Wilsons Sandbox

Message: 17 Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 18:17:31 -0700 From: "Stuart Mumford" Subject: Re: Air Box Mod - New Way? Reversable! / Aftermarket exhausts. Depends how you ride, but the way I ride it is about 1100 - 1400 miles max. The first time I repacked the BG, after about 2000 miles, you couldn't even tell there had ever been packing in there in the first place! I should qualify all my whining by saying I bought the FIRST Big Gun ever sold for the KLR650, and they have made lots of refinements and changed the design significantly since then. The man to check with regarding the latest generation of BG's is "The lister you've been waiting for", Mr. Andy Cohen. Take it away Andy!! CA Stu www.finishlinewest.com "our vehicles don't compete with other vehicles, they compete with sex" [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

People that spent money on Big Gun exhaust systems should be pissed with these failures. What about those that don't live near the manufacturer and can't get a quick fix from them. I ride my KLR in hot weather and at similar speeds and my stock pipe has never had to be even be tightened. Its big, its bulky, some tweet, but I've never heard of one failing or having to be repacked. Mine still sounds the same as when new and does not yet tweet. Big Gun is not a cheap exhaust system and in my opinion, it has no excuses for repacking issues, fracturing, rubbing the tire when the shock compresses and all the other problems reported here. I vote with my credit card and Big Gun helps keeps my credit card balance low. -svt-

>i cant say with any certainty that running those speeds for those distances >in those temperatures are condusive to not having any problems but we did

it

>and paid the price. Marks bike ran so hot on the way to moab he chipped

the

>ceramic coating on the headpipe(due to a lean condition), for those who

dont

>know that coating is good to 1300 degrees before failing and on the way

home

>his BG literally disintegrated. i was able to piece it back together in >order for him to get home but that is a story for another day.

Stu asked that this be forwarded to the list due to technical difficulties on his end. -svt=

>--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Steven van Twuyver" wrote: >> People that spent money on Big Gun exhaust systems should be pissed >with >> these failures. >-- SNIP -- > >I'll say it again. It is a fine product for a race bike / low mileage >application. They never advertised it as a pipe for touring, maybe >the dirtbike-ness of the KLR made them think we all ride motocross >and don't put a shitload of miles on our bikes? > >I think with that in mind, maybe Mr. Cohen should rethink his choice >of exhaust for the Police Special KLR... > >The folks at Big Gun are really cool, I can't see them having any >malice or deception in mind as to the durability of their product. I >loved the shit out of mine for the first few hundred miles! > >CA Stu > >

In a message dated 6/9/01 7:13:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, InWoods13 writes: http://www.geocities.com/mrktm/creekflyer.html>>

>>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I have written in detail on this list about what I believe to be fundamental engineering flaws in the Big Gun, none of which have been adequately addressed by the recent 'improvements'. Big Gun began using high temp SS rivets at the steel/can flange connection AFTER I posted my own repair using SS rivets when the unit was torn apart due to thermal stress. (Maybe it was a coincidence.) This stress was induced, I believe, by an improperly designed thermal slip joint that 'locks up' and transfers stress to the aluminum/steel flange connection. The failure of this connection is not due to 'missing screws', rather, failure modes are accelerated when this joint is mechanically locked. ( IOW - Let it slip, man, if your other slip joint locks up!) And I can tell you that the rivets, 5/8" o.c., don't help. They got torn out of the can too. The end of the can now looks like a hole saw. I wish I was wrong about the what appears to be strangely sociopathic social skills exhibited by Big Gun personnel, by virtue of the fact they continue to market the unit despite known deficiencies which cause catastrophic failures for KLR's with moderate mileages. I don't really know what 'moderate' means anymore, but let's agree on 10,000 miles or more. My BG has in excess of 40k miles, but I observed problems at 10k. I will never forget when my BG failed in Utah on my way to the Yukon last year, and the response from BG saying that "no parts are available" and "it would take a month to get a new unit to you." I was prepared to spend cash, pay for FedEx, and move the earth to expedite a fix, but BG confirmed that no amount of money could help me or motivate them. I'm getting ready to buy the Laser, and will send the old BG unit to BG with a note to "do the right thing." Oh, and for what it's worth, we shouldn't even be worried about an exhaust system while running the bike at speed in high temperatures. That's what we do, man. The rest of the bike can take it, so why should we let BG dictate total performance because of a lousy life- cycle? It's not rocket science. Fireball

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Andy Cohen" wrote: >...I took my muffler in just before leaving because it had seperated in the front part of the > muffler where steel meets aluminum. the reason for the failure was entirely > my fault as one of the bolts that hold the muffler to the frame had fallen > out and allowed the muffler to rock back and forth. that being said during > my trip to and from moab i encountered a new problem, the rear of the > muffler started to pull away from the allen bolts. i can still see packing > inside but just how much i have no idea. > > I do have an active dialogue with BG and they are working to resolve many of > the problems with the older style of pipe. In BG's defense (i think) i have > to admit (no comments from the peanut gallery) that in order to get to moab > in a timely fashion and be able to enjoy the time off Mark and I rode in > speeds excess of 90MPH anybody who would run a bike that hard in 114 degree > temps is asking for trouble and i readily admit that fact. on the way home > we ran the bikes just as hard and harder because both of us needed to be at > work the next day. the single longest stretch of asphalt we gobbled up was > 100 miles long and we ran 85-95 all the way. > > i cant say with any certainty that running those speeds for those distances > in those temperatures are condusive to not having any problems but we did it > and paid the price. Marks bike ran so hot on the way to moab he chipped the > ceramic coating on the headpipe(due to a lean condition), for those who dont > know that coating is good to 1300 degrees before failing and on the way home > his BG literally disintegrated.