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Posted by Fab
- November 01, 2025, 13:47:29 PMThis morning, I told myself that I had two options.
1. Gut the muffler and remove the internal silencer pipes (as described by @moto ). This way, the size of the two holes inside the fishtail would not be relevant.
2. Take a coaxial grinder, add a good dose of elbow grease, and enlarge the two holes inside the fishtail.
I chose a simple solution for a simple problem and opted for the coaxial grinder method. 
Posted by Fab
- October 31, 2025, 18:02:46 PMQuote from: Troll on October 18, 2025, 11:28:47 AMThis is going to come as a surprise to you, but the stock 1500 muffler has no internal baffles. The pipes are perf core with steel packing. I have had several stock mufflers over the years, and they are all the same. The muffler I currently have on the bike is a '99. The combination of the steel pack and the restricted air intake system create the muffled sound. Opening up the intake will increase the sound by a lot.
Somehow I just discovered that not all exhausts are created equal...
To cut a long story short, a young guy who got his driving license a month ago t-boned me while reversing. I wasn't hurt—which is the most important thing—but the bike fell on its right side. Minor damage: the front brake lever was bent, there were a few scratches on the crash guards, and the exhaust was scuffed, especially the fishtail.
Now, while the brake lever and guards are easy to replace with new spare parts, it's another matter with the original exhaust fishtail.
I couldn't believe my luck when I found a fishtail from a '99 Drifter 1500 on eBay from Belgium and ordered it right away.
I received it today and it's in good condition.
But now comes the "but"... When I placed the newly received tailpipe next to the scuffed one, I immediately noticed an important difference: the holes through which the internal pipes of the silencer pass are smaller in the fishtail that arrived today.
I then tried to attach the fishtail to the muffler, but the two internal pipes are larger (32 mm) than the holes inside the fishtail.
Does anyone know of any differences between the exhausts on a J and an R Drifter 1500?
Or differences in exhausts between North American and European models?
Mine is a 2001 US Drifter (R model), while the fishtail comes from a 1999 EU Drifter (J model).
Take a look at the attached photo comparing the two fishtails.
What do you recommend? Shall I find a way to enlarge the two holes?
Posted by Fab
- October 18, 2025, 15:52:55 PMThanks Troll!
I'm not surprised at all, since @moto sent me some photos of the work he did to gut his stock exhaust at the time. As you wrote, each of the two pipes inside the muffler contains a smaller diameter perforated pipe. Stainless steel wool is sandwiched between each pipe and its perforated pipe.
Apparently, this simple setup manages to muffle the exhaust sound quite a bit.
Unfortunately, @moto no longer has the video he shared in this thread, but he told me the difference in sound was very noticeable.
Posted by Troll
- October 18, 2025, 11:28:47 AMThis is going to come as a surprise to you, but the stock 1500 muffler has no internal baffles. The pipes are perf core with steel packing. I have had several stock mufflers over the years, and they are all the same. The muffler I currently have on the bike is a '99. The combination of the steel pack and the restricted air intake system create the muffled sound. Opening up the intake will increase the sound by a lot.
Posted by Fab
- October 18, 2025, 05:10:32 AMI just found this video of a Drifter 1500 with what appears to be a stock exhaust (incl. its "goat bladder") that seems to produce a louder, deeper sound.
Would this be the sound you get when you remove the internal mufflers but leave the goat bladder intact?
Or is it simply the way the camera's microphone recorded the sound (i.e., with boosted low frequencies)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MMj0VYjU7M
Thanks!
Posted by Fab
- July 27, 2025, 16:02:59 PMQuote from: moto on September 19, 2018, 13:14:26 PMhere is a video what I done:
and I am verry happy of that sound, this is enough for me and my wife
Moi Jari
I know this is an old post, but I was wondering if you still have the video of your OEM exhaust with the silencer removed.
The link in your post no longer works.
Kiitoksia!
Posted by moto
- September 20, 2018, 06:42:26 AMQuote from: mittico68 on September 20, 2018, 05:28:37 AMThanks!!Well done.
And nice bike, too!
Posted by mittico68
- September 20, 2018, 05:28:37 AMWell done.
And nice bike, too!
Posted by moto
- September 19, 2018, 23:27:46 PMQuote from: drifter-paul on September 19, 2018, 19:36:06 PMThanks Paul!Lovely job, Moto. Sounds good and I love the knee tank gaurds.
Posted by drifter-paul
- September 19, 2018, 19:36:06 PMLovely job, Moto. Sounds good and I love the knee tank gaurds.
Posted by moto
- September 19, 2018, 13:14:26 PMhere is a video what I done:
and I am verry happy of that sound, this is enough for me and my wife 
Posted by drifter-paul
- September 19, 2018, 03:11:01 AMYeah, coming back to me now, it was 7 tears ago I removed the exhaust and then replaced it. From memory I put a wooden stick down from the engine side and gave it a few thumps, there was only 1 tab weld holding that plate in place, after that, the whole thing was then just an empty tube.
Posted by moto
- September 18, 2018, 11:33:38 AMIt's done. Now this muffler is real empty, two baffles are taken off, this is last one at first picture.
Posted by moto
- September 17, 2018, 05:34:10 AMQuote from: drifter-paul on September 17, 2018, 04:58:36 AMThis exhaust is OEM, default factory exhaust. In this photo, I am removed my fishtail tip so I can reach better to remove these two baffles out.
My oem was a 'fishtail' , oval shaped at the end with 2 or 3 small pipes projecting out. Held by 1 screw with no internal baffling - very effective in muting the sound.
This was an Australian model, but I don't think we're talking OEM, here..
Posted by drifter-paul
- September 17, 2018, 04:58:36 AM 
My oem was a 'fishtail' , oval shaped at the end with 2 or 3 small pipes projecting out. Held by 1 screw with no internal baffling - very effective in muting the sound.
This was an Australian model, but I don't think we're talking OEM, here..