How To Make A Muffler - A Basic Guide To Building A Motorcycle Muffler!

As you make a muffler, and when designing and building your own motorcycle many would think it is a matter of finding different parts and putting them together to create a finished piece of work. But this just isn't true.

Did you know that there are a great many motorcycle enthusiasts out there that literally make a lot of their motorcycle parts themselves?

A great many motorcycle lovers go out of their way to don heavy duty clothing and a welding mask to fabricate the ultimate in original motorcycle design...which result in their very own motorcycle parts.

In light of many people wishing to make their own motorcycle parts, today you will find out about our own foray in to the "Create your own" motorcycle world as we created a motorcycle exhaust muffler.

This was a task that took two men who knew welding well and had the full run of a commercial metal fabrication shop to complete. The motorcycle in question was a 1983 Suzuki GSXR 1100 that had been modified into a street fighter with straight handle bars and the faring removed. The motorcycle had great airbrushed graphics down the side in light blue through to dark blue with the word Monster across the petrol tank in bright green. Needless to say it was the pride and joy of the owner (my friend) so we wanted to ensure a great job was done.

The first item on the agenda to start work on was using a pencil, tape measure and paper. What we did in the first instance was to make a 3-D sketch of the motorcycle exhaust and muffler then take the full measurements of the current motorcycle exhaust system and the motorcycle frame. This is probably the most important part of the process as you need to ensure that the exhaust muffler you are creating will fit your motorcycle and is big enough to carry out the job of its predecessor.

The next process was to create the exhaust muffler. Many people buy pre-fabricated tubing but we decided to create our own. To do this we used aluminum sheet metal and cut this into the length and width required, after this we then used a manual bending machine (looks a lot like a Victorian mangle), and slowly bent the aluminum sheet into a tube shape. The reason we opted for going the whole hog was to allow for a slight increase in size at the end of the exhaust muffler.

After this was complete we then set about TIG welding the joint to finish the body of the muffler. Once the weld had cooled there is the small matter of ensuring no small holes appear, we did this by visually looking over the weld and using a colored fluid to run through the inside of the weld and see if it comes through.

Once happy with this we set about making the back plate with a hole to fit onto the exhaust to allow it to run through the muffler. The hole we made was only just big enough so the exhaust fit tightly inside, once happy with this, we then moved onto finishing the muffler by building a plate for the other end with a hole to allow the exhaust end to come out.

We now TIG welded the muffler on to the exhaust system ensuring it fit onto the motorcycle frame and that the weld was strong and clear of any imperfections.

The muffler looked brilliant, the exhaust sounded strong and meaty without being too over powering. We were ecstatic with the results...but then my friend, who is also the bike owner went and did something I did not like. To "improve" the aesthetic value of the bike he decided to use imitation carbon looking transfers to put on the muffler. To be honest I liked the look better in its aluminum form, but then I don't own the bike so what can I say!

If you want to make a muffler for your bike, this should guide you in the right direction. To fabricate motorcycle parts I recommend this dvd.