Ain’t that a ...

[Waldo Jeffers]

I changed my oil today and when under there I discovered this. I know when it happened but assumed it was no big deal. But it got me to thinking maybe I should get a sump guard with all the talk around here. The guard shows up Saturday (a day late and a dollar short...). 
 

Do you think there are any performance issues from less volume of exhaust being able to flow or is it negligible? I can’t tell a difference. Maybe I answered my question. 

[NormR]

Pretty sure you would have already  noticed a performance drop if it was bad. It’s a nasty knock just the same. Do you ride off road? 

[duhs10]

Performance wise, I think you're fine. It would irritate my OCD having a dent in my headers/downpipe.

Anyway, glad whatever it was didn't catch the oil pan.... you would have written a much worse "Ain't that a..." post.

[Ride365]

So......what caused it?  And damn your bike is filthy, this ain’t no big adv machine.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Ride365

[Waldo Jeffers]

I was riding a road that turned into a “primitive”  road so I turned around in some loose gravel and there was a piece of 2x2 that I must have hit perfectly and flipped right into the header. 
 

PS, I disagree that my bike is filthy. If you live where I do, your bike is gonna collect some muck. 🌧✊

[Salish900]

12 minutes ago, Ride365 said:

And damn your bike is filthy, this ain’t no big adv machine.

Well, you must have one clean bike and I better never post a photo of the underside of my beast on here for fear of the shame. In his defense, he does live here in rainy Western WA where keeping a bike clean is either a daily task or hopeless. 

[Waldo Jeffers]

^^^100%^^^

[Clicknow]

You could just buy a used one there are plenty on eBay in good condition 

regards 

[Wintersdark]

2 hours ago, Salish900 said:

Well, you must have one clean bike and I better never post a photo of the underside of my beast on here for fear of the shame. In his defense, he does live here in rainy Western WA where keeping a bike clean is either a daily task or hopeless. 

I hear that!  

Roads are always covered with tons of dust here, particularly after a winter of snow/sanding/melt/snow/sanding/melt cycles.  If anything makes them wet (be it melt or rain) it's just mud everywhere.  We tend to run through a full gallon jug of windshield washer fluid every month in our jeep, and it's rarely driven.  Just a gross, soupy, muddy mess.

So, fall/winter/spring, no matter how much I wash my bike, it's a constant mess - worse than his photo.  I mean, I washed mine last week, it's not been off road at all, and it looks like this:

(ignore the messy garage; we're just starting to unpack it after a winter of yard-stuff-storage.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Wintersdark

[Ride365]

Yeah I've owned 3 Suzuki V-Stroms prior to this bike and they were always kept filthy, this however is my clean dry road and never gravel or hardpack bike........but we all have different priorities and riding habits.  Wasn't my intention at all to assumedly shame anyone, as there is no shame at all for anyone that actually rides. But yeah I'll admit my Tracer is pretty pristine and I intend to keep her that way, I'll buy a second bike again to ride and put away wet and dirty, of course on roads trips it is what it is. I won't intentionally go out and ride in the rain or on wet roads, but I reckon where some of you are located, if you wanna ride you're gonna get wet and dirty regularly.😎

[betoney]

11 hours ago, Salish900 said:

Well, you must have one clean bike and I better never post a photo of the underside of my beast on here for fear of the shame. In his defense, he does live here in rainy Western WA where keeping a bike clean is either a daily task or hopeless. 

Yep, the underside of mine looks the same.  Unless its Summer, its impossible to keep it clean 😫

[mikerbiker]

I had an FJR in the past and put a similar size dent in my header pipe from a speed bump.  Absolutely no difference in performance.  Yeah if you lived on the east coast i'd almost give you my OEM full exhaust.  Just sitting in the garage...

[rodb47]

I did this exact thing. What I noticed was a strong flutter or pulsating of the engine at 4500rpm. I'm in the process of installing a second hand OEM exhaust ($90 from FB Marketplace). Waiting on the new gaskets and nuts. I just got the SW Motech skid plate to prevent anymore stupid stuff.

[PhotoAl]

When I got my BMW F800GT I took lots of long roads trips on it.  Nothing like a day of riding in the rain particularly where they don't get a lot of rain like Utah to make a bike filthy.  Not long before out last trip together I gave it a very good washing and it still had dirt in lots of hard to reach areas.  I like my bike clean and pristine but sometime is hard to do.  I had a harder time with the BMW cause well they are supposed to be dirty and secondly it was a matt grey color that was hard to have looking clean.  After riding a day in the rain from Moab Utah to Rock Springs Wyoming it was particularly nasty and the wheels had a lip that accumulated a thick layer of muck!

When I had sport bikes I kept them pristine and they were ridden in the rain but not that much.

[knyte]

Engine Masters did a bunch of dyno runs and found in some cases that dented headers can actually increase performance - not that this is at all scientific or even an expected outcome:

 

Skip to about 4:45