Motorcycle exhaust pipes. Choosing what is right for your bike along with some technical advise.

My blog post about Dyno. tuning and a comment I got from Lady Ridesalot
( http://ladyridesalot.blogspot.com/ ) A.K.A. Glider Rider, inspired me to write this post about exhaust pipes.

Lady R. told me she was looking into possibly getting some new pipes in black, but she likes chrome too. She needs to ponder it awhile.

I commented back to her that as for chrome, vs. black pipes, I like both.

At the 2008 Donnie Smith Invitational Bike Show I was looking at pipes that had black & chrome combined. Boy, were they cool. They were the best of both worlds. There were several different brands (I think). I know for sure there were Rineharts. Kind of spendy. I'm not allowed to so much as even think about new pipes. I just put Vance and Hines on about a year ago. I am happy with them though. They look sleek. Kinda quiet for me, but I get compliments on how they sound regularly. Maybe they are just quieter while I'm on the bike rather than what others hear while next to it.

My old pipes were not stock either, and were definitely louder than the new Vance and Hines I have now. People said my old pipes were loud, but I never heard anyone say how good they sounded. Maybe loud isn't always better. But I really liked loud pipes.
Can I find pipes that are loud and sound good at the same time?
Oh yea, I'm not aloud to look at new pipes anymore.

A friendly little reminder…
What ever you choose, your pipes should be about more than just looks and style. Each set of pipes will naturally change what kind of performance you can achieve mechanically. If you change you pipes, make sure to save some money for Dyno. tuning and a proper re-jetting if applicable. Call around your local shops to see who does the Dyno tuning, and what they charge. I found in my area prices varied from about $150.00 - $350.00. Yes the $350.00 was worth it. They did more as far as full cycle tuning. You need to figure this into the cost of changing your pipes, as baffles are different in all pipes, and pipe width, length, and curves all change backpressure, which changes everything as far as how your engine will perform.

If you don’t Dyno. tune, you can have the best high performance pipes in the world and actually decrease your performance. In worst case scenarios, actually damage your motor.

Mr. Motorcycle