Collector box fitting Tip......

Never ever think to yasself I’ll remove the centre stand to allow easier access with ya big hands when trying to line up the rear 2 exhaust ports of the collector box…

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Why?
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cos ya can’t get the fookin centre stand through bolt back in due to the exhaust outlets now being in the fookin way!!!

Stop Press…Free to good home …One Centre Stand…[:D][:D][:D]

Hmmm… I’ll take that stand if your offer is still open…?

BTW: In my experience, the only tools you really need to refit the collector are patience, common sense and a trolly jack…

Before you fit the collector:

Examine the female inlets for the rear cylinder headers… Will the exhaust header seal fit into them easily…? If you can’t do it on the bench, it’s only going to get harder when you’re flat on your back under the bike…!!

If the seals don’t fit… open up the collector inlet by tapping a screwdriver into the slots in it… Helps if you remove the clamps to do this…

If the seal now fits, but the clamp doesn’t, try a couple of longer bolts in the clamps… Once tightened, you can remove and replace with the original bolts (if you’re that anal about it…)

So… Inlets nice & wide (same applies to silencer outlets BTW…) Make 100% certain that the rear header clamps are positioned so that you can tigten them up from the rear.

Fit the collector seals to the headers (NOT to the collector box) and grease the inside of the collector inlets…

Use new header gaskets on the front cyl head and stck them in place with a blob of LM grease…

Get your trolly jack handy…

position the collector under the bike and slot the two front pipes into the eshaust ports (make sure you haven’t got an exhaust stud down the header (it DOES happen and you can’t see it from the back of the bike - DAMN annoying…!!)

So, front of collector is up, rear is down… I use a bit of tape to hold the front header clamps up near the head… saves them getting stuck between the headers and the frame…

Lift up the rear of the collector and align the rear inlets with the headers/seals… gently push the collector upwards… Now bang the trolley jack underneath while it ain’t looking…!! Support the collector on the jack and wiggle it about until you can get the front header clamp nuts on a couple of threads …

Move the jack so that it’s positioned right below the reinforcing tubes in the collector box (looks like 3 small welded holes in a row…) This is the toughest part of the box…

Now… Checking very carefully that the seals are sliding into the collector inlets (and not just being ripped to bits…!!) Use the jack to apply upward pressure to the collector box… It should “pivot” around the front headers (attached to the head now) and move upwards until the rear headers/seals are fully home…

NOTE: If you feel that the jack is lifting the bike up STOP…!! It shouldn’t be that hard, something is stuck and you’re going to end up with a heavy Honda in your ear…!!

Once the headers are in place, they should be a relatively tight fit… You should be able to remove the jack without the collector moving… So move it…

Loosely tighten all 4 header clamps… Then go around a 2nd time and fully tighten them…

Now you’re ready to fit the silencers…

A similar process, but now we can’t use the jack…

The collector outlets should already be wide enough to fit the silencer seals into…(see above) If not, you’ve now got a job to widen them with the collector on the bike…

Once the seals fit in easily, replace the silencer clamps so that the bolts face outwards… Now fit the seals to the silencers (You didn’t leave them in the collector did you…?? :wink: ) Grease the inside of the collector outlets and the outside of the seals…

Position the silencer so that it’s hanging bracket is parallel to the footrest plate and slide the silencer into the collector…

Stuck…? Hilka do a smashing rubber mallet for about £2.99… You probably need one now…

The rubber mallet allows you to whack the silencer into place without damaging the finish… Smashing tool…!!

So whack away, checking for the hanging bracket to line up with the rubber mounting in the footrest plate… When they line up, bang in the M10 bolt, wind on the nut and fully tighten…

Now check the position of the collector/silencer clamp (there is a notch thing to line up) and thighten the bolts… be sure to check that both are tight when you’re finished…

So… Exhaust is on…? Groovy…!! But; DON’T start the bike up yet…!!

You’ll have covered just about every square centimetre of your exhaust with greasy fingerprints and oils… Before that gets burnt onto the pipes, you would be WELL advised to give it a damn good clean… I use Motorex 645 for black zorsts and Belgom Alu/Solvol for chrome ones…

Now… nice and clean…? Great…!! Bike inside the garage…? OK… Make certain that your pipes are pointing out of the door… Better still, wheel it outside 'cos when this baby starts up there will be grease/oil from all the joins burning away and Lord knows what comes out of those collector seals,? But whatever it is, you don’t want to be breathing it in…!!

Sorted…

HTH

Miti

Cheers Miti…very good description…I actually did it all like that, even the anal stuff[:D][:D]…including taping up the front clamps near to the headers…it was still an awkward bastid.
The collector box is old…widened the females as much as I dare as one or two were a bit thin…Unable to try on the bench in the first place as I didn’t have a collector until last week…but thanks to the generosity of one of our Members down in Griffith, NSW…I now have one.[8D]

Miti-babe…sorry but my conscience wouldn’t let me…so it was back off with the collector box and centre stand now refitted…Collector box to refit and should obviously now be a piece o’piss as they say somewhere…[8D]

Its time for a nice relaxing cup of English tea…I had the engine out and cleaned up the collector box and painted it in heat resistant paint and refitted it… new gaskets, new clamps, bleeding knuckles and lots of profanity, I fitted delkevic silencers…and clang!! the friggin centrestand hits the silencers, now I’m in turmoil, do I remove the collector box, to remove the stand? or do I remove the stand in situ (with the angle grinder and air saw!)or do I modify the silencer with a stop for the stand? on the up side (if it is an upside)it is throwing it down with rain and I cannot get out to ride anyway, the garage is feeling like a self imposed prison, so I’m off to put the kettle on!!!

I also had this problem with the Delkevic silencers,ended up putting a stainless steel strap across the ‘top’ two bolts on the centrestand, so when the stand comes up it rests on this rather than the silencer.

My FE has a collector from an R which also prevents the normal center stand from returning, so I’ve never had one on mine. Can’t say I miss it and the paddock stand is better for maintenance jobs…

so are you all saying that to get the centre stand off is a bitch of a job as I need to get my one off as its bent on the left and hits the now mint exhaust silencer[:(]

Yes, the stand pivots on a pin which will not slide fully out, it fouls the right hand exhaust stub of the collector box, you could cut the pin to remove the stand, but you could’nt replace the stand without removing the collector box, I don’t know why they could’nt have just designed it with spigot bolts like many other bikes.

will check out the frame to see if it could be modified

It looks like a good upgrade mod that Mr Honda missed in production[}:)]

Took the bike to my old friend at Eastern steel in Norwich and he applied heat at the point I asked and I bent it back to the stop.
Its now fixed and perfect like new and misses the exhaust so no more hitting the road with the stand around corners or roundabouts