Tire rubs against muffler

[cadcamkenny]

Almost 4K on my bike now and I noticed that there is a big scuff on the muffler where the rear tire apparently made contact.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Is the muffler mount adjustable?
This is the stock tire and stock suspension.
Ive been riding the bike pretty hard on gravel roads but not as hard as I ride my KLR on the same roads.

 

[RED CAT]

Shouldn't even come close. Maybe the attachment point for your muffler has somehow been bent inwards. That scuff in the picture doesn't look like it came from the tire judgeing from the angle. ::017::

 

[cadcamkenny]

here is a zoom in of the picture.

 

[Dallara]

~


Perhaps the scuff was caused by something snagged and thrown up there by the tire or wheel, or got between the tire and muffler while the suspension stroked up there? Just a guess, as it doesn't appear it's rubbing all the time.

Dallara



~

 

[cadcamkenny]

Surely, I'm not the only one here to have bottomed out the suspension.
It looks like it will happen when the suspension is compressed at least 6 inches.

 

[Dallara]

Surely, I'm not the only one here to have bottomed out the suspension.
It looks like it will happen when the suspension is compressed at least 6 inches.

I know I've bottomed mine - repeatedly - as I'm, shall we say, rather portly...

And my muffler shows no signs of scuffing or any marks. That's why I think it must have been something that got hung up in your rear wheel/tire as you were riding, then got thrown clear. I've had that happen a ton on dirt bikes in hare scrambles or enduro events "back in the day"...

Just my two centavos... YMMV.

Dallara




~

 

[Koinz]

Sure looks like a long way to get to that tire rub - Have you increased your pre-load on the rear? :-\

 

[cadcamkenny]

all settings are factory defaults.
I weigh 240 lb and have bottomed it out a few times.
I'll take a closer look tonight to see if something on the muffler is out of whack.

 

[imrubicon]

I know I've bottomed mine - repeatedly - as I'm, shall we say, rather portly...

And my muffler shows no signs of scuffing or any marks. That's why I think it must have been something that got hung up in your rear wheel/tire as you were riding, then got thrown clear. I've had that happen a ton on dirt bikes in hare scrambles or enduro events "back in the day"...

Just my two centavos... YMMV.

Dallara
~

What he said ::008::

 

[stevepsd]

There is definitely something amiss with your muffler....sure you didn't fall over : : :

 

[cadcamkenny]

No, I haven't dropped the bike and hoping to never drop it.
The muffler is mounted solidly and does not move in any direction.
Using a straight edge, It is clear that the tire will and does slightly rub against the silver plastic end cap of the muffler.
I don't have ANY clearance between the tire and the muffler when the suspension is fully compressed.
Bummer....

 

[stevepsd]

I would bring it in to the dealer.....maybe the muffler mounting tab is bent or mis-aligned somehow. Do they have another ST to compare it to?

 

[donaldb]

Have also got some marks on mine, have checked for play, none.

I can only think of it being caused by maybe too much mud called up on the tyre and bottoming out with it.


Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Koinz]

If you loosen the clamp at the inlet of the muffler and twist the muffler ever so slightly, could you gain some clearance that way?

 

[markjenn]

I went out with a straight edge and extended the tire up to the muffler. There is between 3/4" and 1" clearance if the tire ever got up next to the muffler.

I just checked mine (stock, never dropped, stock-size Battlewing tires) by laying a carpenter square against the edge of the tire and it clears the muffler end cap by about 1/8". The square itself is about 1/8" thick, so I'd judge the clearance at full compression to be about 1/4".

Tires of the same size vary slightly in width, this might be a contributing factor.

If you're in the deep doo-doo, it might just be momentary scraping of mud on the edge of the tire up against the muffler cap.

Might be worth winching the rear of the bike down and measuring the actual clearance. Or take out a bolt in the shock linkage which should allow you to move the swingarm through its full travel. Perhaps yours is simply at the limits of tolerances and they are all conspiring against you.

You might have some flexibility to loosen the muffler mounts and gain a little clearance, but I doubt it will be much.

In any event, I doubt the rubbing is serious enough that it is anything more than cosmetic. Maybe use as an excuse to get that slip-on you've always wanted?

- Mark

 

[Mikef5000]

If it was tire variation, I would think it would hit that brake caliper arm long before it hit the muffler, seeing as how suspension travel would make no difference, and there's very little clearance there to begin with.

 

[ggeorge11]

Is it possible that your tire pressure is low? if it is, the tire profile would widen out when you bottom out, I am 250 fat, and I upped the preload all the way around, and run 36/36 on my stock tires, I will be changing over to the K60 scouts soon! If that is not the case, I would go with the other guys and think that the muffler bracket is off kilter somehow.

 

[markjenn]

Is it possible that your tire pressure is low? if it is, the tire profile would widen out when you bottom out....

Good thought, but the rubbing is occurring not at the bottom contact patch, but further up the tire. I would think the tire wouldn't be "widened out" by the time it rotates up to the rubbing point. And a tire with lower pressure is probably slightly less wide everywhere except the contact patch.

Just conjecture, really don't know how quickly a tire changes shape while rotating.

- Mark

 

[ggeorge11]

Good point, it is only flat on the bottom.

 

[EricV]

Well, the thread made me go look at mine. Using the strait edge method along the side of the tire I have ~3/8" of clearance between the muffler and tire. No indication of it ever rubbing in the 30k so far.

I will note that if you're 240 w/o gear, you really need to crank the pre-load up to near max to approach the correct sag. I'm at 250 w/o gear and ride with the panniers on all the time, one mostly full of various crap I like to have on hand when I ride. My pre-load is at max and I need a stiffer spring, and a better shock as my tail is wagging pretty good now in the corners, especially noticeable if I have to grab come binders in a corner. Had a deer run out in front of me the other night at 2:30 am on a dirt road at 50 mph and it was... interesting, but not in a good way.

I'd be real tempted to make an adjustment with a BFH to your muffler bracket, perhaps with a short piece of 2x4 as a punch against the bracket.