Dinged my headers; advice sought.

[beacher]

I pulled a real bonehead move yesterday, and inadvertently drove over a curb, putting a small dent in both of the left hand side headers, motor side of the catalytic converter; the worst of the 2 has a "softly curved" bend of about 3/8", and I was wondering if it's worth sweating about. Will this cause any long term problems with the exhaust valves, because of increased back pressure? As usual, thanks in advance, and be assured that I will NOT do this again! :angry2:

 

[SacramentoMike]

I put a pretty good dent into mine (in fact, two of four) after hitting a rock that ruined my front tire and wheel. Rode with it like that for several months; no effect.

 

[Patriot]

still got a crunch in one header pump that dimishes it cross section about 20%

that was 25k miles ago with no ill effects I know of

 

[ynotride]

Been there Done that Welcome to the club. I did the same thing when my bike was new. 20,000 miles later it hasn't been an issue.

 

[wfooshee]

I'd dump the bike for cheap while I had the chance. As your friend, I'll offer you 2 grand fer it!

Pretty common, actually, with speed bumps and all. The bike actually has pretty low road clearance there.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Couldn't find pix I took, but mine looked a lot like ynotride's, only worse. Still, if you're nervous. . . $2,100.

 

[wfooshee]

Aw, crap! A bidding war. Should've done that in a PM . . . . .

 

[allrider]

Someone should fabricate a skid plate and start selling it for all of us that like to jump curbs and go offroadin from time to time. I know i'll probly need one. I haven't had a bike yet that i didn't bang up the underside of :lol:

 

[beacher]

All right, guys; thanks for the advice, and as for those 2 nice offers. . . Well, I'll keep them in mind, but I'm thinkin', maybe. . .

 

[Harald]

Someone should fabricate a skid plate and start selling it for all of us that like to jump curbs and go offroadin from time to time.

The skid plate might be nice if you're riding down logging roads, but for jumping curbs you just need to use the right technique. Gotta goose the throttle a little before the front tire drops off the curb so that by the time it hits you're far enough off the curb to not hit anything. Works like a charm! :yahoo:

Oh yea, I'll give $2200 for the trashed bike.

 

[CRMH Eagle]

I hit a large pothole and resulted in putting a dent in the front and rear rims. After 10k miles no issue at all with tire pressure or stability.

Don't fix what's not broke.

Always keep vehicles maintained.

And if something is broke but not crucial to the vehicle's operation the it's a toss up as to fix it or not.

 

[Fitz]

I pulled a real bonehead move yesterday, and inadvertently drove over a curb, putting a small dent in both of the left hand side headers, motor side of the catalytic converter; the worst of the 2 has a "softly curved" bend of about 3/8", and I was wondering if it's worth sweating about. Will this cause any long term problems with the exhaust valves, because of increased back pressure? As usual, thanks in advance, and be assured that I will NOT do this again! :angry2:

I did exactly the same thing, rolled off of curb, forgot how soft a I had the front forks set and it put a dimple in all four pipes. That was 2000 miles ago. No problems noticed at all. I actually had forgotten about it until I read your note. Fitz

 

[FJRBluesman]

A picture would help us assess your issue. As long as the exhaust is not restricted or greatly reduced you should be OK.

 

[bramfrank]

My advice is that you don;t want to risk having to rebuild the top end. So sell it to me as is, clear title - $2,500

 

[FJRBluesman]

My advice is that you don;t want to risk having to rebuild the top end. So sell it to me as is, clear title - $2,500

Cheap-O! I'll give you $2,505.