Ducati Monster Forum

It looks weak and I'm thinking about cutting the brackets which holds the heel heat guards, on the s-pipes. Pretty solid metal to cut through?
I'm doing this because of clearance issues - my heel is forced out a bit + the heel of my boot sometimes rests on top of the heat guard in contact with the pipe.

It will. For about 3.672 seconds.

They'll get the job done eventually, but you're gonna have to change discs like crazy if you've got any serious metal to go through.

If they would only last for 4 seconds [roll] The pieces I want off are quite serious, so I'll have to see a professional [thumbsup]

There are fiber-reinforced discs for the dremels, but they're still for light duty.

using a dremel is like chopping down a giant NorCal redwood with a fingernail file.  It will work -- but take forever.

If you want to do it cheap -- just go to HF (Horror Freight (http://harborfreight.com)) and get a 4.5in grinder for @$15.  Go get a  4.5in metal cutoff blade for @$1.86 via HF, Lowe, HomeDepot, etc.  Make a practice cut or two first.  Then cut your pipes with 1/8in remaining.  (@20 seconds)  Then go back and carefully with the grinder remove the remaining stuff. (minute)  Either then file out or get a sanding disc @$5.00 (HF, Lowe, HomeDepot) and smooth out the remaining 1/32nd left. (2 minutes because you are being really careful) If you are good, you won't ever know that a bracket was there.  If your not careful -- you will have ugly cut marks which is very unprofessional looking.

Then when you are done, make cut marks on the rear frame of your bike and do a tailchop on it.  About 30 seconds to do both sides.  Invite your friends over once you have done yours and let them bring food/beverages in trade to borrow your tools.

Tools are your friend.  Use them.  Remember to wear safety eye wear and use gloves to protect your hands.

You and your damned logic.  >:(

 [thumbsup]

But they said it (the Dremel) would cover all of my tooling needs - did they lie to me?  :'(

I'll have to look into buying a grinder. It's just that once I get it, I will never need it again. If I don't get it, I'll think of all kinds of things I could
use it for [bang] Would the right discs work on a drill as well? I have that already.

I agree on doing it right - hate to have my bike looking damaged, but I'm planning on covering the s-pipes with header wrap. Although, just knowing that underneath it's all pretty makes it worth while doing it properly.

The tools for beer trade sounds fair [beer]

I just used the dremel with the fiber reenforced disc to cut the upper tabs (and half of the weld) off of the headlight U bracket.  That used up 1 disc.

It wasn't steel, but it wasn't soft aluminum either.

Yes.

um, i dont think you should use a cutting disk in a drill, they ussually dont have the speed that you need to accually get the job done, prolly take you as long as the dremel will. grinders ussually spin 10k to 15k rpm, i dont know of a drill that spins that fast. plus a 4.5" dewalt grinder will only set you back like 50$. if you goto harbor frieght its even cheaper. 

No good is going to come from this.

...other than a big ugly hole in my pipes, buying replacements and THEN having it professionally done?  [evil] ;)

Have you tried a more precise cutting bit, such as a tungsten carbide bit.

?? :P ???

(http://www.mytoolstore.com.au/images/9901.jpg)

good for cutting, then use other bits for cleaning up cut

I've been doing it for years on car restorations/bike mods.


A cheesy cordless I'd agree with you on. I have a high end makita that spins a metal cutting disc just fine.

Just use the Dremel. Those tiny little tabs that the heel guards screw into are not heavy guage sheet metal. You will change disks, but that's supposed to happen. That's the way it works. I guess that's why Dremels come with a bazillion  of those disks in the box. The Dremel will enable you to surgically remove them(with the exhaust still on the bike), and not overgrind or otherwise screw up like you could with an angle grinder. You can use the little sanding disks that come with the Dremel to finish it off, and the polishing wheel if you want to go nuts. It's not like you are trying to cut an I beam or anything. An angle grinder is too big of a tool for that job, especially if you don't have metalfab finesse experience. People use Dremels all the time to core their exhaust cans with little difficulty. I once removed a bike boot from one of my friends' bicycles in college with a Dremel. It was a University Parking Nazi high-strength industrial nuclear bomb-proof padlock. Probably cost them $200. Dremel went through it like butta. Changed a few disks, but that's how it works.

I'd recommend you keep the heat shields right where they are. If your foot rests on the top of them now, they will rest on the exhaust pipe itself when you remove them completely. You will have melted footwear. I dunno, to me it just doesn't seem smart. Rearsets would be smarter in my view. Maybe even bigger heat shields.

I usually use an air tool, but my cheesy Craftsman 19.2 volt will do it too if no air supply is available.

I have the same prob with the heel as this crazy Norwegian.  I put a piece of wood up against the S-pipe and pounded it towards the wheel a bit so I had more heel clearance.   :o :o   
I used a dremel for my tail chop.  It did take two cutting wheels and a quite a bit of time, but it did a nice clean job.

Crazy Norwegian?  [laugh] Who - me? In that case, we're all crazy up here - the girls too 8)

It sounds like a Dremel is possible, like going touring on a 50cc. Things will break, you might not get there, but fun if you succeed. It is tempting to at least try the Dremel - if it fails I'll just get the angle grinder. Hmmm, or just have a professional do it in 10 minutes.

I have rearsets. That's why my size 12 feet are rearwards enough to be positioned outside the rear pipe - which is further out than the forward pipe.
My dealer loosened the pipe and pounded it a few mm in. We also repositioned the lower can to hang on the inside of the main/high bracket instead of on the outside. It helped, but is not enough.

Boot on pipe issue will be solved by using header wrap on that section. At least that's how I plan to proceed. As I see the ergonomics, this will align my foot along the forward pipe's heat guard and hopefully not touch the wrap on the rear pipe.

Thanks for all the input. It goes to the "educating Norwegians foundation" [thumbsup]

I used a dremel to chop the heat shields off my S2R and it took just a few minutes.  It was a while ago so I don't recall what bit I used, but I had no issues.

M

First and knowledge - thanks!  [thumbsup] If you don't remember which bit, it probably wasn't anything out of the ordinary I suppose.
(BTW It was the brackets and not just the shield itself?)

If you're just using the regular metal cutting discs for the dremel, double 2 up at once, it prolongs their life considerably. The dremel should be able to handle this job, no big deal.

I didn't use the brittle brown cutting discs.  I used the 1.5" 'Metal' reinforced with the E-Z lock connector.  Come in a 5-pack withe the E-Z lock shaft.

I used a dremel and a combination of the brittle disks and the reinforced disks to core my exhaust cans. 

Yes, the bracket.  It was the bit that printman showed in an earlier thread. 

cutting a few tabs off should not require a 4.5" angle grinder.  really not a big deal.  you should be able to get them off with 1 or 2 of the larger fiber reinforced disks.  just wind the dremel up to ten and cut slow, be careful to keep the blade straight once into the bracket, touching the sides will ruin the disk very quickly.  best bet is to draw a line with the disk right at the weld then work the disk back and forth over the line until you're through.  once the tabs are off you can clean them up with a sanding drum or cylindrical stone.  just take your time and it should be no problem.  5-15 minutes per tab depending on how clean you take the welds down to. 

use these, #456 1-1/2"fiber glass reinforced cut-off disk
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=456

and don't forget safety glasses, if (when) the disk comes apart fragments fly everywhere.   

my cordless dremel seems to do just fine with the discs cutting metal...one handed even.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/2561666023_162738a65b_b.jpg)

If you do attempt the dremel remember to wear eye protection. Don't press too hard or you'll just burn through the little disk in 2 seconds. Also try not to push out of plane of the disk since they snap easily. Be careful once you get near the end of a disk since they tend to disintegrate and sometimes throw little bits around. Just be patient.

Don't listen to all these guys saying you need bigger tools. The dremel will be fine, and those discs cut for more like 20 seconds. I would be surprised if you needed more than one or two discs to cut through ANY part on your bike...

I used mine for my tail chop, and cutting the nub off my kickstand, and niether job used up a whole disk. Besides, the discs come in tubes of like 20 for a reason: it's OK to use two or three at a time.

Your job will take you less than 5 minutes, just get to it!

And definitely wear the eye protection... When those discs shatter (happens occasionally) it's like a small explosion of cutting material.

Yeah it will but, don't git to aggresive.  Why?, you can set the dremel on fire, been there, done that.  Bought a roto zip, by boush, model rz2, all the dremel stuff will fit it.  Sweet tool, git as aggresive as you want, no fire, fire bad [thumbsup]

You can set anything on fire.

Hey - got on the dremel site to check out the Bosch RZ2 compatability and look what ist says at the bottom of the web page:

Copyright © 2008, Robert Bosch Tool Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

I did not know that.

+1 on everything aaronb said here, I used a dremel on a few different pieces (including stainless steel pieces on the exhaust). Just get the fiber discs and don't push too hard (have some patience) and they last longer than you would think.