Silencer?
 

Does having that on hamper the HP performance? I tried to get it off yesterday but I think a small portion of the tip is bent inward (not a perfect circle). Any suggestions as to how to bend it back out to get it more circular so that I can get the silencer off?

yes it will hamper the flow of the exhaust gas thereby causing a little loss of power, but not that bad. As for removing the baffle, sometimes it can get stuck from rust as well. If it is cuz the tip is bent...I would think that it would still come out since that would bend the baffle. Get some wd-40 and go to work on it.