Motorcycle muffler is stuck

Question

Trying to get my muffler off of my Yamaha L5T but am having no luck. Any tips or tricks to getting this off?

Answer 1

Exhausts can be difficult to remove. In many cases constant heating/cooling has burned off any coatings and the bare metal has corroded or rusted the nuts and studs together.

If the exhaust has cylinder head studs with exposed nuts you can try several things.

1. Start by soaking them with a penetrant oil. Only do this when the exhaust is cool enough to touch. You can then try tapping with a hammer or using an impact driver to free them up.
2. Heat the nuts with a blowtorch and try to undo them.
3. Cut, chisel or drill the nuts off. This is my preferred method. Nuts are easier to replace than broken studs.
4. A combination of the above.

Take your time. The more force you apply the bigger the risk if stripping or snapping a stud. Try not to damage the stud thread as they're harder to fix.

If you round off the nuts, they're junk anyway. So it doesnt matter if you destroy them in the process.

Once you do have them off its worth cleaning up the threads with a tap and die set. Replace rusty nuts. And when reassembling use something like a copper thread grease so its easier next time.