am i a sucker? (new muffler)

[Jeff Saline]

On Wed, 11 May 2011 08:31:16 -0700 Flower Jamie writes:

> Esteemed group: OK, so it was 3 am and I was sleep-surfing, ended up > ordering a Lexx muffler from a place called Thumper Jockey. It was > new, it was shiny, it was cheap ($199.99 all told). It came faster > than promised. It's on the coffee table, still virginal in its > bubble wrap. What do I do with it? Nothing against this particular > model, but the consensus seems to be that no aftermarket muffler is > worth the expense in terms of power or weight saving. (OK, some say > they got some more low end, which would be nice.) > On my bathroom scale this one weighs 6 lbs with the included > midpipe and mounting bands; the stocker weighs 11 (I'm floating, I'm > floating! There's no place like home!). It's advertised as > forest-safe and not much louder than stock, "below 96 dB" (exhaust > pipes should not be mistaken for horns). I really don't want to > rejet, I don't want to see the inside of the carb even long enough > to do the 22 cent mod, much less drill out the slide, etc. The > spark plug's been in there for 5000 miles and is a gorgeous tan > color (though come to think of it, it was way looser than 10 ft-lbs > when I took it out). Before the fancy-can fever I was planning to > expose and re-adjust the idle mix screw to 2-1/4 turns out, because > I heard that might fix the little stumble I get when first opening > throttle, and -- I forget why else- coughing on decel?. I have a > new TwinAir foam filter to put on, with no airbox mods. > Do I go for it and assume the cool looks and sound will > convince me of all that new smooth power I'm getting? Or do I beg > Thumper Jockey to take it back and try to put the whole sordid > episode out of my thoughts? I just checked for the first time (told > you: sleep-surfing!), and their return policy seems kind of stingy: > defective items or items damaged in shipping only. So I may be stuck > with it or offering it to you all. Any feedback appreciated. > -Jamie

<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> Jamie, Doesn't sound to me like you are really wanting a performance increase or to change the bike much. It is after all a KLR and you'll never get significant performance increases from any individual mods. Unless you have a particular issue you want to address I don't see any point in putting on an aftermarket exhaust. That almost $200 is a lot of smiles when it's converted to fuel. : ) I'm gonna guess if you try to sell it at best you might only get $150 for it. So if the company will take it back, even with a 20% restocking fee, you might be better off in your wallet. Just for grins if you only get $150 for it and fuel is $4 a gallon that might be worth about 1,875 miles of fuel at 50 mpg. I haven't done carb mods on my KLR and it runs well. It starts easily, runs out good and has plenty of power. You might want to consider only turning out the idle mixture screw to maybe 1/4 turn more than it is now and seeing how that affects the stumble off idle and popping on decel. I think the blanket statement of 2.5 turns out is bogus as each engine needs to be tuned for it's characteristics and operating conditions. I did do a 685 kit but that was to address an oil use issue. The real benefit I see from the 685 is a smoother running engine and no oil use. (Turns out the ring gaps were aligned on the 650 piston so I know why it was using oil.) If you are concerned about resale even a little bit I think for most folks the stock exhaust is a selling point compared to aftermarket. There are lots of guys that install aftermarket exhausts but they suggest to me the bike might have been ridden hard. If I was buying a used bike and it had an aftermarket exhaust on it I'd take about $100 off the price of the bike. That's about what I figure it would cost to put a stock exhaust back on. I'll suggest the best place to put money in a KLR is suspension and the fuel tank. For some, brakes are high on the list too but I have over 30,000 smiles on my KLR with the original pads and can still lock up either end if I'm dumb enough to apply them too much. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT . . ____________________________________________________________ Groupon™ Official Site 1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city's best! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4dcab8d1d7a2436f301st03vuc