PegMonkey Bad Monkey!

Superwool is a calcium-magnesium-silicate insulation material that is similar to fiberglass. Most fiberglass will melt at 700 degrees Celsius. Superwool is rated to 1300 degrees Celsius. Fiberglass also tends to shrink and become brittle at higher temperatures. Superwool is however not specifically designed for use in glass pack exhaust systems. Well, we'll see about that. I've decided to pack the exhaust can of my RC51 and see how it holds up. When working with superwool or even fiberglass it's a good idea to protect yourself from the fibers. They can scratch your eyes, and get embedded in the lining of your lungs. That can suck.

The RC has a Jardine RT1 two into one system. Simply removing two bolts and the springs that hold can on and I was ready to begin the operation. I carefully drilled the rivets out of the can and punched the middles of them out with a drift punch.

I pulled the end caps off after punching the rivets out. Inspecting the fiberglass I found the fiberglass in the can was ready to be replaced. Well, at least I wouldn't be wasting perfectly good fiberglass. One end of the can was packed tight and packed all the way to the end.

The other end of the can wasn't in such good shape. The fiberglass appears to have never been packed to the end of the can and was badly burned.

I dug the fiberglass out of the can, which was no small task. After finally convincing the fiberglass to give up and let go, I discovered that it was in really bad shape. The can did have 9000 miles on it and was sounding kind of ratty.

I unboxed the superwool, rolled it out and measured the amount I thought I'd need. The superwool comes in about a 2 inch thick tightly woven blanket. There are other ways to buy superwool. You can buy it loose which is similar to what blown fiberglass insulation looks like. The only place I found that sold it in that form sold it in bulk and I only needed enough for one or two cans.

I wrapped the superwool around the core and began to stuff it into the can. I wanted to try and pack it in as tight as I could.

It was a long slow painful process. Perhaps there are some tricks to packing an exhaust can that I don't know about? I could've packed it looser I suppose. I continued to press on. Here's the can about halfway stuffed.

Finally, the can was packed.

I trimmed the fat end and replaced the end cap. That took awhile. The core was off center on one end by about 2mm. It took some, ahem, adjusting to get it right. Finally with the caps on I mounted the can and started the bike. I heard the same ratty sound I had heard before I packed the can. Being a bit confused I began inspecting the bike for the sound that I heard and found the mid pipe of the Jardine system had a crack where the mounting bracket was. So the results of the test are going to be postponed until I can repair the mid pipe. Currently Cumberland Cycles is attempting to see if Jardine will replace the pipe under warranty. Stay tuned.

Read more about superwool here http://www.607max.com/ You can find superwool at some furnace and kiln supply houses or order it online here http://www.seattlepotterysupply.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=31391

Jardine did not want to replace the pipe. They stuck by their 90 day warranty. I went through the proper channels trying to get the pipe replaced. I 'm sure that if I raised heck and called Jardine directyly I may have been able to convince them to replace the pipe. But, I think the readers should know what Jardine's service is really like.

Jardine's policy is that you return the part in question to the place of purchase. Then the place where you purchased the part will take care of contacting Jardine. That's what I did, and they didn't replace it.

Upon further inspection of the break, it was clearly jardines fault. The bracket was not welded on in the correct location. Granted, it was only off by a mm or two, but it was enough to cause the pipe to crack. The pipe would expand upon it's length when heated, and this would put excess pressure on the bracket. It wore throught the rubber grommet that was used to mount the bracket. Over time, it stressed the weld and cracked.

Cumberland Cycles arranged to have somebody weld it for me. I'm very pleased with the job.

I'm happy to report that after reassembly, the SuperWool seems to be doing it's job. It sounds a lot tighter than the fiberglass packing did. It's less "boomy" and sounds a bit more exotic. Only time will tell how well it holds up.

Update 2/29/2004 Ok, the SuperWool lasted exactly one ride. Yep, that's right, one ride. About 80% of the superwool completely disappeared. Left behind were some melted little balls of silicone material. So much for higher temperature tolerance than fiberglass. So much for higher resilience than fiberglass. SuperWool does not make for a good muffler pack.