RD 350LC Standard Exhausts

[SP885]

Hi Guys

I haven't had my 350LC long, and am very happy with it but the finish on the standard exhausts was letting it down, the left one is in good nick, and really just needed cleaning up and painting, however the right one had been down the road as we say, and had a few nasty dents in it, a mate of mine has his own panel beating shop and said I'll fix them up and paint them, bring them in, so I took them off and thought before I take them I'll give them a decoke with the good old caustic soda, so I let them stew for a couple of days at work in an old metal bin with a wooden bung in one end, they were pretty good to be honest, not a lot of crap in there, the bike has only done 22,000km though, anyway I have read a fair bit of information on the UK RDLC crazy site about the LC exhausts, and how everyone thinks there the same, so this is what I found with mine,

Both of the pipes on the bike are the later ones, with the strengthening collar welded below the flange that bolts up to the barrel

The left one that's in good nick is the real deal, has a pink paint mark on the hanger bracket with the O stamped on it

The right one which needs repair has a green paint mark on it, and no O stamped on it meaning it's from a 250

Now the chances of me finding a good genuine right hand 350 pipe in Sydney would have to be close to zero, but guys on the LC crazy site have told me to cut the weld next to the hanger bracket and I will see the baffle plate inside, the 350 pipe has 8 holes in it, where the 250 has only 4 holes, simply drill the extra 4 holes in it, and weld it back together

I wouldn't be real confident in doing a good job of this myself, so does anyone know of a place in Sydney where I could take both the exhausts, get them to do the modifications to the 250 pipe, and fix the dents in it, then clean and paint both the pipes, a guy I know reckons there was a place in either Rydalmere or Moorebank that specialised in this type of work, but he can't remember their name, I did a Google search, but couldn't find anything

I think I have rattled on enough guys, thanks in advance for any help

Cheers

Steve

[SP885]

Never got any replies to this post, so a bit of an update, I managed to do the modifications to the pipe by cutting it, drilling the extra holes and welding it back together, however a mate of mine who has his own panelbeating shop thought he could get the dents out for me, but the pipes are too thick for conventional dent pullers, so no luck there after 3 weeks

I have been told there are a couple of places in Sydney that repair and paint the pipes, but no one seems to know where they are, or even a name, must be someone around who can do this, or am I wrong, or does anyone have a good no dents right hand standard LC350 pipe for sale?

Thanks in advance for any help

Steve

[JonW]

Knowing how tough it is to find good OEMs I would be tempted to buy something newer and better sounding and correct for a back in the day upgrade.

[Greasemeup]

Are the dent meant to be there, I mean they aren't for the centre or side stand clearance are they?

I have hear of people drilling a small hole opposite a dent and using a long punch knocking out the dent then weld up the hole, you could handle that yourself, right?

Best of luck.,


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[JonW]

That would work well GMU, the repairs would be on the inside i suspect.

[Greasemeup]

Depends where the dent is I suppose, but most likely. I think watching some motorcycle tank paint less dent removal youtube videos would give a good idea of how, all be it with a little more direct force


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[SP885]

Thanks for the replies guys

I am familiar with where some of the dents (if you want to call them that) are supposed to be, for the centre stand etc, that's on the LH pipe, which mine is very good, the RH one has a dent in it for either the kickstart or the folding footrest, I forget which

I am just going to clean them both up and paint them for now, so I can ride it over the Xmas break, then try and find a repairer in the New Year, bad time of year to be trying to get anything done now, have been given a couple of leads yesterday that I will call tomorrow, and see where that goes