Hi All, I recently purchased some termignoni slip ons and i am looking to tackle removing the standard exhaust system. I had a nose around today and sprayed some penetrating fluid on the 3 bolts connecting the Y pipe as i can see this will be the make or break whether i can complete the job. At first glance, The 3 hex bolts are rusted, It is quite difficult to insert a hex bit into them as they are in poor condition. Access will also be a problem as getting a decent driver there will be difficult. Does anyone have any suggestions on tools that can be used? I was looking to purchase the following: Stubby 5mm Hex bit to fit on a 1/4 ratchet (I don't think this will allow enough leverage to crack the upper two loose) Extended 5mm hex bit for the lower bolt, does anyone have a recommendation to the length which will fit through comfortably between the two silencers to break the lower nut open?
Removing the 3 hex bolts is your biggest problem if they are rusted. See this link for some advice - https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/silencer-removal-advice.48075/ I replaced the silencer on my 1199 and the 3 hex bolts would not come out, I ended up drilling them out and made a right mess. I eventually removed the silencer with the Y piece still attached, to do this on the 1199 you remove the rear wheel, loosen the rear subframe and lift up, undo all the springs on the exhaust sections and try and wiggle the exhaust (with Y piece attached) out the bottom. It might be different on the 899 as it's not a single sided swing arm like the 1199. There are some other threads on this forum and most people struggle with the 3 bolt removal, the advice was to get loads of heat on it, I think I would go down that route next time.
I attempted the lower nut and low and behold it has simply rounded off, I won't attempt the upper two as it seems i too will need to do what you did and remove the Y piece with the silencers. Is it possible to remove the Y piece without removing the rear wheel at all? Lifting the rear sub frame upwards and gaining access by removing the heat shield and undoing the springs at all?
Here's a link showing the lifting of the rear subframe. https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threa...ld-or-what-to-do-when-working-from-home.9346/
blimey that is very heavily involved. I was reading the akrapovic full system install on the 1199 and im hoping i could possibly get away with doing the following without removing the rear wheel. Lift the sub frame as per the guide above, Enough to remove the heat shield and get access to the upper springs to pull them off, Unless these can be removed from the bottom. Leave Y pipe attached to silencers, Undo the springs to the mid pipe going towards the front of the bike. Remove the remaining silencer bolts to release the silencers and ease out the silencers with the Y pipe. From experience do you reckon this would work? Once off the bike, Attempt to drill the screws out or bite the bullet and for time sake buy a replacement Y pipe and refit with high tensile bolts.
A new Y piece section is about £200, they very rarely come up on e-bay for a good price either. I had to remove the heat shield (this won't come off in a hurry either) as I needed to remove the exhaust loop too in order to get some clearance to wiggle the Y piece out, at this stage I actually drillled the hex bolts heads off to free the silencer from the Y piece as I had enough but afterwards realised this wasn't neccessary. I know others have removed it with the Y piece attached. Drilling the screws out and re-tapping them needs to be done with precision as it's easy to drill off center and make a mess, the Y piece is stainlees steel and eats 6mm taps. Get the Y piece and silencer off as one and take it somewhere to have the bolts removed. It's a tight fit and needed a lot of alignment to free and re-fit the Y piece. I would give the dealer a call and see what they would charge to remove the silencer, I'm sure they must know a trick or two by now. If you can get enough heat in the Y piece bolt section the bolts might actually come out, I just didn't have any heavy duty type propane/butane burner and ended up battling. It might be easier with an 899 double swing arm, it was a PITA with the 1199. The silencer is actually rather heavy so I had it supported with a trolley jack so it didn't put any stress on the header pipes.
Thank you so much for your help, Really insightful. I am going to give it one last attempt when the stubby drivers arrive and the longer hex. If no luck im going to put an enquiry in at a specialist or some dealers close by to get a price on fitting as this is probably not something i want to make a mess of on the driveway.
Well i forfeit, Attempted today to start lifting the sub frame and removing the heat shield to maybe remove everything together. Im finding it impossible! The subframe would not lift enough on the 899, It was a struggle to access the torx bolts on the side with the shock absorber i thought its best i don't remove it entirely and drop it. Lifted the subframe in an attempt to remove the heat shield and what a nightmare, I cannot see how i can get a socket on to remove the o2 sensor to release the heat shield. My next nightmare would be how to access the springs holding the exhaust. One for the professionals i have provisionally booked the bike in with MD racing (walton) to carry out the job
I left the O2 sensor in the exhaust loop and undone the electrical connector to it in order to lift the heatshield off. I also had the tank off at the time as I was replacing the air filter so that made it easier. I used a socket torx with a long extension to get the shock absorber side subframe bolt out, you do need a good variety of tools for this job, the same applies when you take the bolts out that attach the silencers to the engine case, especially the one on the gear lever side. Let me know how MD racing tackle it, there must be an easier method for future attempts.
I have done this a few times now,its fairly straight forward. I would take the bull by the horns and remove the rear subfame totally, this will allow plenty of access, i would also remove the rear sets for access to the silencer bolts, i can pretty much guarantee you will not be able to undo the heatshield bolts or the 3 y piece bolts without heat, you can unplug the o2 sensor as its only on the rhs of the bike below the tank. The only thing i am unsure of in your case is if the exhaust can be removed with the standard cans attached, i know 100% it can be done with the termi cans as they can be removed prior to removing the pipework.
@Bananaman Thanks, Tools are definitely needed with this bike, I like to think i am well equipped but its proving difficult as im working outside and not in a garage so need to have it wrapped up before the end of the day. I will do, My assumption is they will either remove the rear wheel or take the whole system off by lifting the subframe. Either way the bolts are rounded off completely so my concern is the labour charge in them trying to remove everything. Im tempted to buy the y piece on eBay a complete 1199 set of pipework and just provide it to them and request they just hack the current system off somehow to reduce labour costs. i have a spare stock exhaust at home already which i bought to core out so im tempted to have them just cut the pipes joining to the y pipe to help drill and extract the bolts. Lets see, Will be booked in a weeks time and i will get some updates in this thread.
I would let them have a go first before you buy another Y piece, my guess is they will get some heat in it and get the bolts out.
I refused to give up! Pictures to come soon but sub frame lifted and i managed to get the damn thing off! Well the end cans with the y pipe. Rear wheel was not removed, i had to undo the spring on the pipe towards the front (left the remaining piece bolted to the engine towards the front) Undo the manifold near the heatshield (under tank) I tried to slip the pipes out without unbolting at the head but they would only budge a bit. My head bolts were fine and came away quite easily so finally managed to get the thing off. God knows how i get the bolts off the y pipe but im tempted to just buy a replacement on ebay for about £100 as one has come up. New bolts also arrived. This is the hardest damn bike i have ever worked on!!!!! You guys werent joking
Well done for perservering, I would take the Y piece and silencer to someone like an engineering workshop to get the bolts out, once it's on a bench and you can get some decent heat on it I think you'll stand a better chance when you clamp the hex bolts with a vice grip.
So a quick trip to colchester yesterday and i sourced a complete header pipe with the Y piece. Cost me a little more than expected but its like brand new. The termis will be on today finally! Pictures of all to follow
