mjdoliveira Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 The one thing I don't like about the Mistrals I recently installed on my bike are the "Off Road Use Only" metal tags riveted to the side of the cans. I'd love to get rid of the tags but don't want to be left with the rivet holes that would remain. Any suggestions? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I have a small collection of those valuable, original plaques. I am quite conscientious about keeping them safely off-road in the lid of my toolbox. The rivets dril out cleanly and you can refill the holes with pop rivets. I 'blackened' mine with an aluminum blackening solution sold by Birchwood-Casey for gun parts. After a couple tanks of gas your eye is no longer drawn to the rivets. Later I was lucky to add a pair of the nice Guzzi plaques Rich Maund had made up. Pricey, but nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Rich Maund replaced his with some custom made aluminum plates with an engraved eagle he made. If you don't want to do this, you could certainly just pop some rivets and grind them off flush al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Al, if you ground the rivets flush , wouldn't they just fall in? Also, I supose you could fill the holes with some good black hi-temp RTV silicone and wipe it off flush with the surface. Whatever you do , mj, let us know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Al, if you ground the rivets flush , wouldn't they just fall in? ...not flush with the can , grind the shaft of the pop-rivet smooth with the surface of the rivet(if it sticks up). Being a pop rivet, it should pop off below the rivet though. al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 My origanal plan was to fill the holes. A friend supplied me with some aircraft grade epoxy, fiberglass strands and graphite powder to mix a concoction to match the cf. Never got the courage up to try it. mj, I'm just assuming you have cf cans. Or are they aluminum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I'm going to guess if they are the Mistals with the "off road use only" tags, they are the aluminum ones Moto Guzzi used to sell(still does??) as their "performance cans" I could be wrong though of course al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Both sets of my off-road (Mistral) Guzzi cans were cf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjdoliveira Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 My origanal plan was to fill the holes. A friend supplied me with some aircraft grade epoxy, fiberglass strands and graphite powder to mix a concoction to match the cf. Never got the courage up to try it. mj, I'm just assuming you have cf cans. Or are they aluminum? They are the aluminum ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callison Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 JB Weld? It may handle the heat. If you try it and it works, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murray Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I think you will fing the only cans witht he plates will be the carbon fibre ones. the Aluminium and stainless steel usally have such information directly stamped into the can. Titanium I dunno i suspect it might be stamped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest northend Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I have a simple cure to the problem. Don't buy the Mistral cans, buy M-4's,they don't have any tags on thier CF cans at all zip, zero, nadda. The carbon fiber is as smooth as glass, excellent quality and sound. They also have polished aluminum. I believe Harper's is where I got mine and I'm very happy with them. Dare to be a little different guy's........Later......Jeff H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjdoliveira Posted April 21, 2004 Author Share Posted April 21, 2004 I have a small collection of those valuable, original plaques. I am quite conscientious about keeping them safely off-road in the lid of my toolbox. The rivets dril out cleanly and you can refill the holes with pop rivets. I 'blackened' mine with an aluminum blackening solution sold by Birchwood-Casey for gun parts. After a couple tanks of gas your eye is no longer drawn to the rivets. Later I was lucky to add a pair of the nice Guzzi plaques Rich Maund had made up. Pricey, but nice. Doc, Love those plates -- think I will give Rich an e-mail. If those are custom made he might be able to do me a couple of Mistral ones. Barring that, seems like the best solution is to stick rivets in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 Drill out the rivets. It all comes out. JB Weld is too light a grey. I filled the holes with black epoxy. (CF IS epoxy.) Not seamless, but if you spent some time on it, applying a few layers, it could be. (I just didn't care that much). Get to it before the mufflers discolor, though. When you remove the plates, the CF beneath is shiny new, and the area where the plates were shows against the area exposed to the environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 I think you will fing the only cans witht he plates will be the carbon fibre ones. the Aluminium and stainless steel usally have such information directly stamped into the can. Titanium I dunno i suspect it might be stamped. It seems he has the aluminum ones The aluminum cans that MG used to sell as "performance pipes" a couple years back before they came out with the new Ti/ECU kit, were simply rebadged(unmarked other than the off-road admonishion) aluminum Mistrals, except they had a nice big ugly "for off road use only" metal badge riveted on the side <_> This apparently is what he is trying to get the rivets out of, and what I remember Rich Maund making nice rolled aluminum "Guzzi" plates to replace on his 01 Sport. al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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