Food for thought. Exhaust shop people are not very high on the list to give highly correct mechanical advice, as is also most service advisors, parts people, and oil jockeys that try to advise you at a speedy oil change shop.

 

There are two things you need to do and you will be absolutely fine;

Pull the main fuse
Make sure the ground is on the pipe you are welding.

The ground location is important to make sure current is not passing through anything it is not supposed to.

 

Progjet complete. I cut the pipe still on the bike . Sawsall no problem. After I got the 3" piece out I noticed the pipe is not round there,there is an indent on the back side of pipe, so the freeze plug would'nt fit. I took the pipe off and took both pieces to the local muffler shop where they heated it up on a mandrel to round it out so the plugs then fit. He welded it in. $20 to him for lunch. Then a trip to dealer for new flange clip,gasket and nuts for studs. $10 to them. Got home put back together and went for 40 mile ride let it cool down then checked all fasteners for snug. The summary is I love the sound now -- big difference no excess heat on right thigh no codes. Reset FUELPAC for duel exhaust before the ride. So for approx. $35 I got the results I was hoping for. This mod might not be for everyone, but why spend $400? When you get same results for $35.

 

So I should not listen to the people with the welder, the business, that do it every day, all day long, but should listen to some guy on the internet. An in CA, to boot.

 

 

That's not what I said but go ahead and take it to your welder guru. Anyone that said they'd weld away without protecting the electronics I would run fast. But go ahead its your machine. I've been in the trades over 30 years and almost every welder that comes along thinks they know more **** than everyone else, and they've fried more **** while doing it. The real problem is it usually doesn't fry right away, you will start having electrical gremlins down the road for so long you will never correlate that all the issues started after a welder fixed it.

 

I'll add some fuel to the fire, Bagman. I owned and operated a repair facility for most of my adult life ( I'm on my 67th trip around the sun ) and one of my forte's was exhaust fabrication. Not just patching a pipe with an old Budweiser can but full on systems. Many out of stainless steel ( 308 and 409 ). Some were done through the GM Proving Grounds ( Milford Location ) and welding on the car was common place. I did a LOT of fabrication work on rods and had a couple ( cars ) that were trophy winners at Detroit Autorama in the late 70's. Early on we even used a "hot box" ( stick ) welder then later got into wire feeds etc. If proper precautions are used there is little chance of damage. While I can understand the recommendation to remove the part from the scooter I really don't go along with your "everyone is a flunkie" as you insinuated in your reply ... just sayin'

P.S. My oldest son is now a pipe fitter/steam fitter with 636 out of Detroit and his early lessons were taught by yours truly.

 

Larry, As you said and I agree "If proper precautions are taken" that is key. I said most are bad at what they do not all, but I should back pedal on that and say there are quite a few not most. You have about 5 years on me and back then most automotive equipment was all mechanical not electronic like in today's world. That's good to see how you thought your son a good work ethic, there are a lot of young people today don't want to learn the old school way, they think they know it all (I think they're referred to as millennials).
I have been in a large fleet operation that had 102 mechanics in the heyday, down to 88 now. I've seen them come and go, good, bad, and worse. Started as a mechanic coming from my own business, and now getting ready to retire in an maintenance administration. The best ones I have seen are the ones that completed an apprenticeship and or had their own business. The others are the type of people I was referring to. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

 

So years later something fails.

 

No, that would make this subject irrelevant. I would say anywhere from hours to a month or more. Too many variables to pinpoint, but whenever you start to diagnose a symptom of a problem, you have to look back at what was recently touched. Probably 75% of the time some problem stems from a poor previous repair.