Windagetray
Member
Received a catalytic convertor bypass pipe from the appropriate SpyderLovers vendor (I believe it was from Lamonster but it was ordered and received many weeks ago) for my 2014 RT-S. It was a super-quality piece of work with all the right curves, hangers, and swaged ends to be an exact replacement.
I took off NO "Tupperware" for this install. I did however take off all the heat shields from the muffler which I later found out I did NOT have to remove.
What DID have to be removed was the bolt above the center top of the muffler that attached it to the frame. This will take a 15mm socket with 1 long + 1 short extension with a 15mm wrench to hold the nut behind the bracket. You can reach it from the front side and just reach around behind it and engage the wrench while turning the socket on the front side. The socket and extensions will just fit between the muffler and the saddle bag above it. Loosen the nut to hand-tight and then go loosen the clamp holding the muffler to the catalytic convertor. Loosen this clamp until you can slide it onto the muffler. Go back and remove the muffler bracket nut and bolt and finally the muffler.
Now, the springs OH the SPRINGS! So, the front of the catalytic convertor is held to the "front" pipe by 3 springs. the two that were on the bottom and easy to access, I used a fishing hook removal tool. This tool has a short "J" hook at the bottom of a shaft and a "T" "handle" at the opposite (top) end of the same shaft. It's made of very strong stainless steel. I also tried a "old" coat hanger bent into pretty much the same shape as the fish hook removal tool. Even the lighter, softer wire of the coat hanger tool worked just fine. NOW...for the TOP spring. The top spring is hard to get to and there was no way to lift the spring up from around the loop on which it was hooked with EITHER of the aforementioned tools. I bent the homemade tool to get up around the pipe to grab the spring's hook. I could pull it just fine but since it took both hands to pull it, I didn't have a way to lift it up off the loop. I thought of all I read here on Spyderlovers. Some folks mentioned using a partner with long wire hooked to that top spring pulling from behind the bike while the other person unhooked the spring.
Using this idea, I took an appropriate length of wire (similar to coat hanger wire), ran it through the spring's hook and twisted it to capture that hook in a loop. I then ran it over the TOP of the catalytic convertor to a hook on my "brake spring tool (pliers)" where I secured it with another loop around that hook. The brake spring pliers gave me the leverage to pull the spring with one hand and with my free hand, I was able to use a pair of needle-nose pliers to push the spring's hook up and off the loop on the catalytic convertor. SUCCESS!
SO, with all the springs off, I pulled the double lower hanger rearward out of the rubber mount on the back of the frame, then the top mount starboard (to the right) out of the top rubber hanger mount.
Installing the bypass pipe is just the reverse. OK....THAT's a lie!
First, if the top springs falls off after you have installed the pipe, take the pipe back off and put the top spring back on then go for the pipe install again. It IS POSSIBLE to hook the top spring back onto the front pipe's loop but, it is NOT EASY! I did it once. I made up 6 new curse words during that exercise. But, I digress... SO, here is how I would do it in the future... Using the wire I used to pull the top spring off, I made a long "LOOP" of wire the same length as the first wire. The first wire was a strand of wire with a small loop at each end. Using this for the install would have required being able to reach above the pipes to cut the wire off the top spring hook. Which, you CAN'T do. SO...I used a long loop so all I had to do it cut the wire where I COULD reach it with cutters and pull the wire out the starboard side through the spring hook after it is properly connected. So, After installing the bypass pipe hangers in the reverse order of the cat removal, I used the fishing hook remover to install ONE of the bottom springs (the one closest to you or the starboard side of the bike) to hold the joint together. I then used the brake spring pliers to pull the long loop, pulling the top spring. LUCKILY, the direction of pull allowed the spring hook to catch and seat properly into the bypass pipe's loop. I then used the brake spring pliers to install the final bottom spring closest to the left side of the bike. (I couldn't pull straight back enough to get the spring hook to catch. With the brake spring tool, I was able to use TWO tools (needle nose pliers again) to hook the spring. NOW, everything else is the reverse of removal.
I had purchased 1 new clamp (for muffler to cat connection) and 1 new gasket (cat to front pipe connection). However, in spite of the manual saying you "MUST" "use new parts" once the old ones are removed, they both looked fine so, I reused both. They ended up being just fine as I verified with testing.
I started the Spyder and left it idle until it got up to normal operating temperature. (I left the fans turn on a time or two) I then took the machine for an "easy" ride. The sound is "different" but only a little bit. I would not call it "louder" although there is one RPM range at pull that it does seem louder or perhaps more raspy. But, in normal operation, I don't find it being at that RPM/condition often enough to even think about it. It "seems" like it has a bit more power and I know for certain that the bypass pipe weighs significantly less than the catalytic convertor. I am very happy I made this change to my Spyder!
I hope this helps anyone thinking of making this change!
I took off NO "Tupperware" for this install. I did however take off all the heat shields from the muffler which I later found out I did NOT have to remove.
What DID have to be removed was the bolt above the center top of the muffler that attached it to the frame. This will take a 15mm socket with 1 long + 1 short extension with a 15mm wrench to hold the nut behind the bracket. You can reach it from the front side and just reach around behind it and engage the wrench while turning the socket on the front side. The socket and extensions will just fit between the muffler and the saddle bag above it. Loosen the nut to hand-tight and then go loosen the clamp holding the muffler to the catalytic convertor. Loosen this clamp until you can slide it onto the muffler. Go back and remove the muffler bracket nut and bolt and finally the muffler.
Now, the springs OH the SPRINGS! So, the front of the catalytic convertor is held to the "front" pipe by 3 springs. the two that were on the bottom and easy to access, I used a fishing hook removal tool. This tool has a short "J" hook at the bottom of a shaft and a "T" "handle" at the opposite (top) end of the same shaft. It's made of very strong stainless steel. I also tried a "old" coat hanger bent into pretty much the same shape as the fish hook removal tool. Even the lighter, softer wire of the coat hanger tool worked just fine. NOW...for the TOP spring. The top spring is hard to get to and there was no way to lift the spring up from around the loop on which it was hooked with EITHER of the aforementioned tools. I bent the homemade tool to get up around the pipe to grab the spring's hook. I could pull it just fine but since it took both hands to pull it, I didn't have a way to lift it up off the loop. I thought of all I read here on Spyderlovers. Some folks mentioned using a partner with long wire hooked to that top spring pulling from behind the bike while the other person unhooked the spring.
Using this idea, I took an appropriate length of wire (similar to coat hanger wire), ran it through the spring's hook and twisted it to capture that hook in a loop. I then ran it over the TOP of the catalytic convertor to a hook on my "brake spring tool (pliers)" where I secured it with another loop around that hook. The brake spring pliers gave me the leverage to pull the spring with one hand and with my free hand, I was able to use a pair of needle-nose pliers to push the spring's hook up and off the loop on the catalytic convertor. SUCCESS!
SO, with all the springs off, I pulled the double lower hanger rearward out of the rubber mount on the back of the frame, then the top mount starboard (to the right) out of the top rubber hanger mount.
Installing the bypass pipe is just the reverse. OK....THAT's a lie!
First, if the top springs falls off after you have installed the pipe, take the pipe back off and put the top spring back on then go for the pipe install again. It IS POSSIBLE to hook the top spring back onto the front pipe's loop but, it is NOT EASY! I did it once. I made up 6 new curse words during that exercise. But, I digress... SO, here is how I would do it in the future... Using the wire I used to pull the top spring off, I made a long "LOOP" of wire the same length as the first wire. The first wire was a strand of wire with a small loop at each end. Using this for the install would have required being able to reach above the pipes to cut the wire off the top spring hook. Which, you CAN'T do. SO...I used a long loop so all I had to do it cut the wire where I COULD reach it with cutters and pull the wire out the starboard side through the spring hook after it is properly connected. So, After installing the bypass pipe hangers in the reverse order of the cat removal, I used the fishing hook remover to install ONE of the bottom springs (the one closest to you or the starboard side of the bike) to hold the joint together. I then used the brake spring pliers to pull the long loop, pulling the top spring. LUCKILY, the direction of pull allowed the spring hook to catch and seat properly into the bypass pipe's loop. I then used the brake spring pliers to install the final bottom spring closest to the left side of the bike. (I couldn't pull straight back enough to get the spring hook to catch. With the brake spring tool, I was able to use TWO tools (needle nose pliers again) to hook the spring. NOW, everything else is the reverse of removal.
I had purchased 1 new clamp (for muffler to cat connection) and 1 new gasket (cat to front pipe connection). However, in spite of the manual saying you "MUST" "use new parts" once the old ones are removed, they both looked fine so, I reused both. They ended up being just fine as I verified with testing.
I started the Spyder and left it idle until it got up to normal operating temperature. (I left the fans turn on a time or two) I then took the machine for an "easy" ride. The sound is "different" but only a little bit. I would not call it "louder" although there is one RPM range at pull that it does seem louder or perhaps more raspy. But, in normal operation, I don't find it being at that RPM/condition often enough to even think about it. It "seems" like it has a bit more power and I know for certain that the bypass pipe weighs significantly less than the catalytic convertor. I am very happy I made this change to my Spyder!
I hope this helps anyone thinking of making this change!
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