Forum

[MickB]

I am about to order one of Mr H's 91080 silencers for my 2012 Electra EFI. Firstly, can some one tell me the difference between this silencer and the India lump that's fitted as standard please? I know it's a lot lighter and shorter but I seem to remember reading that there's a catalytic converter in the India one...? Secondly, when I fit the new silencer I want to re-align the downpipe but I'm not quite sure how it's held in to the cylinder head. If I loosen the two nuts on the flange at the cylinder head will I be able to move the pipe and straighten it up or is it not quite as straight forward as that? It's getting on for forty five years since I last pulled a motorbike to bits and I really don't want to get it wrong. Any help would be appreciated. Mick.

[rog]

Mick, yes there is a catalyst in the original silencer, but not in the Hitchcock's 91080. Although the cat is required to meet Euro emissions standards before the bike can be imported, once in the UK you can do away with it as it is not required for an MOT. You can loosen the 2 exhaust studs and rotate the downpipe slightly, but the pipe has a narrow flange that seals in the head with an annular gasket which could be disturbed. I'd be inclined to do the re-alignment job and see if the joint blows or not. If it does you could try some silicone sealer or buy a new gasket which is very cheap.

[trevorch]

Hi MickB,

I fitted the same a few weeks ago to my B5 without changing the down pipe. It slide onto the old down pipe very smoothly and since the one point fixing has a slider at the exhaust box end, there was no need to realign the pipe. (I did try later to undo the manifold connection but after the two nuts were removed I found it impossible to pull off the heat sink finned ring, after an our I gave up. Putting the nuts back on, the pipe resealed without any silicone being required.)

I full concur with Rog's comments. In addition, mine was delivered by mistake without the removable baffle, which I thought was in place. Extremely noisy, then Mr H delivered the baffle, which incidentally needs to be shortened by about 4cm at the inside end, and that made some difference, but it is far from quiet. Certainly revs more freely, but lack of good weather since Xmas I have not yet taken it for a run of more than 5km. Good luck.
Cheers TrevorCH

[MickB]

Thanks for the information both, much appreciated. I think I'll stick with the original silencer for the time being and try and straighten things up by elongating the hole in fixing bracket and see how it goes from there. The original silencer is noisy enough and I'm not quite sure what the law is over here with regards to the catalyst. Mick.