[Edsel Rulez!]

Originally Posted by ron_9191

The best exhaust note that gives a mature thump for me till date has to be the "short bottle" that used to come for Bullet 500 Standard with the Short bent pipe. The bent pipe I am talking about is the one that comes with all the new Bullets, the Electra 5s, Bullet 350 Standard.

Originally Posted by ron_9191

The next one was outrageous. Fixed a short bottle that fits to the short bent pipe, this was good initially but then out of nowhere whenever you let the throttle go, it backfired scaring everyone on the road with a gunshot and sometimes me too.

I didn't get this bit. Someone stated earlier that there is NO difference between the silencer of the CI 350 and the CI 500. So how come there is such a difference in sound/performance? Or is the short bottle of the 500 different from that of the 350?

Also, how is it possible to mount a short bottle silencer with the short bent pipe? The bottle mount is usually welded on and can't be reversed or otherwise adjusted, so is there a convenient provision on the frame that it can be bolted on to? Please clarify this to prevent the likelihood of anyone buying a short bottle-and-pipe and finding that they can't fit it on their Bullets!

[bhogalrajnish]

Well after fiddling aroung many silencers i got to the following conclusion.

1> Free Flow : makes the bike viberate a lot. and the noise is un tolerable.
2>Short silencer : makes the bike sound well but again the vibration stays.
3> My solution > Open the standard silencer and take off some of the glass wool from the back of it. did the same and my bike sounds real good now. (better than the short silencer and the vibrations are also less. )

Open the end of the silencer(you see two holes on the back) using a L-key. You will see the glass wool inside you can take remove small quantities at first till you get the best sound. Do remember to wear gloves while doing this as gasswool is bad for the hands. In case you take out a bit too much you can always push it back in using a screwdriver of a iron rod)

Has anyone been able to remove the catalatic convertor from the standard silencer(not sure if its in the bend pipe or the silencer itself) ?

Rajnish

[Gordon]

I agree with Ron. Short bottles and Goldstars are best. Stay away from the rocket silencer. Any silencer you switch to may give you the backfiring sound. All you'll need to do is fiddle with the carb settings, thats all.

I've seen a Standard with a fully free flow thunderbird silencer, the sound was crazily loud and prominent.

Also witnessed some cutting off the bend pipe.

If all else fails, you've got only a megaphone as a last resort. Its something they used on drag Bullets, its shorter than a short-bottle.

Oh what we do to extract the thump off a new silent Bullet

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

But doesn't it lead to a loss of low end torque?i mean the goldstar.

Yes, it does. But, to compensate, you can plonk in a torque cone plus a richer pilot. The mid range and top end is terrific with the Goldstar.

Cheers,

Jay

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by bhogalrajnish

Has anyone been able to remove the catalatic convertor from the standard silencer(not sure if its in the bend pipe or the silencer itself) ?

Rajnish

Yeah, I threw mine out from the bend pipe. A welder did the job for me. It is actually a hot tube that sits in the end of the bend pipe, that leads into the muffler.

Cheers,

Jay

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by Shashank.A

when I said goldstar in operation in Delhi, I did not mean made in Delhi. I mean I am yet to see a bike with an installed Goldie Exhaust.

And what would be approx rates of Pune dude ?

The non-chromed Pune goldie sells for INR1500 and imho, is worth that money. The guy who does that does superbike exhausts too and uses real high quality material for his exhausts. The steel used for the Shakeel goldie is of much higher gauge than any Goldstar silencer I have come across so far.

Cheers,

Jay

[ron_9191]

I understand the confusion here. Let me explain.

Now there are 2 kinds of short bottle silencers available in the market for a normal 350cc. In case if you want to fix a short bottle on to the newer bent pipes, like the one Shashank has shown, then you will have to get one that has a longer neck that goes to the end of the short bent pipe that ends just below the kick start lever.

The other bent pipe which you normally find on older 350's end near the rear right hand side foot rest. For this you fix a short bubble that has a shorter neck. Now what I mean by the "neck" is the part of the bubble that goes to the end of the bent pipe. In other words, the inlet for the "bubble"

There is a difference in the diameter of the exhaust pipes for 350 and 500. 500's tend to have a fatter exhaust pipe. Not the new 500's but the old 500 Standard.

[Gordon]

Goldstars are great or rather the best. But would you want to buy a Pune Goldstar? Short bottle is what was there on the older Standards, and if you want to retain the older Standard look I suggest you go in for the short-bottle silencer. Don't become a sound freak, else yu'll end up doing crazy things to your bike. The short-bottle will deliver a decent thump.

We've installed Goldstars for the thump and because it gels with the café racer styling. The short bottle would look completely out of place on our cafés just as the Goldstar would look out of place on your Standard 350.

[Edsel Rulez!]

Originally Posted by ron_9191

Now there are 2 kinds of short bottle silencers available in the market for a normal 350cc. In case if you want to fix a short bottle on to the newer bent pipes, like the one Shashank has shown, then you will have to get one that has a longer neck that goes to the end of the short bent pipe that ends just below the kick start lever.

Thank you for the detailed explanations. I've seen this short bottle with a long neck, which the shop guy called a "universal" model. I suppose this is the one you mean. This can't be a company original though, can it? The one I saw had some "MMW"(?) brand name on it.

Originally Posted by ron_9191

The other bent pipe which you normally find on older 350's end near the rear right hand side foot rest. For this you fix a short bubble that has a shorter neck.

I'm familiar with this -- I had it on my 1991 CI 350.

Originally Posted by ron_9191

There is a difference in the diameter of the exhaust pipes for 350 and 500. 500's tend to have a fatter exhaust pipe. Not the new 500's but the old 500 Standard.

I now have a 2002 CI 500, and my silencer setup has rusted beyond repair, so do you suggest going in for the long-necked short bottle plus short bent pipe? I'm worried the difference in diameter (which you mentioned above) will restrict my choices.

One more doubt: the bent pipe can be either a smooth curve or an angular L-bend. Is there any difference between the two, and is one preferable over the other?

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Yes, it does. But, to compensate, you can plonk in a torque cone plus a richer pilot. The mid range and top end is terrific with the Goldstar.

Cheers,

Jay

Now what is the blue blazes is a torque cone.owning a bull has opened a whold world of new stuff.lol.

[Shashank.A]

@ Ron, Gordon - So what this means for me is that I only need to change the muffler to classic enfield one, without changing the bent pipe. I will try and source the RE original short bottle that went into 1980's bikes.

Or rather, lemme start from cheapest thing first. After the first service of 500 km, I will open up my stock muffler and extract some wool out of it and see the result. If a bit tweaking does it for me, then I will stick to it, or else I will change to something else.

[ashokrajagopal]

@ All,
Thanks, thats a whole lot of useful info.

A request, who ever has multiple pieces with them, can you snap and upload so it is clear to the rest ?
eg. short bottle with the new std 350s Vs old 500s.

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Now what is the blue blazes is a torque cone.owning a bull has opened a whold world of new stuff.lol.

Dude, it is basically a steel or an AL ring shaped like a cone. This should ideally sit in your bend pipe. What it does is, it restricts the flow of exhaust just that little bit giving you that vital back pressure for the initial acceleration.

For illustration, here are sets of torque cones Harleys running on free flow pipes use. Samson torque cones - Shop sales, stores & prices at TheFind.com

Cheers,

Jay

[navpreet318]

but how does one design them.i mean what should be the smallest dia of the cone.the angle of the cone.length of the cone.there have to be a set of para meters for the design to suit a particular engine.

what setup are you running as of now?

and how's the bike's characteristics compared to the stock pipe.

I have removed the hot pipe from the end of the bend pipe.and its got a slightly better sound and a slightly more free rev in nature.

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

but how does one design them.i mean what should be the smallest dia of the cone.the angle of the cone.length of the cone.there have to be a set of para meters for the design to suit a particular engine.

what setup are you running as of now?

and how's the bike's characteristics compared to the stock pipe.

I have removed the hot pipe from the end of the bend pipe.and its got a slightly better sound and a slightly more free rev in nature.

Currently I am running a Shakeel goldie which had a single baffle so that it isn't total free flowing. I have lost a bit of back pressure when I pulled my hot tube out. But the baffle in there adds that little bit of back pressure to gimme some bottom end grunt. The K&N pod also brought back some low end grunt. The bull doesn't have the initial low end that it had with the bazooka and hot tube. That said, things are a lot smoother with minimum vibes. Cruising at an indicated 110+ is very chill. 120 also doesn't feel stressful at all. I've done about 138 on the speedo with a ramrod straight posture. If I can get the right jets, a genuine 130-135 would be very possible. but the biggest incentive with my set up is the mid range poke and the feel. It feels more powerful than a stock LB500. Good enough for me for the time being.

I am running a 20 pilot and a 150 main jet. The needle's clip is in the bottom of the groove, so richest setting. I am too rich in the afternoons or when it is too hot, and I bog in the first three gears at full throttle. Fourth and fifth is fine though I know for certain that I am rich. Best performance is in the nippy early mornings when the air is thin. The bull also loves the coast where the jetting gets leaned as the MSL decreases drastically. I guess 142.5 or 145 main would be best for my set up in Pune. But, I couldn't find drill bits for that. I'm making do with this set up till I find 142.5 or 145. I really had the LB500 rev to the roof when I ran a 135 with a K&N. Third gear was good for an indicated 90 or 100 in a blink of the eye with the LB500 revving up like a jap bike, well almost. The plus was bone white. Sanity got the better of me and I shifted to 140 first, then 150.

About the torque cones, a few guys in the Oz forums are running it on the iron500s but I have no clue on how to design one for the LB500.

Cheers,

Jay