Exhaust Head Bolts...

[NMills]

Has anyone changed thier stock header pipe bolts or something else??? i have the stock ones and i really don't like them... they are all screwed in and it does not seem like they are as long as they could be... my right side seems fine... but my left side have only a couple turns into the nut.... does not look right... i saw a road bike that had i think allen head bolts... looked sharp and clean... well to me anyways...

What has anyone done? or is this just a waste???

[CJM]

Sure one of thems not snapped and shorter than the others.

Id leave them alone, I had one snap on me and I had to drill it out-now there is quite a large piece of bolt I used as a stud b/c (and the reason I dislike helicoils) the stupid helicoil didnt hold.

The header flanges that bolt on should be flat-if they arent you need to heat them up and fix that.

[NMills]

They are relativly new... not broken in anyway... put them in last year... been having problems with them backing out a lot... so when i did my bottom swap i figured i'd set the studs a little deeper... and they just don't seem to have the lenght needed to go thru the nut completely...

[CJM]

That seems very odd, I had a similar issue with them backing out because as I mentioned before the header flanges were bent and not making good contact.

Are you sure you didnt put them in backwards? They do have 2 sides-1with more and 1 with less thread. I believe the lesser thread goes to the outside.

[2001400exrida]

i thought the header flanges were supposed to bend a little? i know mine are slightly curved. i'll have to check the newer one to see if they are bent on that one.

[CJM]

Originally posted by 2001400exrida
i thought the header flanges were supposed to bend a little? i know mine are slightly curved. i'll have to check the newer one to see if they are bent on that one.

Nope, they should be fairly flat. Mine curved quite a bit and I realized that due to the carbon build up I accidentally put an extra crush gasket in there cause I thought I yanked the other one out.

Got the torch out at a buddies we straightened them and put one gasket in and no more issues.

Honestly it is a stupid design overall. The head should only have 1 port an then you wouldnt have to worry about 99% of the problems we have with the headers (like being a pain to get off and on, studs pulling out, 2x crush gaskets, etc).

[2001400exrida]

i can almost garuntee that i did the same thing.

I couldn't find the old crush gaskets and they didn't seem to be in there. so we jammed the new copper gaskets in and just tightened it down to spec.

it does seem like it sticks out more but i definetly don't have any leaks i've checked that several times.

far as the dual ports. it sucks for routing the clutch cable too haha.

[CJM]

Id remove the extra gaskets and bend the brackets back into shape, it leaked on mine quite a bit-you could see the carbon build up head a bit too.

[2001400exrida]

Originally posted by CJM
Id remove the extra gaskets and bend the brackets back into shape, it leaked on mine quite a bit-you could see the carbon build up head a bit too.

i'm not for certain that mine are leaking. if they aren't i'm not going to mess with it, that would just be unnecessary. Is there any sure fire way to tell if they are in fact leaking?

[CJM]

Carbon build up where the headers seat to the head or start it up and put your hand over the exhaust-you will know if its leaking cause it will escape from the leak if it has one.

[2001400exrida]

ok cool. if i ever seen carbon build up i'll first try to tighten and then i'll end up taking the headers off and trying to rip out those old smashed black copper gaskets.

thanks cjm

[CJM]

NP man.

Listen tho, be careful tightening it to much. Those studs can only handle so much before they pull out and then you have more problems. Best to make it hand tight and then slightly more, ride it around a bit (heating it up) and then re-tighten it slightly.

[2001400exrida]

u mean hand tight with my fingers? or hand tight iwth a half inch socket? i just used a half inch socket and got it pretty snug, i don't think it's leaking.

[CJM]

Nah man, tight with a 12mm wrench. They arent half inch unless someone swapped them.

Snug by hand, then once you ride tighten them again the next day snug.

[2001400exrida]

yeah i meant a 1/2 in. socket.

i can tell by looking at them that the flanges aren't in as far as my 07 400ex. they sit almost flush with the fins on the head. I'll have to tighten it down more to get it flush, bugt again no leaks so i think i'm good.