Actually the process of changing the silencer packing is pretty painless. and it is something you should do on a normal basis. Depending on how much you ride, you may have to change it every few months. If you took the rivets out, you are working with the wrong end, take the 4 bolts out of the end that attaches to the pipe. The canister will eventually come off this end, revealing your packing in one form of detioration or another. Replace it the same way you remove it. The whole process takes me about 30 minutes including clean up. You might be surprised at how much iol is soaked in that packing material, especially if it has never been changed.