Silencer question

[05MC250]

I am trying to get my silencer back on my bike and I am not having any luck
I had it repacked and added a spark arrestor
With the new grommets I cant get it to lineup
Even with the lower mount touching the frame the upper mount does not touch
Did I bend the silencer?

[skid jackson]

How easy did it come off?? Maybe the subframe was bent but held in place by the silencer, or silenncer mounts were bent but held in place by the subframe. when you pulled the silencer off maybe some tension was released and it sprung a little out of whack??. I don't know how repacking a silencer could tweak your silencer mounts??

[2 strokes 4 life]

Looks like the FMF Turbine Core II silencer. It took me other hand to fit it on my bike even thoe it was the proper year. Terrible fit with them.

[rpduc]

Like skid said it looks like something is sprung. In my experience these bulbous 2T pipes and silencers are ALWAYS sprung to some degree. (one of only a very few reasons I'd ever consider a 4T) Can't hardly help but bash them exposed as they are... If you have the stock Messico on there I think they are relatively thin and prone to bending.

The subframe is a mushy piece of aluminum that is also easily bent so I expect some amount of misalignment every time I pull my silencer or pipe.

None of it is particularly hard to tweak into shape but it takes some ingenuity.

Did you take off the expansion chamber or is that still mounted as it was? A small variation in placement of the outlet from the expansion chamber will make a big diff in where the end of the silencer ends up. With silencer off how does the end of the expansion chamber line up in relation to the subframe, shock, and motor case. (just above the kicker) On my '05 MC 250 the outlet pipe on the expansion chamber is roughly centered between the subframe and the shock. The bottom of the pipe "just" clears the bump in the case above the kicker. If that looks o.k. then...

First approach I'd take is stick the silencer on the end of the exp. chamber and only stick a bolt in the upper (rear) mount on the subframe. You might actually find that a spacer in between the grommet and the subframe is what's needed. Those mounting tabs on the silencer can be whacked around a bit to make things line up too. That goofy bend in the inlet pipe on the silencer can be deceiving.

If that doesn't work what I'd do is take the main pipe off and mount the silencer on the subframe and see where it points to. If it's not pointing in the right place persuade it to do so. It's hard to tell what's bent when everything is under tension.

[GMP]

Thats typical FMF fit on a GG, poor. Both my '00 and '03 were like that from new. Just leave the pipe loose and mount the silencer, then tighten everything together.

[rpduc]

Thats typical FMF fit on a GG, poor.

I don't know if FMF is worse than others, but it seems to me that it would be pretty tough to EVER get a good fit out of the box on a silencer when most likely the pipe is nowhere near OEM placement after a few log crossings or crashes.

I don't know if I buy this or not, but I think it was Berkyboy who theorized that undue strain on the exhaust system contributed to premature failure in the subframe.

Either way, I don't like putting TOO much constant strain on anything by pulling it into place with the bolts. But that's just my perfectionist nature. If it's not too far off not a big deal, but in this case I don't think it would be much of a deal to get it pretty strain free with a little tweaking.

[05MC250]

Thanks for the advice guys
I loosened up the expansion chamber bolts, put the back silencer bolt in and got it to go back together
(I left out the part about the cussing, prying and the 2nd and 3rd tries)
The front silencer grommet did have to be smushed more than the back
but it went back better than I thought it would at first glance

Thanks again