Put a new muffler on my GZ250

[GrungeMunkee]

As you all know, the stock megaphone muffler sounds more like a golf cart than motorcycle and the big end and angle tend to interfere with saddle bags. So, for me at least, it had to go. I swapped it for a 20in Helix Turn-out muffler from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Helix-Racing-P...ilpage_o04_s00

The install was a lot of fun for a fairly easy mod, but it is not a quick bolt on swap.

The first thing I had to do was pull the entire exhaust system off.




Next I had to remove the old Megaphone with a Dremel and cutting wheels, being careful not to cut the inner pipe and only cut the outer pipe.







Then I had to shorten the end of the inner pipe a bit so the new muffler would fit all the way down to the old weld; I wanted the stock heat shield to cover the joint so it still looked professional and stockish.



The muffler I bought, came with a spacer/adapter set so it would fit different size inner pipes. I welded this adapter onto the inner pipe where the old muffler was welded on and then just clamped the muffler onto the adapter.



After riding it a few times with the new muffler I noticed a better top end speed but the low end was sluggish and stuttered on take offs. The muffler I used has very little baffling inside so the lack of back pressure is what created the performance changes. As you can see in the last pic, the angle and end profile is pretty good for my saddle bags.

It was also really LOUD and not necessarily in a good way. The sound was pitchy and sounded more like a pissed off lawn mower. So I tried a lollipop baffle in the end of the muffler, but that still didn't give me what I wanted. I then bought a cheap baffle from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bikers-Choice-...ilpage_o01_s00

This baffle and muffler combo is perfect (at least for me it is). It is still loud but not excessively obnoxious or pitchy/poppy. It has a bit more of a rumble (at least as much as a 250cc engine can rumble anyway). And I now have an increase in top speed and the low end performance is back up to par, and I didn't need to mod the carb at all. I might try wrapping the baffle with fiberglass just to see what that sounds like, but for now this is great.

All in all, it was a great modding experience and I am much happier with the bike now.