Red glowing muffler... is this right?

EnFlaMEd said:

raising the clip lowers the needle thus leaning out your mixture.

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Thanks to you, too, for catching that. If it was already hot raising it up might have caught my pants on fire!
By the way, I was just wondering what kind of old bikes you Aussies have available to you. Were there Australian made ones, or were they mostly English... some American? Did you have old balloon tire cruisers or were most of the old ones the skinny tire English type? What do you use now and from where?
Silverbear

I lowered the needle clip to the third notch and went for a chilly ride late this afternoon. The motor ran well, but it is hard to tell without darkness if the muffler is still as hot. I don't think it is, so thank you for the suggestions. I was going to take it out this evening, but will wait for a warmer evening. It is dropping quickly and is to bottom out in the mid twenties tonight, so a fire is going in my wood stove. It is too soon for winter. In years past the first dump of snow is around the 8th of October. I don't want to stop riding yet as it is a long time for spring to come around here. Ice doesn't go out on my lake until the beginning of May. That's why I ride every day I can in warmer weather.
Silverbear

diceman2004 said:

i,m going to somewhat agree with noco on the cat issue , lets not forget how much these kits cost . ( what they call a catalitic converter ) and what the car and motorcycle industy call a catalitic converter are 2 totally diferent things .
but regardless , thats what a catalitic converter does ( it runs hot ) , its supposed to .
if you find your plug looks good , and your engine seems cool enough , don,t worry bout it . if you mess with it and open it up to flow free , then you change the back preasure , then you need to rejet , ( if it ain,t broke , don,t fix it )

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I guess we get the poor man's version of a catalytic exhaust. I suppose if it burns really hot that there would be less emission, so maybe it's OK. I do think the potential for a nasty burn is there. It wouldn't take much contact when it is that hot. I think I'll just be careful, pretend it is beneficial and pay attention to the motor itself and read the spark plug.
Silverbear