TBR & Torq Loopz Installed

[Elroy]

Did the install of my TBR pipes and torq loopz this past Saturday. On a difficulty/technical scale I'd personally give this job a 6 or 7 out of 10. However when it comes to a PITA (pain in the ass) Scale, I'd say it is a 12 out of 10! Putting back on all that plastic was nerve-wracking to say the least. The heat shields and exhaust cover with all those stirrups and rubber tabs had me thinking I was going to have to sell the bike cause I couldn't get the damn thing back together! I do have a small gap between the muffler and heat shield on the right side, the left side is nearly perfect, but I think I'll be able to live with it. Did the ECM reset when it was about 38* outside, and one thing that did concern me, is I got a puddle of condensation underneath the back joint between the inlet pipe and muffler, but it seemed to dry up after running a bit, perhaps the heat after running for 15mins sealed the joint up much better? Attachment 20033Attachment 20038Attachment 20037 Also if someone wouldn't mind telling me what the gap between the lower cowl fog light covers and the front of the engine is I'd appreciate it. Looking at it now it seems like a large gap, but I don't remember what it was like before. The gap measures for me between 3/4 and 7/8 depending on where I measure it at. Attachment 20036 Great sound in the garage, haven't had the privilege to take it down the road yet, weather has been horrid here. The work was worth the effort, but I don't believe I would do it again.

[Hornblower]

Also if someone wouldn't mind telling me what the gap between the lower cowl fog light covers and the front of the engine is I'd appreciate it. Looking at it now it seems like a large gap, but I don't remember what it was like before. The gap measures for me between 3/4 and 7/8 depending on where I measure it at.

The gap should be approximately "finger" size, say about 1/2" or so. If it's much larger than that, you may not have installed it correctly. Are you sure you reinstalled those front two bolts correctly?

[Elroy]

Thanks HB. Nearly positive, re-checked it several times. Longer bolts in the top hole. Push pins are holding the two pieces together. The bolts closer to the fender are secured to their threads. This has me scratching my head, I thought the gap looked a bit too large, I could see the backside of the black plastic bracket the fog light mount in front of (I don't have fog lights though). I'll take another look at it today.

[Hornblower]

Elroy--I'm not talking about the bolts that hold the lower cowl in place. I'm thinking about the two front bolts that hold the lower manifold cover in place. By chance, when you first removed them, did you screw them back partially to remember where they came from and forgot to remove them to reinstall that lower cover?

[Elroy]

Apologies HB, excuse my daftness. Are you then referring to this bolt in the picture? Attachment 20048 I'll double check it but I'm pretty sure its in there. The other side looks pretty good, not nearly the gap, but it was hard to tell as the bike is against the wall on that side and I was only home during my lunch break. I'm thinking I'm going to have to remove the plastic on the left side all the way back to the heat shields and start over. I did notice a gap today between the rear of the manifold/exhaust cover and the front of the heat shield.

[Hornblower]

Yes, Elroy, those are the bolts I was referring to. After thinking more about it, if those weren't installed right, you'd probably have a different problem than the one you're having. Still, something may not be aligned quite right to have gaps as large as yours. Hope you can find it.

[Elroy]

I was wondering what affect that would have on my issue if it weren't installed properly. Thanks anyway HB. After noticing the gap between the manifold cover and the heat shield, I'm sure its an alignment problem that starts back there. Guess I'll undress it and see what I find. Big thanks for all your help Ken!