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That paint overlap crap is just normal ... see these bikes were assembled by the leprosy infected clowns in Japan .. or spain as the case may be ... so they evidently cannot paint inside the lines ...  :lol:  ... the rest of your post was too loooooooong to read in my semi concious state ... so if there is more ... just post it in 1 line or less ...
Cool.
Srinath.

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My stock muffler has been off the bike since a couple months after I bought it, but as I recall the hole is there on purpose to drain condensation etc out of the muffler,

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Yes, that hole is supposed to be there to drain away condensation.

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No that leak is the sign of a defective exhaust.  You should send it to me and buy a Supertrapp exhaust from me.

:mrgreen:

Just teasing of course - that hole is supposed to be there for the condensation to run out of.

&g

Quote from: scratchYes, that hole is supposed to be there to drain away condensation.

yes, thats right. also, the masked off area is probably the previous owners repainting of the pipes. the exhaust is notorious for exterior surface rust, esp true in colder climates but same here in sunny socal. I had my bike, an 01 for only 16 months and repainted my pipes black again in that time.

nothing to worry about.

It could be the muffler bearings going out...

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I observed the same issue on my bike this morning, little puffing of exhaust coming out where hte muffler met the pipe.  The puffing came from the lowest point on the muffler.

I would gander to guess that that hole was designed to be there, probably for drainage of condensation.  It appears to be at the lowest point of the muvler.  If the condonsenation were to pool, it would accelerate the rusting of the unit.