Well, I did it last night. Took me and a 6 of Newcastle longer than it should have, but it wasn't a bad way to spend a Friday evening in the garage. I think it's going to work nicely. My MIG welds aren't as pretty as I'd like, but no big deal as they won't be seen anyway. I plan to paint the welds and get it back on the bike for testing later this afternoon.

 

Just finished mine. My buddy welded it up for me and it looks great. Gonna try and put it on tomorrow... if I have time after work. Excited to see how much difference it makes.

 

just finished putting mine back together. No problems at all with the fit, going back on. No shrinkage or warping due to the MIG heat. heat shields totally hide the work unless you are REALLY looking for it. Haven't ridden it yet, but it has a noticeably different sound at idle. Deeper and a bit louder I'd say. there is definitely still more exhaust coming out of the right muffler than the left. Can't wait to ride check it.

**Edit** I've now ridden about 150mi on it w/out the CAT and am very pleased overall. It now has the sound I want. It's my daily driver unless it's freezing outside, and I drive 120mi a day. So I don't want it loud, but I want it to sound like a Harley and now it does. It's still a hot motor, but the reduction in heat on my right calf is amazing! I'm still going to add a PCV to see if I can get it to run a little cooler yet, but so far I'm glad I did the de-cat myself and didn't spend $500 on a new head pipe. This cost me nothing.

 

Sorry for the delay in gettin back. Yep plan on the mig, can't see why my "chicken sheet" beads won't work. Like you said can't see the darn thing anyways. Just lookin for the same deeper sound you talk about. For the few hours it takes....it's works for me. Any de cel pops?

 

There's a very definite change in the sounds on decel, but no pops. There are some pops if I simply rev it up and let it snap back to idle position out of gear, but it did that with the cat in as well. Dealer told me no big deal. There's no popping decelerating when in gear though. I'm pleased with it so far. Let us know how yours goes! I did order a PCV today and will put that in this week I hope.

 

Is all that blue from heat? Only one side was affected. Could one punch a hole in the cat with a hole drill and not cut the casing?

 

Yes, heat causes the color change to blue. As for drilling a hole through the cat, it will work, to what extent I do not know. In principal it would relieve back pressure and assumely some of the heat. Will a hole through the cat be enough compare to removal of the entire cat, that I do not know.

FYI: I remember my first bike back in the early 70's was a Triump 650. The "bluing" of the header pipes right at the bend in the pipe as it came out of the cylinder head was considered a badge of honor. It showed that you where out running the bike and no longer a rookie.

 

In my opinion and experience gutting the head pipe is a waste of time. Save up the extra bucks and get a real exhaust system. I gutted my headpipe and added a thunderheader slipon. I had decel pop that was annoying. I tried using a PCV and a Power Vision. Still had decel pop and bike just never ran as it should have.
It was a waste of time and money.
I ended up getting a 2-1 Dragula pipe and man, Im kicking myself in the but for not doing this in the first place. No decel pop, Runs strong toughout all the bands.
gutting the headpipe leaves a large collector area for the exhaust to get stuck or lost in. Do yourself a favor and just buy a complete exhaust system. Just my two cents and experience.

 

Just gutted the OEM cat myself and paid $20 for a sick *** mig weld job to to close up the trap door... I personally haven't had any problems, no decel pop or anything I don't like. Only a slightly increased idle sound with a gnarly WOT sound that gave my bike a little more soul. I still plan to add some slip-on's in the near future but at least the bike flows with less restriction now...

Worth it...!

 

I disagree, it's a cheap way out for some. I didn't have any Deaccel Pop on mine and I still don't. It's possible you had an exhaust leak the first time around after you gutted it.