The bolts are a promlem and a waste of time leave them be I got one out it stripped had just enough threads to get it back in with the old bold the new bolt stripped immediate I still have the new set of bolts and washers even bought a tap and die for them 12 by 1.25 .it's just s to do .now particulars came out or the because like I wished it would it's clean a 2010 klr
If you're talking about the big plug-looking things, they're supposedly to "blow carbon particles out of the exhaust baffle."
You're supposed to remove the plugs, start the engine, rap the throttle and bang on the muffler with a rubber mallet, then temporarily place a towel over the end of the exhaust so it comes out through those two holes and blows out carbon particles.
All my dualsports have had them but I've never taken them out. My KLR no longer has a baffle so it doesn't matter.
Old thread but I have some input. Don’t bother with these bolts. I’m a new KLR owner of a used 2014 with 4200mi. I’ve been performing all the checks and maint that may have not been done. Removing the 4 exhaust clean out bolts carefully I could feel binding and seizing of the bolts. The bolt’s threads were scared and had metal from the exhaust threads in them. I performed the exhaust clean out procedure and not 1 flake of anything came out of the 4 holes. I chased the exhaust threads with a 12mm x 1.25 tap and got quite a few small shavings. I also cleaned out the bolt threads with a thread file getting all the rings of metal debris out. All 4 bolts were then able to be put in easily by hand and a quick final torque with a wrench. I did apply a small amt of grease. Bottom line, I’ll never remove these bolts again. Waste of time unless your bike is running really dirty. (Rich or burning oil)
I always tell people to leave those bolts alone; the whole procedure is absolutely a waste of time and completely unnecessary.....all you'll get for your trouble is a stripped bolt.
If you have a bike year 2010 or newer with the catalytic converter, your exhaust gets hot enough in the converter to pretty much completely eliminate any carbon buildup within the baffle. My 2018 exhaust is so hot the header pipe glows cherry red at night. That with the air induction + converter that makes H2O = little to no carbon buildup.
I wish I had found this info before attempting to take mine out. Very difficult to remove. The plug threads are good for about 1/4" near the hex end, then stripped from there up. I have new ones on order, but I wonder if I should cut them shorter. I assume the good threads on the old plugs were seated in the threaded "bungs" on the muffler, and the stripped off part was up in the exhaust blast since '09. Either shortened, or full stock size, the new ones will be well coated with never-seize when they go back in. Oh yes, virtually no soot came out. I really wanted to see clouds to justify my efforts.
Sorry Art. Same here. Didn’t search here first (which I always do now). My threads were more gauled and filled with metal. (I think there’s a dis-similar metal issue there) A thread file cleaned them up perfectly. (A neighbor mechanic turned me on to thread files. Bought a nice set of both metric and SAE online for less than $25). I’m sure you’ve cleaned out the bosses with a tap. Your new plugs will fall right in never to be bothered with again!
We have never needed to "de-carbon" our automobile mufflers, so why in the world did some factory "engineer" think that we would ever need to 'de-carbon' a four-stroke motorcycle muffler?
I always thought those plugs were just to make lake pipes.
"And she purrs like a kitten till the lake pipes roar."
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