COPING with the Stock Threaded Exhaust-Ring/Flange

[DewCatTea-Bob]

____ As most of us already realize, the threaded exhaust-ring pipe-to-head fastener-flange is a fairly poor design on DUCATI's part!
Here's a list of all the related downfalls of the design.....
_ The threaded-ring tends to work loose (due to vibration).
_ It's a real-pain to tighten without bending or busting it's ear-fins, (thus it seems that it can't really be fully tightened) !
_ Every time the threaded-ring comes loose, it then rattles-around & wears-down the threads. _ (More & more so, the longer it's left that way.) _ Not to mention the popping & muted backfire-like sounds which result from a loose ex.pipe-header!
_ Next in sequence,, at some point in the threaded-ring's life, it gets dealt with by an 'Average-joe' who tries to install it cross-threaded, (due to the fact that the threads are too fine for an Average-Jo -[av.jo] to cope with properly). _ Then the av.jo believes that the actual reason that the ex.ring won't tighten-in any further, is: "Kuz it's done gone in az fur as da gosh-dang thang wills goes in thare!" .
So av.jo leaves it that way, and so then the steel lip-flange on the ex.pipe rattles all-around inside on the ex.port-threads and pretty-much destroys most all of the leftover alum.alloy head-threads.

____ The main/root-cause which leads to the above chain-of-events is, that the threaded exhaust ring-flange doesn't actually ever get really tightened fully! _ That's right! _ I'm contending that most all those who think that they've been getting the ex.ring as tight as that stock set-up will go, were actually falling-short of it's true capability!
The prime reason for that, is a combination of (at least) two factors...
_ The lack of a tool which can manage to get some kind of a good & proper grasp of the (stock type) ex.ring! And,
_ The lack of a sufficiant strength & leverage combination, to get the job done nearly as well as it could be!

____ Now here's what can be done to curtail (if not solve) this knuckle-busting issue.....
__ I, (for one), have discovered a method which so greatly increases the 'leverage' factor of the job -(of turning the ex.ring), that no special tool is really needed!
With my method and the use of a simple home-made tool (which grabs only one of the ex.ring's ear-fins at a time),, I've been able to easily tighten, (as well as loosen), the ex.ring so tightly, that it STAYS-PUT exactly where I leave it (tightened at)! _ (Just as most anything else that uses threads will do, when sufficiantly tightened.)
And the process never busts even a single ear-fin! _ (Although I still have bent one, very slightly, while using my particular tool.)
____ My method for turning the ex.ring, is as follows.
__First, for easily getting a tight ex.ring loose,, the muffler must be unbolted from the frame and free to be moved, (if not totally removed).
Next, grab the lower-end of the header-ex.pipe by hand, and cautiously pull it outward & upward, swinging the ex.pipe away from it's normal position next to the motor-case, (thus rotating the ex.pipe-header within the head's ex.port). _ (The ex.pipe should not be so tight in the cyl.head, that this step can't be done, [with care] ! )
Now with your tool (for turning the ex.ring) in place for loosening, begin trying to turn the ex.ring loose while at the same time & same rate of turn, push (swing) the bottom-end of the ex.pipe back down & inward towards it's normal position. ... The ex.ring turns loose EASILY!!
Reposition your ex.ring-tool and the ex.pipe as needed, and repeat the same process until the ex.ring is twistable by hand. _ (You'll find that wiggling the ex.pipe slightly while trying to twist/turn the ex.ring by hand, will allow the ex.ring to rotate more easily! Thus less need for the use of your tool.)
I'll bet that (without the employment of this method), you've never had such an easy job of getting such an ex.ring loose, (that wasn't already too loose) !
__ For tightening the ex.ring to a sufficiant point, (which is fairly beyond the point that's most often reached without using this method),, ya need to properly position your ex-ring-tool and use it to turn/tighten the ex.ring while at the same time swinging the ex.pipe outward & upward, BOTH AT THE EXACT SAME (not too fast) RATE! - (Those of us who understand the 'Coefficient of Friction' will understand why this method works only when both are turned together at the same rate.)
You will definitely notice that your ex.ring-tool will do it's work much more easily! _ (So don't expect to develop the same amount of torque on your tool as you've been used to doing!) _ Hence this method will get it much tighter, even with less force than you're used to having to use against your ex.ring-tool! _ Therefore, quite sufficiant tightening-pressure (between the ex.ring & the head's ex.port-ledge), will likely be reached well before you can no longer continue to turn/tighten the ex.ring (using this method).
Still, I have continued on past the point which is sufficient to make sure that the ex.ring stays put... Pressing-on even until I could no longer even budge the ex.pipe, any at all ! _ And without any notable harm to any of the threads involved! _ I WOULDN'T TRY THAT WITH NOTABLY WORN THREADS (on either part), however!
_Note, I never tried my ex.ring tightening method without using an exhaust-gasket! (Always using either the stock-part or a MotoGuzzi type copper tube-ring.)

____ I really hope that this info will help at least one DUKE-owner to have an easier time dealing with his exhaust-pipe removal/installation!


Your True 'DUKE-Mech' !
DewCatTea-Bob

[kmev]

So what does this homemade tool look like?

[captpaul]

After I reinstall the exhaust pipe, I safety wire it and haven't had any trouble.But when I was a lad, I ran one and without a safety wire woggled out the threads in the head,And had to have a welded in threaded insert in the head,then learned about safety wireing,never had a problem since. Capt Paul,

[DewCatTea-Bob]

___ My original post here was to offer an explaination of my method for how anyone can have a much easier time working with the stock ex.ring, with the use of whatever tool they've been using for the job.
Now for those of you who really don't have a suitable tool for the job (of working with a tight ex.ring), I'll offer an explaination of how I constructed such a (relatively cheap) tool for myself.....

__ I cut a length of (about) 1-inch-square wood, down to about 1-foot long.
Then with my piece of wood laying flat (on one side), I allined a metal-bar (which was about 7x25mm, and almost 1-inch longer than my foot-long piece of wood), over the complete length of the wood and then drilled two holes through both, and bolted them together.
Also, a third hole was drilled through just the metal-bar, (at a point very near to the tip-end of the wood), where the bar's tip-end over-hung (about 12mm) past the tip-end of the piece of wood.
Through that 3rd-hole (which was made through the overhanging area, of the metal-bar's end), I inserted both ends of a 5 to 6 inch-long piece of plastic-coated steel-wire clothes-line, which were then clamped together using a common wire-clamp - (a rather small U-bolt apearing item with a base & two small nuts).
__ Now if you imagine a foot-long stick with a short wire-loop through it's end, you should then get the conception of how such a home-made tool could be used to do it's intended job.
It will certainly take more than one attempt, but when ya clamp the two ends of the wire together, the resulting length of the loop (of wire hanging through the bar), should have been adjusted so as to do as next indicated.
With the wood-side of the stick/tool placed against any ear-fins which are positioned near 12-o'clock, then the loop should be just about the length needed to loop-around & grab an ear-fin that's located at 4 to 5 o'clock, for loosening,, or for tightening the ex.ring, an ear-fin that's at 7 to 8 o'clock.
So you now see,, with the wire-loop first placed around a chosen ear-fin, you then rock-over the wood-side of the lever against the tops of any ear-fins which happen to be 120 to 150-degrees further around the ex.ring, (and then apply pressure for rotation of the ex.ring).
__ Depending on the wire used for the loop, there will be a 'break-in' period (for the loop), until the tool has been used a few times and the wire has then been streched-out into it's perminate shape.
During that period, instead of having to reset the wire-clamp (to readjust the loop's reach) each time, ya could just insert various screws (of different sizes) above the bar-end, between the wire & clamp and the top-side of the bar/lever,, so as to shim-up the wire-loop somewhat.

__ I have made such a tool as this 3 or 4 times (for just myself), and the first one was made from just a wooden brush-handle & a piece of coat-hanger wire.
But (if they weren't first lost), they, (my earlier attempts to make such a tool), either got bent or broken, until I made one using both wood & metal.
__ I first got the idea to make such a tool, after I found that using a full-sized file along with a paint-stirstick and a length of copper-wire (wrapped around the handle-end of the file), could be used to loosen a somewhat stuck ex.ring, successfully without any notable damage to any of the ear-fins.

____ Putting all this into typed-words was not too easy, so until I can re-edit this post again,, I'll expect to get a few questions, (for further clarification).

Goodwill Cheers,
DCT-Bob

[blabber]

or you could just buy this
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ducati-Single-Be ... orcycle_Pa

[Thevin]

or you could just buy this
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ducati-Single-Be ... orcycle_Pa

Yes this sounds a little easier...and considering the time involved in making your tool Bob, I'd rather spend a bit more and be done, but I can see where your tool would work just fine, I'm just lazy I guess..