Exhaust Modifications - II Part
Ragnar Cut

This process will require shimming the carburetors, since the rear Baffle system will be eliminated and we need to compensate the lost of back compression. 

I named this procedure honoring the name of the friend that helped me performing it step by step. It is not complicated but will require patience. I only can tell you that this one will impact more the sound level. It will also make it sound like an old block Chevy with exhaust headers. It is not extremely loud like Two Brother Racing 
6 into 6 pipes but I assure you will sound better and will not bother your ears like the other ones.

My friend Brian mentioned me that once he did the exhaust modifications, he showed his bike to the dealer where he purchased it and to the owner that has a Valk with TBR 6 into 6 pipes. The owner actually liked better the sound of the exhaust modified and said that the TBR were hurting his ears on long rides. Also their pipes, just where connected to the engine, had all the rainbow colors (ugly). Now to the Ragnar Cut:

This drawing shows the back of the Canister. Inside the Canister, there are three metal Fins. They creates three compartments, one for each Baffle. The process will consist of taking out the three Baffles from inside the Canister. In order to do that you will need a NEW small drill bit. Just make small holes in the Canister around each Baffle. Make them as closer to the Baffle as possible since you want to avoid drilling the Fins. Once the holes are made, cut the remaining metal between the holes to release the Baffles from the Canister. Now the Baffles will be just attached to the read metal assembly.  The point is to free the Baffle tubes from this assembly. 


 In this picture taken by Mark T, you will see how the Fins looks. They will create three compartments, each one having a Baffle. In this picture, the rear Canister Plate was cut, exposing the Rear Baffle system. You may see the plate where the Rear baffles are attached. You need to take them out of that plate. 


 
Now grab and hold of the Baffle Tube with vise grips or whatever you have and yank, pull, twist, tug, whatever it takes to remove this Baffle Tube. But even before you grab the tube, you may want to check the sound. Just removing or drilling a part of the Canister will improve the sound somewhat. After this, it is simply a matter of removing more tubes for more sound. I would recommend that you remove the same number of tubes on each side.

The end result if you take out all of the Baffle tubes will be like the drawing at the right. It will look ugly but will not matter since the Exhaust Covers will hide it. The sound you will get, in my opinion, will be awesome, will be louder but not so loud that will hurt your ears and will provide the sound you want for security reasons. Definitively the cars at your side will hear you coming and you will have a BIG smile in your face.
This last drawing shows how the inside of the Canister will look with the complete Rear Baffle system eliminated. Since the Front Baffle system still exist, there will be the exhaust compression required for a proper engine function.

Remember that this will require Shimming the carburetors. Shimming is only to add another "washer" to each of the carburetor's needle. Since there is a very good step by step explanation with pictures of the process in Chet's site, I will link you there:

 Shimming the Carburetors

Below are good pictures taken from Infosite. The first one shows how the inside of the carburator will look once the cover is off. The picture at the right shows from left to right the diaphragm, the shim, the needle and the needle keeper.


To shim, some people prefer to lift the gas tank. This will give you more room to work. If you want to do it, this is a link from Bob's Valkyrie site on a document by Carl Kulow:

Gas Tank Removal

As mentioned to you, I also installed a K&N filter. This filter cost about $60.00 but will last for the bike's life. You will not need to replace it, just clean and oil it. If you purchase on, these are very good instruction on how to do it taked from the same site above and documented also by Carl Kulw:

Air Filter Change
 After all these modifications, if you want better sound without still investing on pipes, there is another solution that will allow you to keep your stock exhaust system. You will need to e-mail Mark Tobias. He will install Glass Packs on your stock pipes that will make them a little deeper and louder, compared with the "Ragnar Cut" explained above. They will also add more power to your bike. People that have dyno reported from 7 to 10 HP increase. I purchased and installed these exhaust modified by Mark Tobias and they really work. He has several happy customers so far, including myself.

 

Mark now have an Internet Site: http://www.horseapple.com/Valkyrie/valkyrie.html