Road Star Clinic - DG Hard-Krome 3" Straight Baffle Modification

DG Hard-Krome 3" Straight Baffle Modification

Written by Mike VanDenburgh

Friday, 11 June 2004

Several people have complained that their after market pipes are too loud.
This can be very annoying on long trips. Here is a cheap and easy modification for the DG HK baffles.

1. Go to Home Depot and buy 2 Danco Crumb Cups. Located in the sink repair department. Danco part #89049. The price at my Home Depot was $1.48 each. They appear to be stainless steel.

2. Remove the baffle set screw with a 3/16" Allen head wrench.

If the baffle has been in for a while, a squirt of WD-40 around the inner edge will assist with the removal.

3. Place the baffle in a vise.

4. The lip of the crumb cup needs to be ground so it will fit inside the baffle. Slowly turn on a grinder using a pair of pliers or welders gloves (it will get hot!)

5. Cut between holes on 4 sides of basket using a pair of dykes. Bend up and down where cuts were made.

6. Insert basket into baffle. Push down until the lip on the basket contacts the lip inside of the baffle. Tap lightly around the basket's outer edge with a screwdriver or drift and a hammer if necessary. The cut and bends on the 4 sides will hold the baffle in place. I also recommend taking a punch and lightly staking the basket around it's lip. 3 or 4 light stake points should assure a rattle free assembly.

NOTE: The crumb cup (basket) goes in the end coming from the header pipe.

7. Put baffle back in exhaust pipe. That may be the hardest part! Lining it back up takes practice!

Be sure to use some Loctite on the set screw when reinstalling. Be sure to wipe away any remaining WD-40.

The resulting sound will be somewhere between a stage 1 and stage 3 mod on the OEM pipes. This will result in a slight loss of power. You can continue to fine-tune the sound and performance by drilling out the center hole of the inserted cup (see below).

I personally did the additional mod pictured above on the right and am very happy with the volume and performance.

EDITOR NOTE: Mike also sent us this picture of an alternative suggested to him by Starman with the following note: "Alternatively, you could attempt the same mod without removing the baffles as pictured above. Wedge the crumb cups into the back of the baffle and seal with a hi-temp silicone" -Thanks Starman!

Questions should be asked in our forum (Use discuss link below). The forum is very active and you stand a good chance of getting your questions answered there. If you would like to leave feedback for the author, or have additional information you think will benefit others, please use the comment section at the bottom of this page.

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)

DISCLAIMER: This information and procedure is provided as a courtesy and is for informational purposes only. Neither the publishers nor the authors accept any responsibility for the accuracy, applicability, or suitability of this procedure. You assume all risks associated with the use of this information. NEITHER THE PUBLISHERs NOR THE AUTHORs SHALL IN ANY EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OF ANY NATURE ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR MISUSE OF THIS INFORMATION OR LACK OF INFORMATION. Any type of modification or service work on your motorcycle should always be performed by a professional mechanic. If performed incorrectly, this procedure may endanger the safety of you and others on your motorcycle and possibly invalidate your manufacturer’s warranty.

Quote this article on your site | Views: 31698

Comments (10)

Whats is this "Too Loud" you speak of
Written by Frankie_G, on 04-19-2008 17:43
:grin

Hard Krome baffle mod
Written by Fergie, on 11-14-2007 21:49
When I first read about this I thought you were nuts. Crumb Cups from Home Depot??? But hey they are too loud, so what the heck. Never did get the baffles out, I drilled 3 holes in each baffle, used sheet metal screws and locktite, and a dremel tool to take out the middle. Sounds great. Got about 150 miles on her. Does not seem to hurt perfomance. Great tip. By the way, my baby is a 03 limited edition

Hard Krome baffles
Written by fastjohnny, on 09-11-2007 19:24
Did anyone have to make any carb adjustments after installing the home made baffles? If so, what did you do?
John

Roadhouse slip-ons baffle mod.
Written by Greysnake, on 05-18-2007 21:40
forgot one thing :upset

You don't have to grind the edges of the cups before putting them in the baffles.

Roadhouse slip-ons baffle mod.
Written by Greysnake, on 05-18-2007 15:47
I did this mod on my Roadhouse slip-ons with a little
difference. I used the larger cup #88967 with the center
post. cut that out and followed the rest of the information here. Really worked great :grin

Removing the pipes.
Written by mikes, on 09-18-2006 15:18
I have removed and reinstalled my HK pipes as well as stock. It's a piece of cake. You will need a set of longer style metric allen wrenches and a couples of metric box end wrenches. I had mine off in 20 minits and I was taking my time.

Cobra Speedter Longs
Written by ViperX, on 06-23-2006 07:56
This mod worked perfectly inserting the crumb cups in the front side of the cobra baffles of the speedter longs. Additionally, there was no need to grind the edges, fits right in....

Hard Krome 3" Big Straights Installatio
Written by TVB, on 06-12-2006 12:45
Has anyone ever installed HK pipes themselves? I had mine done by a dealer but a buddy bought some HK 3" and it's difficult to find a dealer that will do it anymore out here in California and of course the HK website says it's easy to do but I'd like an opinion from some one who has actually done it.

Terry

Written by postie, on 02-03-2006 08:28
Hi guys,
I'm interested in buying some DG HK 2.75 Big Straights, but can't find a distributor in Australia. I e-mailed the company, but have not had a reply. Can somebody tell me what they cost at the moment, as I'm not sure if the prices I've got are current. U.S. dollars is OK, I can do the conversion to Aussie dollars. I think it will be cheaper for me to import a set of pipes from the States than to have a set made here, and I really like the look of the DG HK pipes.

Hard Krome baffles
Written by rev1700, on 08-13-2005 17:23
I followed the directions in the tech tips section for Hard Krome baffles, and this home brew solution cut the harsh edge just enough so that the factory baffles still have plenty of character without being obnoxious. It was reasonably straight-forward. Adding a bit of back pressure increased my performance and my gas mileage.
rev1700

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Tech Articles

Handlebars + Controls

License Plates

Lubrication

Luggage/Pouches

Misc Technical Papers

RSC Login

RSC Newsfeeds
RSC NewsFeed

The Road Star Clinic is a collaborative community of riders who archive and publish user contributed technical data about Yamaha Road Star motorcycles.

We also sponsor the creation and support of other community websites similar to our own. Inquiries about availability of a website for your community can be submitted to us via any "Contact Us" option on the Clinic.