Hole in the Header

So, I bought this bike with the VH sidewinder on it, and you know.. it's not so much for clearance. As such, it looks like the headers took a beating down near the bottom turn under the engine. There's a pretty good amount of denting and a few holes.

I was thinking of having a friend of mine weld up the holes, being worried about proper backpressure and such. Do you think it's necessary? I've seen tons of chops with the headers lopped off at about the same spot, so I wonder if leaking is really any kind of issue.

What do you think?

Post edited by: Cardin, at: 2006/05/31 12:54

Dented and punctured where indicated.

make it round first
tail pipe expander should do the trick if it's dented on the bottom

then cut a canoe shaped piece out of some auto muffler pipe and braze it on.

mine's not dented but was worn a little thin on the bottom of the collector where the head pipes fit in. Will be brazing a piece on soon. Before it gets too thin.

Right on.

Do you think it's harmful to the bike to ride it as is?

I doubt you'll do any harm if the hole is small. It's not
hard to fix. I'd just go ahead and take care of it. It will
make the bike more enjoyable to ride knowing it's progressing.

Just remember how hot & corrosive exhaust gasses are, especially when they're close to the head. A small hole will soon become larger. Ever had a bad exhaust gasket on a car?

Depending on the size of the holes, it might backfire or burble a bit backing out of the throttle but otherwise it'd just be an annoying noisemaker and perhaps an excuse from some nose-to-the-header Barney to give you some guff.

It's a cheap fix.

Right on.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to fix it up. It's more of a time and money thing right now. I'm going to go on a little trip with her in a few weeks and gotta pinch my pennies. More of a, now or later question.

It does backfire and burble a little on decceleration.. I was wondering if that was the cause.