Any guidance on how often to repack these cans? Are there other rules of thumb...other than "hey mate, your bike is too %^&U loud" Do I need to use the FMF mats or can I use some of the HD mats from my local shop? Speaking of that, any risks to the motor delaying a repack?
How many miles on your cans? I haven't seen a repacking timeline on FMF's site for the big bikes ( you might contact tech support there) but for reference Leo Vince recommends for the big bike applications at 15,000 miles. Prefacing that guideline, your silencers are likely still in good shape at 15k, but probably depends a little on how hard you drive it. I think if you removed the guts on one & checked, you would find that they are in better shape than you imagine. I found this to be the case on a LV 2 into 1 can that I opened and repacked at 25,000 mi- which had been driven quite hard and was still in good shape. You might do a dB test to determine if they are louder than spec, but if you haven't noticed any loss in low end-mid range power, and they aren't obnoxiously loud- my 2cent opinion says leave it alone & ride on. in case you do replace them, here is a link to the a video and illustrations for the process of re-packing your FMF's http://www.fmfracing.com/RiderSupport/RepackingInstructions Have fun!
I have never figured out which packing kit we are supposed to get (what is stock)? The FMF website isn't real clear. Mine have maybe 16k and are getting pretty loud, although it doesn't bother me I figured I'd be neighborly. I have not asked Jeff Slavens yet, he would probably know.
On my single Q4, it is the pink wooly stuff, or you can get the 'premium' kit from FMF, which is the wooly stuff sewn into a mesh pouch. I used the FMF 4 Stroke white pad (don't know how else to describe it. It's the stuff that looks like a chunk of dense fibreglass insulation), and it fried to pieces smaller than a quarter in just a few rides at WOT. Calling FMF didn't really clear up what the white garbage is for, even though the package for it says 4 Stroke, it isn't clear which 4 stroke silencers it works with. DON'T use this. Will do this in a short time. This stuff will last, and closely resembles what came out originally.
on sprint mufflers I started using extra course steel wool from cabinet making supply shops.. I don't know how long it lasts cause once I started using it it never needed done again.. And the cars tend to move on or get wrecked .. It looks like the curls from a drill,, all wadded up,, WEAR GLOVES! Just another option... Dave
