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CL175 exhaust reinstall

TMSHORT

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Total Posts
194
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0
Location
NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA, USA
So I made an offer on the ebay listing and got the new exhaust for the CL175.

Any tips for the installation?

Any maintenance items I ought to address while I have the old one off?

I am struggling to see exactly how the system is supposed to mount; the online parts diagrams are not clear (or consistent) and the shop manual is also vague in that section:

- for the connection at the cylinder studs, is it just a nut, or is there a flat and lock washer required? I see it both ways in different diagrams. The ones I removed had a flange nut, which I doubt was stock.
- is there supposed to be a mounting point in the middle, near the left air cover? It looks like from the diagrams that there may be, but the old pipes were only connected at the cylinder head and the rear mount. I can't see how / where they might attach in the middle (though there is a bracket on the pipes themselves).

Any input would be much appreciated. I will post some pics of the new pipes later - they are very nice, better than I hoped.

Thomas
 
The parts fiche is definitely not much help. It seems like the short bracket shown near the shoulder bolt and grommet would indicate there is a second mount to the bike somewhere along the middle of the run of the pipes from the head back to the muffler but where it attaches on the bike would be something best explained by someone with experience. Richard Pitman has a CL and I'm sure he'll know
 
These are the parts needed for the mounting brackets. The centre strap was missing from my bike when I got it, so I made my own, as in this pic. The second pic shows my bike as originally purchased, you can see the bracket clamped to the frame, missing bolt is where that strap attaches. A rather strange bolt attaches the bracket to the point where the two pipes are bolted together. It passes through the hole in the left hand air filter cover, which must be mounted before fitting the exhaust. I went my own way on this, as I didn't have the original parts, worth checking the parts photos from the CNMSL fiches.

PLATE for CL175 SCRAMBLER 1973 K7 USA - order at CMSNL

Note the threaded hole. I welded a captive nut onto my home brewed effort.

BOLT,EX.PIPE SET for CL175 SCRAMBLER 1973 K7 USA - order at CMSNL

And then you'll have the fun of actually wrangling the pipes into the head. Remember to slip the left side exhaust flange into place at the top of the pipe and keep it there whilst entering the pipes into the head. The right hand pipe bend gets in the way, not possible to get the flange past this, sounds vague but you'll soon see what I mean. Good luck !!

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Richard, thanks for the pics and info. Very helpful.

I managed to scrounge all the proper bits from EBay, CMSNL, etc. The only thing I can’t find is the grommet for the bracket that ties into the two pieces that clamp to the frame, but I have a grommet that works.

However, I am stuck. I cannot get the left flange on … I think I understand what you meant by the right pipe getting in the way, but as it stands I cannot get it into position to slide on the studs:

D5B4C0CC-0B15-4B8A-B7CD-EE5F6457D019.jpg

I need to take a break before I break something that I had a hard time finding. There is already a divot/scratch in the right pipe where the left flange touches it, I suspect from the prior owner struggling to remove the pipes.

The flange seems hung up in 2 ways: I can’t get it clocked properly to align with the studs, and I can’t get it far enough to the left for the studs to align. Both due to the right pipe being in the way.

What am I missing?

Thanks in advance…
 
It's been years since I did this, and mostly I remember the frustration I felt. It's one of those jobs where you mess around for hours, cursing and getting more and more angry, and then, BOINK!, it's on. And you don't know why. I do remember that I had to have the two pipes loose from each other everywhere and I swung the left pipe away from the bike at the back to get it lined up with the studs at the head. I think I made up some sort of sling at the rear so the pipes would stay up, with enough slack so I could dance the left around. Maybe.

I considered taking the left studs out first, but didn't do it.
 
Like the previous posters have said, it's just something to keep at until it suddenly fits. I remember asking the same questions myself first time I went down this particular rabbit hole.

As above, get all the joints downstream nice and loose. You've already overcome the first hurdle, simply getting the headers into the exhaust ports. I also considered lock nutting the exhaust studs out, but managed it in the end. You might try pulling the exhaust collets out slightly to give a bit more waggle room.
 
You might try installing the left header into the head first, then wiggle/splay the right side in..... Everything must be somewhat loosely clamped.....
 
Dang ... I was hoping there was a magic trick that I was missing. I guess I'm just not holding my mouth the right way.
Fresh cup of coffee and back at it.

Thanks for the tips.

T.
 
Dang ... I was hoping there was a magic trick that I was missing. I guess I'm just not holding my mouth the right way.
Fresh cup of coffee and back at it.

Thanks for the tips.

T.


Had to laugh cause I said the same to myself about holding your mouth right :biggrin:.
 
So the split collars need to be in place during the install?

After some serious cursing pushing pulling and banging I got the exhaust back in, thinking those split collars could slide in after. That seems not to be the case …

Is this easier if I pull the pipes apart and remove the left one from the muffler?

It is looking more and more like my nice new muffler is not going to come through this unscathed.
 
I haven't installed a CL exhaust in a very long time but typically the collars can be inserted after the pipes are in the head. You'd have to tape them to the pipes if you wanted to install them at the same time, as hard as the pipes are to get into the head there's no way you could juggle holding all that together with only 2 hands. I used to slip the collars in after installing CB pipes all the time, as long as you can slide the flanges (exhaust pipe joints as Honda calls them) down the CL pipes a bit to allow clearance for the collars you'd be okay.
 
I think it’s impossible on the CL - at least the left side. I can do the right side easily, but the left has nowhere near enough clearance.

I’ve almost exhausted (no pun intended) my supply of 4 letter words just getting the damn thing back off again. I’ve got the left collars taped in place and am gonna reinstall them again.

Good thing I live in the country, if I had neighbors they’d probably be calling the police after all the cussing coming out of my shop :lol:
 
Well that doesn’t work. Having the split collars taped in place pushes the other part far enough back that I can’t get the pipes in again.
 
I’m gonna type this while I remember it so that it is entombed in the internet forever.

I pulled 3 studs, the two on the left and the inboard on the right.
Then, taped the collars in place on the left.
Inserted the right pipe, and got it as far back into the head as possible.
Then, holding back near the muffler, pull the pipes out and up away from the bike while pulling (hard) on the left pipe to get the flange end into the head.

A few celebratory swear words, and hope I didn’t leave anything out…

Fortunately for me the exhaust studs came out VERY easily … as in almost just finger tight. I feared otherwise on a 50 year old bike, but who knows.

I added some pics of the new parts and the process.

8387E067-2FB7-4D84-9C44-AA663F581649.jpg
AC5E9252-7847-444A-AB38-17050D8761AD.jpg
 
Is this easier if I pull the pipes apart and remove the left one from the muffler?

I'm glad you didn't do this, it wouldn't have helped, almost impossible to get them back together again once on the bike. I did notice that the collets were not in place on your earlier photo, I just assumed that you'd just loosely assembled for the photo. As you've since discovered, the collets have to go in first, not enough room on the CL pipes to slide them in afterwards. Hope you remembered the exhaust gaskets at the head end ?

Anyway, looks as if you've got it sorted now, well done.
 
You've earned entry into the club of people who have installed the pipes on a CL175. You now have access to the library of closely held secrets. Unfortunately the weblink to the library has been broken since the second Clinton administration. These secrets are held only in the minds of forgetful old geezers.
 
Thinking about this, I recently installed a NOS K3 exhaust on my K7, and I didn't need to remove the studs or tape the collets together. I'm wondering if your exhaust studs are just a fraction longer than mine are, or weren't fully screwed into the cylinder head. I just had barely enough clearance to get the exhaust collar over the studs and into position.

p92ZGcD.jpg
 
I'm glad you didn't do this, it wouldn't have helped, almost impossible to get them back together again once on the bike. I did notice that the collets were not in place on your earlier photo, I just assumed that you'd just loosely assembled for the photo. As you've since discovered, the collets have to go in first, not enough room on the CL pipes to slide them in afterwards. Hope you remembered the exhaust gaskets at the head end ?

Anyway, looks as if you've got it sorted now, well done.

Actually I did try it with the pipes apart, as you said it was a no-go.
I did get the gaskets in ... and triple checked each time before I tried assembly just to make sure they hadn't fallen out!
 
Here is what I was replacing:

752F609F-BF26-490F-BC72-541E57EAB965.jpg

2527CD0F-11E1-4BDB-B0E4-BE1747382544.jpg

I mean … I am not a pro welder … but jeez. And the muffler is not even the right one for the CL175

What do you guys think I should do with these? Any reason to list on eBay? The exhaust fits and works, but clearly is not stock. I have the proper shields which are in OK shape, some rust on the backs.
 
They look very usable to me, compared to a lot that are rusted out. Looks like someone didn't finish cleaning up a previous repair. A wire brush and remove that spall/spatter, maybe a shot of exhaust silver paint and go with it.
I'm not a pure purist by any means but I'd like to see a pic of your 'new' pipes, to see what you just went through all this for.
 
@ballbearian Thanks for the input - I may try and clean them up.

That crummy weld and the wrong muffler just bugged me on a bike that is otherwise pretty original. Here are some pics of the new pipes:

85FECD35-5F8E-44A0-952C-396E1FF4076B.jpg 286C2AFC-E0C7-45BD-98F0-ECD20E962A9A.jpg 342CB435-A55E-4773-8552-9C00067459C9.jpg
 
Looks really nice, and at this point (now that the air is no longer blue in the garage) I'm sure it was worth the effort.
 
Oh yeah, that set of new pipes looks great.

The old welded ones just need to have that cleaned up to see if the weld left any pinholes, then reweld if nec. That unfinished kind of stuff just bugs me.
 
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