the exhaust system on my '72 R60/5 has been modified by previous owner, he replaced the original silencers with welded-on VW units, no Idea why he did, now I am basically looking at a 1 Pc. exhaust system that I have to remove in one piece.
I do not want to grind or cut the silencer portion while everything is on the bike, stress on header and sparks flying around. So, it looks to me that in order of pulling the complete exhaust system off the bike, I would have to raise bike, front wheel, high enough to get the cross over pipe past the front wheel.
Once off the bike I could attempt to seperate VW silencer and replace with proper unit. Sure would be less hassle if it could be done while unit is on the bike.
Can I place a jack under the engine to lift bike a couple of inches without causing damage ?
You might pull the rear axle and dislodge the rear wheel so you can tip the bike to the rear. Bind the center stand to the front wheel or the forks with a ratchet strap placed above the crossover pipe, so the stand can not fold up on you. With the rear wheel free under the fender or removed, you should be able to tip the bike and gain front wheel clearance to remove the exhaust. Make sure the heat sink nuts at the heads are free to spin off before you start. I'm not keen on using the motor as a lift point.
former Airmarshal, IL.
1. This is the beauty of working on a "bike lift". You can use your ratchet strap over the back of the seat to pull the rear wheel down, thus raising the front wheel high enough to pull the exhaust sys out.Â
2. Your mufflers may not be intentionally welded to the header pipes. I've owned a few Airheads where the presence of water and heat did a "permanent attachment" trick to the mufflers.Â
What should be done is to coat the inside of your new mufflers and outside of the header pipes with Nevr-Seez BEFORE assembly. This adds a thin layer of nickel to the joint, which keeps the similar metals of the pipe and muffler from self-bonding. You'll need some of this compound anyway to keep the finned exhaust spigot nuts from bonding to the head. Chris Harris recommends the copper based compound; I use the 2400F degree "nuclear grade" compound. Whichever mix you choose, this compound is mandatory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRXKC9Yxfug
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
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