XS650 enduro project

Now to make the rear mounts and heat shields for the exhaust.


The muffler bodies are solid, but the baffles were very bad, so I ground down the welds and removed them.


I'll be using some new baffles.


I drilled holes for the mounting points in the mufflers. I did one on the top muffler and two on the one that will be on the bottom.


I then placed bolts and nuts.


The nuts are then welded to the mufflers.


For the top muffler mount I modified some  KZ440 rear motor mounts. The smaller bracket will be welded to the frame.


Here is how it will fit, nice and out of sight behind the muffler. Since I'd painted the frame rather than powder coating, it'll be easy to touch up the areas were I'm adding mounting tabs.


For the lower muffler mount I'm using an old aluminum bracket from a sport bike. I welded a tab to the frame for it to bolt on to.


I'm patterning the heat shields after the style used on old Torque Engineering expansion chambers. They are very simple and look great. I started with some 3/16" steel rod, and clamped a socket on a piece of angle iron to help bend it.




Here it is after bending.


Then cut it off and weld.


Then some cleanup with a flapper wheel.


I used some masking tape on some left over 16 gauge sheet metal to see how thick to make the middle part, and then cut it out.


Here they are welded. I then drilled the mounting holes and welded nuts on the exhaust to mount them. I'll be using stainless pan head screws for mounting.


Before finish welding I wanted to check clearance with the front tire. Even past maximum travel I'll have plenty of clearance between the tire and exhaust.


Here is the exhaust ready for sandblasting and painting. The exhaust will be black, and I'll probably paint the heat shields silver.