Well, after noticing that my exhaust tends to get red hot with any riding over 30 MPH, I had another issue occur this weekend that almost resulted in a fire. It appears that the top spring that holds the exhaust to the head pipe gave out at some point during the ride (I’m guessing because of the excessive heat). We were riding only fire roads – no rough trails or anything. I didn’t notice the exhaust issue until it was almost too late. I noticed a "whooshing" sound coming from the engine going up hills or under load, but didn’t think much of it. Turns out that was from the exhaust being separated from the head pipe because there was now a missing spring. I was then riding on a flat fire road, and started feeling a LOT of heat on the exhaust side of the wheeler. I slowed down/stopped to investigate, and was immediately hit with a burning plastic smell. Looked down to see the plastics smoldering/dripping. A tiny fire had started. I got a towel and took my drinking water and wet the towel down and smothered the flames. Needless to say, I’ll now be carrying a fire extinguisher with me at all times on this quad… I’ll be dropping it off this evening and seeing what the dealer can do for me. It’s still under warranty. 260 miles or so, and around 16 hours.

Pictures:

Picture of exhaust from back side (where the head pipe goes into the muffler)