Ok, for those sitting on the sidelines. This is NOT that bad. It actually took me almost as long to get the rivets out as getting the cat out.
Here is what it looked like as I started:
And I had five welds holding the cat to the can:
My sawzall didn't do much, so I just got the grinder and went at it. I started grinding, then switched to a cutoff blade (I ate two total). Once the welds were gone, I just cut about 1/4" deep all the way around. As it got hot from the cutting, I could feel it getting loose.
I kept working around the whole canister and it progressively got looser. As I completed the circle it just fell out.
The end result was not too bad. I had a couple of rough spots to clean up, but was very pleased with the result.
Didn't get to take the bike for a ride, but I can already tell this is the ticket. A) You lose about 2 pounds of precious metals. B) The bike obviously can breathe WAY better - it already feels cooler just sitting their idling. I already ran map set 3, so my throttle response was excellent - but I can tell this will yield the benefits I was looking for.
Weight, temp, power, response - all in that stupid little donut from hell.
BTW, I could not really tell ANY increase in sound. I wish I would have done some baseline testing prior to cutting it out. My wife is an audiologist and has access to some excellent portable sound equipment. Doh...too late! There is sertainly a change in the tone, but the bike is still ridiculously quiet.
Thanks OP! I needed this!