Cobra Pipes kickass

[PhillyKev 0]

That's why you need to get a Harley. Whatever else you want to say about them, there is no other bike brand that has the same level of aftermarket available.

Hell, I have to stop myself from replacing parts I just replaced the week before.

[gjhdiver 0]

A lot of confused people in this thread really. There's three things that matter when putting on new pipes. They are flow, scavenging and reversion. Most people feel that they don't get noticeable gains in power after changing pipes becuase they don't regard the system as a whole. You can't flow out what you don't put in. Therefore, most aftermarket installations don't make extra power, just extra noise.

The two most important factors to consider when putting pipes on a Harley are flow and reverison. Because of the uneven loping firing cycle, scavenging is not so critical as it can be on inline fours. That's why you can make really good power with dual pipes on a Harley if they are tuned correctly to prevent reversion.

The main problem with HD aftermarket are drag pipes. Everyone wants the loudest scoot on the block, and drag pipes suit that bill. Unfortunately, drag pipes are designed for the name. They only work efficiently at wide open throttle settings. At street speeds, you lose huge amounts of low and midrange power to reversion pulses. In extreme cases of over camming, this can cause carb backfires. If your bike has a nicemild cam, you can get away with them, but you would make more power leaving the stock pipes on.

The other main issue is with people failing to upgrade the air intake and jetting, or mapping for fuelie bikes. If you do it all right, you'll notice very significant gains right off the bat. it's the cheapest bang for the buck initially. To get the same 20 odd HP gain that you get with jets and pipes, you're going to spend serious bucks. I got my street fighter sporty up to 94 BHP at the rear wheel and 82 Ft Lbs on the dyno, but it was serious cash by that time and had just about everything you could put into a stock set of cases without blowing them up.

As for choices, if you want to run a staggered dual on a big twin, use the Rev Tech pipes. They make excellent power with very little reversion tendencies.

If you want a dual, nothing outperforms a Thunderheader, period. They are incredibly piercing and loud though. I hate to ride for any distance behind someone running one. Mind you, I used one on a shovelhead I built as a street racer, and the thing ran like a scalded cat. There's still a nice long black tire mark at Byron I put there two years ago on a throttle only burnout.

[flyingferret 0]

Agreed, but the thread was bout pipes

I have no idea what is available for Dave's bike. I put the Screaming Eagle intake on my, at the same time I changed pipes and remapped via a PowerCommander. All combined the difference was huge. But the intake is a big deal. I can practically hearing start drinking air at 3500+
So, there is probably something like that for AD's Vulcan, but I don't know what it is.
Additionally, while I agree with you, a lot of current models are very restrictive due to emissions, I would think even pipes without an intake is noticable.

Personally, I am running an FI Fatboy, with Heritage Softtail staggered duals, with baffles removed, a SE air intake, and a custom FI map. I run a little rich, but I would rather run a bit rich then risk lean hi temps. Plus I get a nice mix of just enough warble on deceleration.

--
All the flaming and trolls of wreck dot with a pretty GUI.

[Sebazz1 2]

I am but a little motorcycle baby... Thanks for some good informational posts. I never knew about the PowerComander. Don't know how much I trust myself wrenching on a bike with my limited knowledge though. Most of my knowledge (pretty scarce at that) comes from other riders and everyone seems to have different takes on almost everything. People have told me good and bad about Thunder Headers and every other pipe for that matter. So anyway back to pipes... I got the Vance Hines 2 into 1 pipes with the stage one kit. I believe that kit just replaces some external stuff on the engine or air intake. Should I expect a couple more horsepowers or nothing at all?

[AggieDave 6]

I finally got to jetting my bike with a DynaJet kit today. That was a lot of fun, although if I hadn't have rebuilt a couple of carbs for my VW a few years ago, I would have been lost. Although I do have to say that how my bike is setup is kinda a pain in the ass for doing work to it...I ended up having to take the seat and tank off to get the carb out...that's ok, it was definately fun. And there is a noticable power increase, especially on the highway.



As for the metric vs HD and parts...there is a LOT of shit available for metrics. Although not nearly as much as for HD...especially when it comes to raw engine stuff, like heads for example.


The post talking about the system as a whole is very very important, thanks for posting that. It amazes me how many people don't understand that concept.



Pulling the bike apart and and working on it today really really really afrims that I want to build a bike.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[gjhdiver 0]

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So anyway back to pipes... I got the Vance Hines 2 into 1 pipes with the stage one kit. I believe that kit just replaces some external stuff on the engine or air intake. Should I expect a couple more horsepowers or nothing at all?

You should get more noticeable power, but it will be more of a seat of the pants type of thing. You'll feel the added torque more than anything else, which is actually more useful for the average rider. I build bikes for maximum torque first, then BHP.

Now, just to add to the mix, remember the old adage of every engine builder and performance tuner, "there's no replacement for displacement"

While your bikes off the road, how about sticking the 95 inch kit on it ? After all it's only money.

[gjhdiver 0]

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Pulling the bike apart and and working on it today really really really afrims that I want to build a bike.

Funny. Last night as I was in the garage trying to bring a 60 year old speedometer drive back from the dead for my Knucklehead, I thought, "One day, I really really want to buy a bike I don't have to wrench on".
It'll never come to that though. If I had a bike that didn't need fixing, I'd fix it until it did.

[AggieDave 6]

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I thought, "One day, I really really want to buy a bike I don't have to wrench on"

That's what I thought when I retired my '73 VW Super Beetle from daily driving a few years ago and got a "reliable" truck. HA! Although I wasn't tearing the top 1/2 of the engine apart every few hundred miles, I realized there is no such thing as a "reliable" anything. If it has wheels and an engine, you will always need to fix something.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Sebazz1 2]

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While your bikes off the road, how about sticking the 95 inch kit on it ? After all it's only money.

We'll talk...

[Squeak 17]

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I'm not a fan of rice bikes. Its cool folks like them, its just not for me.

[whisper mode]Psst Dave, Vulcan 800 is a Rice Bike[/whisper mode]

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[AggieDave 6]

Naaaaaw. Its a metric cruiser, not a ricer.

Attatched is a picture of a ricer on a wanna be rice bike.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Squeak 17]

hehehehe
Here in Oz ANYTHING from Kawak, Yammy, Suzzy, or Honda are RICE BURNERS


I myself ride Euro trash, MotoGuzzi, 1000cc CAFE Racer

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[PhillyKev 0]

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hehehehe
Here in Oz ANYTHING from Kawak, Yammy, Suzzy, or Honda are RICE BURNERS


I myself ride Euro trash, MotoGuzzi, 1000cc CAFE Racer

Same here. Dave's just in denial