Modify frame to accommodate mufflers

By the way, if you click the Insert All button when posting pictures, they will appear in the post.

Install both pipes, then you can see where they are different.
And since one pipe has a 'threaded hole' they are not a matching pair.
They both should have them or not.


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Not knowing your style of pipe, is there any movement here. Can a clamp be loosened and change the angle

Bend the pipe not the frame.

In some respects I "think" you need to regroup for a minute on this problem. You have to determine if any damage has been done to the frame section you are working with and is that causing your grief at this point. Obviously you won't get frame measurements from a normal book, or service manual, so perhaps you can find someone local that has the same model bike as you do and try to get some measurements off it. Maybe someone here on the forum can help out in that regard. You mentioned needing 1/4" of room to fit the exhaust and that isn't much, but I would not go heating or bending on the frame if it isn't damaged. My other thought is to take your old exhaust and compare it to the exhaust you bought and see if there are any differences between them. Lay them next to each other on a flat surface and turn them to multiple sides seriously looking for disparities. Are you sure the new exhaust isn't bent improperly and causing the issue? Looking at the parts drawing it's clear Kawasaki decided to make a change to the crossover pipe design which in and of itself should not change how it fits and was probably done as a cost saving idea or to make factory installation easier. Lastly I would try to install the exhaust system on the bike as loose as possible at first. Don't tighten anything up until its all on and just literally hanging in place. Then you can start tightening things up a little at a time watching for how the system pulls in place. You may find some extra room doing this that you don't have by installing a pipe and tightening it up right away. I don't know if any of this helps, but I do know installing exhaust systems can be frustrating when they just don't want to fit right. Hammering, heating and bending should only be done as a last resort and usually results in a less than perfect outcome.
Rick H.

I have compared the pics of the L/R muffler mounts. In my opinion your left muffler mount was bent inward by 10 mm.

Nebr_Rex wrote: Install both pipes, then you can see where they are different.
And since one pipe has a 'threaded hole' they are not a matching pair.
They both should have them or not.

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Some of the fiche diagrams for the '82 kz440D show pipes with this hole, and other diagrams for the same model show the pipes without the hole. The mufflers have the exact same labeling ("KH1 KZ440A ") on them though, so I thought they would be compatible.

Scirocco wrote: I have compared the pics of the L/R muffler mounts. In my opinion your left muffler mount was bent inward by 10 mm.

My thoughts as well. I did reach out in another thread in hopes that someone with the same bike could confirm those measurements aren't just the design of the bike.

I would still like to see flattened shots of the footpegs in position. By flattened, I mean to take a shot from a good camera from far away and optically zoomed in. This gets rid of lens distortion and lets you see the frame symmetry.

I would also look at the frame where the peg hangar attaches to the main frame and see if the paint is cracked using a magnifying glass. That indicates a bent (as long as it hasn't been re-painted).

So I did also take a good look at the passenger footpegs from behind, and the left side appears to be askew (not square) relative to the frame of the bike. I can try to get a shot of it at some point.

However, based on another forum user's confirmation of my measurements of the distance between the swing arm and footpeg mounts with his bike, I'm thinking that this is the way the motorcycle is, and that the frame is NOT bent. That would mean the problems I am experiencing are due to part incompatibility

I was able to obtain a part number for at least one of the mufflers based on a picture in the ebay listing, 18001-1126, which I think was for the right muffler based on the picture. It ultimately means nothing though, because this particular part number is not listed anywhere that I have seen. I'm not too concerned though, as the part numbers differ between fiches, as we've already seen. So its all inconclusive as far as I'm concerned.

So here are my thoughts. I have my original pipes with a rotted out crossover and mufflers. I have a brand new set of kz stock pipes, one of which fits, the other that almost fits, both of which I probably can't return at this point. As far as I can determine, the fitment problem is related to how far the muffler mount extends towards the center plane of the bike. Instead of attempting to bend the frame (which I don't even really know that I can do without major hassle and weakening of the frame), I can shave a 1/4" of metal from the inside of the mount in an attempt to give the muffler more clearance . Based on what I can observe, I think it will do a lot of good. I can also attempt to make adjustments to the angle of the mounting bracket on the muffler. I think with a bit of work, there's a good possibility I can get this muffler to fit. If not, I can install washers as spacers and reinstall my old mufflers, and continue to put along at sub-highway speeds. As far as I can tell, those are my only two options, so I might as well attempt!

FYI
I measured The KZ440A I'm working on now the same way as was done in this forum thread.
I measured 1 1/8 in. on both sides.


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Alright, I think this is going to work after all:



I was able to cut down the footpeg mount with a small hacksaw. I have about the same clearance as I had with the original muffler.





Now I just need some clamps and I should be ready to ride!