K1 Black Muffler New in 2005 starting to crack

Muffler purchased new in Nov 2005 (when they were available) now starting to deteriorate in normal spot. Was really surprised to see this since it has never seen rain, must be from exhaust moisture. Any tips if these can be restored or what others do for normal maintenance? I'm now thinking I should of disassembled annually and painted. Real bummer.

Regards
Kevin

I personally think they rust just from sitting and drawing moisture, because of the grommet fitting.

https://lilhonda.com/index.php?threads/ways-to-fix-a-rusted-out-pipe.20804/

Leave the OEM gasket off their junk. Best bet now is to clean up and respray with high temp paint and wrap with exhaust wrap from Napa. Just cut into 1-1/2" wide strip and wrap it, reinstall front clamp.

It's fairly easy to weld-in a splice and that's the proper repair method...solid & permanent. Strip the rust, back down to clean, "white" metal (preferably via glass bead blasting). Keep the splice as short as possible and it may not even be visible, in-situ.

I'll second what cjpayne said..avoid the OEM packing, that's where the problem originates. A piece of header wrap is far preferable. I've been using the packing from a cheap-n-chineezy muffler. It looks like layers of graphite-embedded plastic and is quite fragile, i.e. separates into thin layers, if not handled carefully. That said, 14 years & 24,000 miles later the pipe has nary a trace of rust. IMHO, it's because the packing material doesn't absorb & hold moisture.

That looks worse than the header portion of my 49-year-old K0 muffler before I repaired it.

Looks familiar. I picked up a K1 exhaust that was ~5 years old, which had the same problem. Here's what it looks like after the repair. I'm pretty sure the section I welded in was 1.75". The damaged area was ~1" and I wanted to make sure I welded beyond the rot. I chose to use a section of pipe rather than inline splice. An inline splice, done properly, is almost undetectable but takes a little more time.

I also have some header wrap; more that ever hope to use. Will gladly send you a few feet if you're interested. Just shoot me a PM.

Honda's packing sold a ton of replacement mufflers and looks like this one is no exception.

Thank you all for the replies. This was a huge disappointment and I should of known better using that original packing and not checking for so long. I’ll find someone local to help with the welding starting with a local shop in town that rebuilds old Honda’s.

Kevin

All fixed now, just need a little paint. We have a great local Honda shop that only works on old bikes and have been a huge help for issues like this. Thank you all for the help.

That weld looks a little rough. But thats how i repair them. And i use black header wrap as well.

Allenp42 helped me with the header wrap and I did mention the weld to the shop. He assured me it would hold.

Thanks
Kevin