Project Workhorse Part 6

HMF Utility Series Exhaust

Well we have chosen our final products for the Can-Am 650 Outlander Max and the first of these will be a product from the Exhaust engineering department at HMF. HMF has quickly become the choice for all things exhaust in the ATV world. HMF is located in Ohio and this company attends many ATV related events to get detailed feedback on their products so they can stay at the top of their game.

The workhorse as you might remember is our hunting and working utility project and for some extra punch in the low and mid range we needed to open the exhaust up just a bit. We really wanted to get the new swamp series exhaust but development hasn't come far enough just yet for our Can-Am Max. The frames on these beauties are a bit longer to allow for the passenger and that's where the hang-up is according to HMF. So we opted for the next best thing, which was a Utility Series pipe. This should do the job and with the spark arrestor installed it will get us down a few decibels to keep from scaring off the wild game.

We suggest that before installation, you should look over the project for any and all problems related to the correct installation of our add-on. Removing both the passenger seat and then the drivers seat we noticed just how simple the HMF pipe was going to be to get installed and with a few calculations we laid out the very few tools it would take to get the job done.

The first thing I did notice is that HMF doesn't use the factory pin hangers on its pipes. This had its drawbacks in our opinion as the pipe mounts directly to the frame, using factory drilled holes that on the first hanger isn't exactly in perfect alignment and the second is also doubling as a battery box mounting point. And then we realized that the exhaust sits very close to the rear grab bar when mounted snug into place. Don't get me wrong, this will not effect how the pipe works but I would think that moving the pipe over just an inch would help when or if we had to use the grab bar.But there again its just our personal preference.

So with the heat shields removed we began to take the stock exhaust off and that was easy as pie. Two springs, a little pull from the rear and the stocker popped right out.A good tool to have is a spring removal T-Handle because it is just easier with the right equiptment.The pipe hanger at the very back of the Can-Am Outlander was removed to keep it from being lost or torn off in our testing. The HMF utility series pipe was threaded up through the frame and mated to the header. This particular pipe doesn't use a gasket rather it has a socket style connection to the header. The pieces are mated and pressed onto each other and this forms the seal for the exhaust.

Then we bolted the pipe to the frame and installed the two new springs, which HMF includes in the slip-on kit.

And with this complete we installed the spark arrestor, which is also included with the slip-on and fired the Outlander Max up to listen for any leaks. Reinstalling the heat shields and the seats was a breeze and this project is a cinch for a beginner.

The workhorse sounded a bit throaty and a few decibels louder but everything checked out and I think we are off to a great start at gaining the towing and plowing torque we need from this monster. Of course this is only the beginning!

With HMF's new website, www.hmfengineering.com, we tracked down a few interesting facts that are useful when trying to figure out just how much power is gained from the install of the Utility series slip-on. The general rule was that HMF claims a 5~6 hp gain overall. We could see larger numbers with our next product directly from the HMF laboratory.

Well were off to the fields to try the Can-An workhorse out so check back in a few days when we install our HMF EFI programmer to remap the fuel and make the thirsty worker even better.

RS