Bike muffler on Bug

[martin]

Since cold weather and snow are coming any day now, I've started to drive my winter bug, a rusty 68 with a 74x90.5 Berg type motor. The vintage Berg header snapped just behind the flange at the collector due to rusting out. I dropped the car off at Steve's shop and picked up the turbo to let him figure out a solution. Snow squalls are starting to happen so there's no time to order another header. He welded up the old header to a stainless elbow. For a muffler he used a titanium Suzuki (aftermarket) muffler that was damaged in a lay-down and was cosmetically scraped. The curve fit the apron bend pretty good and the sound is incredible! (I'll try for a youtube soon).
Creative solutions to these problems is what makes VWs fun, the freedom to experiment!

[David Ward]

Sure, why not....   

[65bug]

Looks kinda cool too! I like it! Not sure it would be large enough for a big motor, but I am sure it works and would love to hear it!

[John P]

Very creative - I'd love to hear the sound.

[Eddie T]

good effort i like that!!

[Bruce Tweddle]

What size of engine did the bike have?  How much hp did it make?  Did the donor bike have 2 of those?

[martin]

OK, I got a video shot of this muffler on youtube. The engine was cold and it won't idle until I warm it up, but it sounds nice like a stocker when idling. I think the muffler was from a single pipe big bike but I don't know. It says Suzuki 38HO and also 80db on it. It feels very light and looks to be solid titanium, and wouldn't weld. I do need a new stainless steel header to weld to this muffler, not sure who has them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgpnrP_h9Do

[Bruce Tweddle]

I've tried two different bike mufflers on my car.

The first was an all SS Honda muffler.  The sound was louder than the old QPs, but worse was the restriction.  The car's top speed was only 87mph, but bottom end torque was as good as always.  I asked my buddy who I got it from and he told me the bike it came from was a 1000cc.  I figured a 1 liter engine at 15k rpm would push about as much exh as a 2 liter engine at half that rpm.  Then my buddy said the bike that muffler came from had TWO of those mufflers!  That explained it.

The second muffler was an all Ti aftermarket muffler.  It was a single, designed for a big bike.  This one was also louder, but partly due to it's configuration.  It had to be mounted pointing to the left, so it's much easier for me to hear it.  It didn't restrict the hp at all, but eventually I couldn't take the noise any more.

[martin]

This one is quiet. I suppose you could run two of these like dual QP's.

[Bruce Tweddle]

Have you had it out on the road yet?

[martin]

Yes, I'm driving it to work as it's cold now. It sounds great: quiet until it opens up. I noticed some backfiring now with the backpressure, but the old header/muffler was very leaky with several holes, so that would do it too.

[martin]

This shot shows how the stock Suzuki mount was used to attach to the cylinder head stud. The old QP mount was a problem. Note the welding done to patch up the old rusty header.

[dcuplover]

I lent my buddy a muffler from my old R1 for his beetle.  He found it to be uite restrictive given the difference in engine size.  A big Jap race bike is only 1000cc so that is almost half what you have.  Maybe you need to go to a bigger bike but they really don't get much bigger for a OE manufacturer.

[Bruce Tweddle]

Which one was from the R1?  The SS muffler or the blue Ti one?

[dcuplover]

Bruce was the guy I was speaking about.  It was the ti version that I gave him.

[Bruce Tweddle]

..... race bike is only 1000cc so that is almost half what you have.   

My thinking was that a bike with a displacement of 1000ccs that revs to 15k rpms would flow about the same as a 2000cc engine at 7k rpm. 
I believe it was Eric in SLC who said just look at the hp.  If the hp is the same, the muffler will flow enough.  That R1 muffler seemed to make as much hp as dual QPs.