Hey guys,

Well i live in Winnipeg, manitoba which is about 2 hours away from Grand Forks, North Dakota. Me and a couple buddies decided to go down south for the weekend. Before crossing the border we stop at the Duty Free to buy some cheap beer (one of the guys had a car), and when we were ready to leave and cross into the states, i noticed my exhaust can on my 04 gsf was hissing at the weld, there was a small crack. We didnt think much of it, so we crossed the border and were about 10 minutes from grand forks and all of a sudden, my damn exhaust litteraly snaps off and points downwards.  :dunno: It scared the hell out of me because all of a sudden my silent bike turned into a harley or something. It was moving all over the place so we pulled over and the only tool available was a cresent wrench to remove the bolt, but it came off with a little time. So my question is, what the hell would cause my damn exhaust can to snap off? So now my bike is extremely loud and have to use it like that till it gets fixed. I had to come back from grand forks on the highway with no exhaust. It was the loudest thing on earth. I had bought earplugs before i left just to make sure i wouldnt go deaf. And it still hurt. So i am back home now and want to know why the heck this would happen. Cauz i sure cant figure it out. lol.

Thanks guys.

P.S: 10$ of gas each way. So 20$ total in gas for the whole trip. total trip around 500-600 km?

Wow, I am a bit of a n00b but that sounds like a freakish situation there. It is also weird to refer to "North Dakota" as "down south"  :mrgreen: You are sure someone didn't "help" break the weld?

Where did it breaK?

By "point downwards," do you mean at the rear?  I'm wondering if your mounting bracket bolt came loose, and let the can vibrate until the weld broke.  That'd be odd, as the thing was snugged pretty well on my '04...

Quote from: RoadstergalWhere did it breaK?

It broke at the weld right at the end of the Muffler. Ill take picture later. Gotta find camera.

Quote from: PhaedrusWow, I am a bit of a n00b but that sounds like a freakish situation there. It is also weird to refer to "North Dakota" as "down south"  :mrgreen: You are sure someone didn't "help" break the weld?

It wasnt too cool. It is down south though, haha. It aint north. lol. Those ND state troopers are good guys, 2 SUVs turned around when they heard me coming, but never actually pulled me over after they went behind me. I guess they saw my plate from a diff. country and decided not to bother?

Oops, edited too late...

was the bolt still attached to the can and the passenger footpeg

because if the bolt isn't there then it came out first and the weight of the can and vibration broke the welds

Quote from: RoadstergalWhere did it breaK?

By "point downwards," do you mean at the rear?  I'm wondering if your mounting bracket bolt came loose, and let the can vibrate until the weld broke.  That'd be odd, as the thing was snugged pretty well on my '04...

Yeah, thats what I thought could have been a factor, but it doesnt seem like it would be that bad though.

Quote from: GRUwas the bolt still attached to the can and the passenger footpeg

because if the bolt isn't there then it came out first and the weight of the can and vibration broke the welds

Yep, it was, i pulled over and had to take the bolt off so it wouldnt flop all over the place. I got the weirdest looks. It wasnt fun. lol.

That's very, very strange, because if the mounting bolt at the back and the header bolts are all fastened, I can't see how the muffler would vibrate apart.  The header bolts are secure?  Have you been having backfiring issues?

Maybe you just had a defective exhaust, although that would be the first I've heard of one.

I did have it backfire once or twice yes.

Just wondering if that weakened the weld.  It would still have to be an abnormally weak weld, though.

it was a hung over monday exhaust,  if you call the stealer they should be able to order you a new one for free. so suzuki can inspect the weld to see why it failed.

I have had the thing break off and fly down I 580 in D/T Oakland at ~9 am rush hour on Monday August 28 1995 ... yea first day I rode the GS ... on the way to work ... Then again May/jun 1997 ... that was the Kerker can though ... Anyway ... mine in both cases was due to bolt missing ... I see the crack inb the weld as I buy the bike, and ignore/dont know how bad it is, the first time, second time ... I crashed in March 1997 after being clobbered by a car, the muffler gets serious scrapes on it ... I ignore the fact it needs re positioning and tightening and off it goes. BTW my friend also messes up the way he put it on ... No clamps/brackets holding the muffler to the foot peg carrier, he hung a flat bracket from the slipper he made and bolted that on and welded it to the header, and clamped the can on it ... now how did you manage that with the bolt in place.
Cool.
Srinath.

I have no clue. My buddies who has the ZX9R that i was riding with who is a mechanic cant understand why it happened. The bolt was on there. There really shouldnt be a reason why it broke. Its a mystery.

did you hit something, or have someone throw something at you and it hit the exhaust?

Re: Broken weld. Sometimes on a poor weld you get what they call porosity. Little bubbles of air get trapped in the weld. This causes it to oxidize and become weak. Eventually it breaks. Take it to a welding shop, have it cleaned up and rewelded, painted, good as new...