Possible cheapie exhaust conversion
 

I was digging thru my storage shed and found my stock exhaust pipe form my 05 honda trx450r and by the looks of it, with a couple of brackets, and some flexpipe, it could be a good alternative to the small pipe some of you guys use. I have seen my stock pipe on ebay go for 10-20 bucks and this thing is solid, and has a spark arrestor built into it. i am including some pics with a ruler and the pipe. and would like to know what u guys think. in the last picture, you can see that the inlet on the pipe angles rearward at an angle towards the engine. a plus for the pipe is that its stainless steel. was thinking the bracketing could start at the frame of the tractor and connect to the hood bolt, as to relieve any stress to the engine block.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...r/101_3014.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...r/101_3016.jpg

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had to do approximations on this,didn't have my tape measure with

first remove old pipe and shrouds in foreward engine area

all work will be done on exhaust side of engine

did a little looking today on my 1450 and it looks as tho all thats needed to put this pipe on is about a 2 to 3 foot length of some 3/4 x 1/2 flat bar and a couple bolts and nuts. Using the lower tab(by the inlet) locate a place high on the side of the cowl, not the hood, and drill a hole either to be tapped or to allow it to be nutted from the inside.(a 1/4 to 1/2 inch standoff may be needed, depending on what model cub you have) then with your length of flat bar, drill a hole in the end to be mounted on the rear tab of the pipe. and the same on opposite end of the bar and make a hole in the frame and then bolt into place.

then add flex pipe and possibly a 90 degree elbow @ engine.

just an idea. if you know anyone that took off their stock atv pipe, it should help you save some big bucks if you need to replace your old cub pipe

Keep in mind that drilling holes in your tractor is going to lower its value. I think you will run into some problems putting that on a 1450. The engine is not mounted solid to the frame, as you know, so it will move around slightly relative to the frame, etc. If you brace the muffler to the tractor, the vibration of the engine will probably crack your mounting bracket, the grille casting, and worse yet, possibly the engine block, depending on how much the whole thing is tugging on the exhaust port on the motor when the engine is vibrating around in there. I'm not sure if the flexible muffler pipe is flexible enough to keep the muffler and engine moving independently; if your iso-mounts are not perfect I would question how well that would work our how long it would last. That thing is also HUGE and looks to be nearly 6" wider than the tractor. I don't know how you'll get that in there with the side panels on. All of that shrouding you want to remove has a very specific purpose: it routs all of the hot air out of the front of the tractor so the engine cools properly.

The OEM, correct mufflers for these things aren't THAT horribly expensive, and they'll probably last you another 45 years. To me, it would still make the most sense to replace a rusted out muffler with a new OEM one.:TwoCents:

Matt, the PO mia'ed the side panels, so the cooling part is not an issue. the pipe would be a verticle mount outside of the cowlings. and if i remember correctly, the end that will be hooked to the block will not have a clamp, similar to the current pipe. the only diff will be the flex pipe instead of the short solid pipe that comes off the oem

I would still be concerned about hanging all that weight off the grille casting. What does that thing weigh?

the pipe weighs eight pounds. was thinking of adding extra bracing to the pipe that hooks up to a couple points inside the frame where there are holes or bolts already to support ther weight. may be able to even rubber mount the pipe. the pipe when done should sound nice. as it was designed for a 450cc racing motor that puts out 39 @7800rpm from the factory, and still be arround 80db at full song.