I didn't have any delivery runs yesterday and no pressing maintenance issues, so I ran around on the Interceptor to get a bunch of errands done.
The shoe repair guy who's had my right Tourmaster boot for the past two months texted me to say it was ready, so I swung by. He's a one-man shop, highly recommended, and he did warn me at the start that he provides good quality work but that I'd be looking at a long wait time. In the meantime, I bought my two pairs of Indie Ridge boots, so I wasn't in a hurry.
He did a great job replacing the zipper on my boot, and we chatted for a bit. He said "hope you've got a loud exhaust, I hear those loud bikes on the freeway and they really get my attention!" I told him I don't really think that a loud bike is necessarily safer and that other mantra besides "loud pipes save lives" is "ride like you're invisible". He found that thought provoking and wished me happy riding. Very nice guy.
I didn't realize that our conversation would turn out to be a little prophetic. Ran a few more errands, and ended up at my friend's house for dinner. On the way home, going about 70 on the 405, I noticed that the bike was a little louder than normal. Hmm... not too safe to pull over on the freeway at night, so I kept riding till I got to my exit. I mulled over why it was louder. My suspicion was confirmed when I pulled over and saw that my left muffler had spit out its baffle. Ugh.
I ditched the heavy, large OEM mufflers last year, for a pair of "AEW TE102" cans. These are from India, cost $300 for the pair and are beautifully made. I grabbed them when news of pending tariffs were coming as part of my eBay parts spree to stock up. They sound great and have removable baffle tubes secured with an M6 grub screw. I took them out for a day to see what I thought. A bit louder, but meh, they sounded fine with them in, so I put them back. It was sort of late at night, so I brapped my way into the garage without using too much throttle, and asked Mrs. G if she thought the bike sounded any louder than normal when I came up the street. She hadn't paid much attention.
This morning I thought for moment about the quest to find replacement baffles. Looking at repairs to the work BMWs, I have done extensive research through forums and other resources, only to have the boss ask ChatGPT to find a solution, and get the same results and even more info within seconds. His Chat is named Lilly, by the way. I have not personalized mine to the same degree.
I had a recent contentious exchange with Chat over its ideas about writing a rider's manual. I had one idea, Chat had another, and in the end, we both "agreed to disagree" and I had Claude edit my manual to my extreme satisfaction. I figured this was a good opportunity for Chat and I to kiss and make up. I told Chat I'd lost one of my baffles and needed a replacement. The first thing Chat admonished me for was not putting Loctite on the grub screws, and that it was common for them to work loose without it. Fine, point taken. It then told me I could buy cheap generic replacements from Amazon, but that people were reporting mixed reviews, and that genuine AEW replacements were a more secure decision.
Found a replacement AEW pair on eBay India for forty bucks. Not sure what the import tariffs will be these days, but I can't imagine it will be tragic. Might try a pair from Amazon as well for twenty, just to compare. In the meantime, a little brappier than normal won't be too bad.
And BTW yes, duh, I think the kindly old cobbler is some kind of wizard. I mean, the guy warns me that I need loud pipes, and my muffler baffle falls out the same day, making my bike louder?
