Oh man, what a difference a muffler can make. The muffler and the gasket kit arrived last weekend and even though I didn’t have the new bracket, I had to see if I could install it and try it out. It went on pretty easily, though I had to really contort myself to get the bolts and nuts set and rigged up a coat hanger to hold it where the bracket should be.



After starting it up and driving it around town the difference outstanding. She went from so loud and obnoxious even the Harley guys were giving me dirty looks to smooth and quiet!

The other improvement I was eager to install was my homemade awning leg. After lots of research, it seemed I was not likely to find and exact replacement for my missing awning leg. Country Homes Campers, the people who did the original conversion when it was new, were nice enough to point me to the company that took over for the original manufacturer, Dometic, but they needed specific part numbers which were nowhere to be found.

I was nearly resigned to replacing the awning outright or having a custom leg made at a local aluminum supplier and metal works when I ran across a $10 1” aluminum strut at Lowe’s. A few measurements and a half hour with my hacksaw later I had nearly perfect replacement fabricated.



The final two upgrades were a new turn signal socket (thank you, eBay!) and a cool hitch for my bike carrier from GoWesty that took all of 15 minutes to install. She’s nearly ready for her maiden trip.



This weekend the three-point seat belt conversion and the permanent muffler bracket go on along with some shopping for gaming gear. I might try to fabricate a fold up table to replace the missing one, but I’m not sure.