Ok, so its a lot of details for what happened in about a second. I was rolling backward out of my driveway and starting my bike. I got hit by a strong gust of wind (it is stupid windy in Albuquerque - just yesterday I had to pick my bike off the ground after class because the wind blew it over) and it almost blew me over, so I let off the starter button, and grabbed the front brake. Unfortunately, the bike started as I let off the starter (first time I regret how well my bike starts... damn you carb's, be more reliable in not being reliable!), and that would have been alright aside from the fact that I must have grabbed the brake retarded or something, but the throttle went full open, instantly rev'ed past redline, popped, and I hit the kill swith all at once. I made a second mistake by putting the kill switch back into the run position (I don't know why/how, maybe my hand slipped as my brain wasn't processing the sounds and what not yet) and it turned itself back over with the momentum of the engine, and it popped again. Both pops sent smoke out of the tail pipes (stock).
I sat for a second, collected myself and tried to start the bike again. It started just fine. I rode it up the street. Parked it, looked it over, looking for oil leaks (thinking I may have cracked the head/head gasket) or anything else. It rode fine. It looked fine. It smelt fine. But it sounds way different. The exhaust is low and throaty now. Honestly, it sounds like I want it too, kind of like a Vance exhaust. But, this is not the way to go about it.
I rode it back, parked it in the garage. It seems fine. Starts fine. I tested the headers to make sure each cylinder was firing. They are all firing. I put my hand behind the tail pips... and the right (passenger side) tail pipe feels normal, pressure wise, but the other pipe barely feels like breath. The left side pipe, the one that feels light, also has exhaust leaks from little things like being laid down before, and the kick stand not being tight enough so it rubbed a hole in the mid pipe over the years.
My room mate suggested that it could have cracked/destroyed the baffle in the exhaust. I guess that kind of makes sense. What I want to do is get a compression test though... and see if I blew a piston ring(s).
So... there you have it. Oh, and there is no smoke, no loss in power. Everything feels fine, looks fine and all that... but it just sounds so different, it's like it's not even my bike.
What could cause this? What could have gone wrong?
Thank you,
Adam
I sat for a second, collected myself and tried to start the bike again. It started just fine. I rode it up the street. Parked it, looked it over, looking for oil leaks (thinking I may have cracked the head/head gasket) or anything else. It rode fine. It looked fine. It smelt fine. But it sounds way different. The exhaust is low and throaty now. Honestly, it sounds like I want it too, kind of like a Vance exhaust. But, this is not the way to go about it.
I rode it back, parked it in the garage. It seems fine. Starts fine. I tested the headers to make sure each cylinder was firing. They are all firing. I put my hand behind the tail pips... and the right (passenger side) tail pipe feels normal, pressure wise, but the other pipe barely feels like breath. The left side pipe, the one that feels light, also has exhaust leaks from little things like being laid down before, and the kick stand not being tight enough so it rubbed a hole in the mid pipe over the years.
My room mate suggested that it could have cracked/destroyed the baffle in the exhaust. I guess that kind of makes sense. What I want to do is get a compression test though... and see if I blew a piston ring(s).
So... there you have it. Oh, and there is no smoke, no loss in power. Everything feels fine, looks fine and all that... but it just sounds so different, it's like it's not even my bike.
What could cause this? What could have gone wrong?
Thank you,
Adam
Comment