I spent the whole day on the RS, and She is still in the cave apart and waiting. The light issue was from the LED replacements. The head lamp broke at the screw that holds it together, the passing lamp LED (both) the mounting plate welds broke, and then the wire shorted and there was arcing on all three LEDs. Lesson learned just go with the Phase7 or the daymaker. I then dug into the exhaust, and the rattle was the baffle. I kept poking around and found lose pipes, and the gskt was leaking. while I was reinstalling the front pipe My family kept interrupting me and I started to get flustered, and scratched the pipe, so off again for some touch-up. I checked the manual and the torque is 20NM, 14fp. guess what the flange bent (non removable of-corse), and th studs bent. Now I'm up to my neck with frustration, so off to the interweb for some searching. I do not find any installation instruction anywhere. In the tech articles on how to straighten the flanges it talks about using 2 gskts with hi-temp silicone, and not to torque the pipes over 5 nm or so not the 20nm in the manual. So The light are working, the pipes are hanging in the cave drying, studs replaced, my buddy is going to use a press to straighten the flanges tomorrow while I do some cleaning since most everything is already off. the gskt OD is not a tight fit in the ex port(.041 under), the Port Id is smaller than the gskt, and the pipe ID is larger than the gskt ID( almost half), and the ODs are the same, so I cut up some beer cans to make shims, I wrapped the shim around the pipe and gskt OD trying to keep everything centered, and it looks like it might even work. Is the small hole at the top of the port the air injection? If so I shouldn't need to plug it cuz the other end is blocked off correct? It has been a long day, and I am hungry, tired, and feeling pretty dumb for not cross checking the torque spec. Ill just have to dream of riding tonight LOL

Here are the pic's. The first one is the passing LED's, You can see the tab broke off ( on both) and then it shorted out.



This next one is of the exhaust gskt there is just over 2k on this gskt.



the other side



and here is my mess up. I knew what happened, hell, I felt it when the flange bent.



I bought these exhaust gskt a while back, and tossed them into the spares, I'm thinking If I put these on the flange side, and new OEM on the port with some ultra copper between the two gskts, using the side with the small grove on the face of the pipe, shim the pipe to center, and of-corse two finger torque instead of 20nm



I think Ill just blame it on the carma gods cuz I was having to much fun dicing with that hog, and they wanted pay back. I'm good

The problem is the fact that the exhaust flanges are bent not allowing the exhaust to be properly tightened. There is a tech article on how to straighten them. You can also clean those gasket up and reuse them. Just face them on a flat surface with a light sandpaper, the same as if you were resurfacing the intake manifold flange.

On a 2nd look the 2nd pic appears to be Felpro aftermarket gaskets. If so throw them out and just use the OEM copper gaskets. The Felpro gaskets are junk and will never last more than a few thousand miles. Aftermarket gaskets can "not" be resurfaced as I said above. Fix the bent flange,OEM gaskets and everything will get better.
Click on the RSC Home page and scroll down. The flange straightening article is right there.

What they said on the exhaust gaskets.

If "the small hole on top of the port is the air injection", is the AIS port on the top of the intake manifold, behind the carb??? yes, that needs to be capped. Some solder it shut. That's what Curt does, on his Ported manifolds, if the cutstomer wants it.

Can't stress enough the importance of stabilizing the torque on the flange gaskets. They need to be torqued correctly to begin with, and then, after every heat cycle (that's a full heat up to operating temp and full cool down) re-torque the nuts. If they move, repeat after the next heat cycle, over and over, til they don't move. The exhaust pipes have a significant amount of material hanging off those flanges, and that entire body is subject to thermal expansion. It will find it's happy spot with heat cycles. You cannot compensate for it by over-torqueing, and applying more support closer to the head can result in cracking. It's a mechanical arrangement that simply must be accommodated by accepting it's characteristics. If you are one of the people that wants to double nut the studs for security, that is fine, but the nut bearing on the flange must be re-torqued in the manner described until it stabilizes to assure a good seal at the head.

It's not in the book of Road Star, but it IS in the book of knowledge.

I understand the properties of heat expansion and rate difference in unlike metals, and that if I had left the shims in during use could cause damage. The shimming was to align the pipe and gaskets for assembly only. The OEM gaskets I showed were used on two different sets of pipes, first was with the OEM, and when I changed pipes I reused them (they were only 2 months old), and Yes JD I failed to recheck the torque after my trip (Operator Error). The bent flange happened when I was reinstalling the exhaust after fixing the baffle rattle. I was distracted by my family and was not paying attention to what I was doing.
Here is a pic of the hole in the exhaust ports I was asking about.


In light of my frustration,I took a step back today and cleaned up the Man-cave. It had become a dumping ground for everyone here. When I was taking out the trash Mom asked where all the stuff was, and I pointed to the front lawn. She said that can't be everything, and said I was throwing Her stuff away. In jest I said if you really think that go dig in the trash and look, and She did LOL. Then She asked when She can go back in the garage, and I said NEVER, so I started the washer for her .
Thanks for all the information and help, and Ill try to be more clear in my future posts, to avoid confusion. Bottom line I'm learning a new vehicle, and should slow down and recheck my facts before jumping into the abyss. It looks like my problem was Operator Error, resulting in self induced damage, and I'm sure This wont be the last time either.

Never noticed that machined hole in my 1600 heads. That's not where the AIS air is injected. It's inside the casting.
Life is filled with stuff that distracts us from our bikes!

Well I did my homework w/extra credit, and have a question that keeps popping up. In the bent flange article it is stated to use 2 gaskets with silicone between the gaskets. Why? 2 gaskets would have a greater chance of improper crush and or leakage, and if it is to solve the problem of the nut going to far on the stud and not getting enough crush why not just use a flat and lock washer instead?

Skip the 2 seals part. The flange straightening stuff is valid. Get yourself a pair of stainless steel split washers to go under the nuts. Use milk of magnesia as an effective anti-seize on the nuts, and just follow the torque checks I suggested, and you'll be golden, with no leaks and you won't lose your nuts.