efficiently it passes the power (slip vs. parasitic loss), B) engagement and shift-out.

Thus, you need to get the engine state of tune decided before you pick clutch much. Then remember that later engagment will get it on the power band, but make it louder.

PVT's should work out for you well given your problem. They WANT to run @ a given rpm, and you have a pipe that's a bit peaky. I think you should hold your water a bit and finish getting the bottom dialed in before you alter the pipe. Unless its noise.

I don't really like the stock white in my scrammy, and would give up 500 rpm (the race guys are gonna crap about this statement) engage to drop the rpm down a bit. I'd then deal with the secondary spring and helix and pri weight curves to get the shift out as I wanted it. All that said, There is nothing close to it that will work, as the stock explorer spring engages lower then I could live with (although I will order one sometime just to see).

That said, yes, the white and the fuly preloaded red are probably ideal for you, at least for right now. I'd put in stock scrammmy weights too, then I'd goto the split helix (lets it shift out early until you're moving more, then delays shift a bit).

Put the noise away for now and lets get what you have dialed in, then discuss what to do about sound.

Get the head dealt with.
You've mentioned it feels slow on the bottom. LOWER the needle a clip (raise the retainer one notch) and see if that helps.
Get the white and red in as discussed, with the stock scrammy weights (s55 I think).
Get the tach and post, or email me some data. I'll send you my excel template.
Get Aaen to tell you about the dyno curve of the pipe. We NEED to know how the pipe behaves to clutch this thing. It might be same as posted on their web, and might not. They need to tell you.

Maybe trade to a year with more pipe and or bore options? That might be the best choice really, as I think I recall somebody saying your year didn't take pipes well or bore well.

Check your email

 

fixed errors in above. if read prior to this timestamp, need to re-read. needle advise was reversed. sorry.

dan

 

I do believe an inch or a little more in the pipe would get this bike to light like Dave wants it to . The noise issue is hard to get around , the best solution is a factory scrambler silencer . The pipe still makes plenty of racket still through its thin walls . (mine do to ) The factory scrambler silencer is a very effective silencer and it does not hamper power output a whole lot .

Dan , where you been dude ? I always enjoy your posts on here . Nice to have you back around .

 

Howdy Rick! I'm about ready to disappear again for a while. The scrammy is pretty close (I still don't trust the internal noise I've mentioned), and I wanta get it done, finish off the 'she, and quite screwing with them for a while. Heck, kids to raise, house to buy, xmas to deal with, planes to fly and both a job and a wife that expect attention too! And I'm in the middle of building a few computers and buying a PDA/GPS/nav/routing setup, so quads goto go for a while. If I don't talk to you for a while (it was like years since we talked until I got into this PVT stuff), good luck. I'm sure I'll be back sooner or later.


Dave:

While the expression "trust no one" makes a lot of sense in this thing (even the guy I trust and has forgotton more then I'll ever know has screwed some things up), I do think Rick is the best option out there for you. I've a bit more faith in HPD stuff after I talked to Daryl (you've read that story) and now that I know rick can pick and choose from his parts or sell HPD's, I think he's just the hands down guy. He's support of this site says lots to et? If he say's he can fix the pipe, I'd send it to him.

Course, I'd still get do the other things in the order I said and see if its needed first.

I'm gonna cease and desist on the forums for a while. I kinda chime in when I'm doing things on the "if I want help I outa offer help" theory, but as mentioned, I check out for long stretches. Sometimes for a year or so. In fact, were it not for the P I'd not be here now, as I goto the bansheeHQ for the few times I wanta talk about those.

I do wanta see your project work out for you. email me or call as needed and I'll help as best I can.


see ya guys.

dan