Exhausts

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olympus

olympus

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Getting to the point of deciding down pipes & silencers
My first question on a 72 would it have had as OE black can ended silencer or peashooters
Can i ask for folks view on overall quality & The ease/ quality of fit for
Amour headers & Silencers both chromed & stainless
RGM headers & silencers
I know there are many more out there but just looking at these two for the moment

Thanks
 
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olympus said:
Getting to the point of deciding down pipes & silencers
My first question on a 72 would it have had as OE black can ended silencer or peashooters
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A 1972 Interstate would have had low-level exhaust pipes and 'Interstate' silencers, not 'black caps'. A Roadster would have had peashooters.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-drawing/46/exhausts-mufflers-mute-passenger-footpegs

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-details/16040/exhaust-pipes-pair-750-interstate
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-details/16009/silencer-interstate-

http://www.classicbike.biz/Norton/Brochures/1970/72NortonBrochure.pdf
 
olympus said:
Getting to the point of deciding down pipes & silencers
My first question on a 72 would it have had as OE black can ended silencer or peashooters
Can i ask for folks view on overall quality & The ease/ quality of fit for
Amour headers & Silencers both chromed & stainless
RGM headers & silencers
I know there are many more out there but just looking at these two for the moment

Thanks
Click to expand...
Mine was originally a "Heinz" .... but is being rebuilt as a Roadster
Several companies produce headers and silencers so its always good to hear others riders views on the quality of product Ease of fitting etc before i spend my hard earned
 
Chrome is chrome.... like they came. Stainless looks like a food prep table in a restaurant. Unless saltwater operation is expected, for goodness sake choose CHROME.
JMWO
 
concours said:
Chrome is chrome.... like they came. Stainless looks like a food prep table in a restaurant. Unless saltwater operation is expected, for goodness sake choose CHROME.
JMWO
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Totally agree, I have a bike with stainless pipes and they just don’t look right. They go a golden brown colour instead of a proper ‘blue’.

Unless you’re an all weather dispatch rider, stainless just ain’t necessary.

I even looked into getting my stainless pipes chrome plated, but the plating firms I spoke to were not keen on the idea.
 
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Fast Eddie said:
Totally agree, I have a bike with stainless pipes and they just don’t look right. They go a golden brown colour instead of a proper ‘blue’.

Unless you’re and all weather dispatch rider, stainless just ain’t necessary.

I even looked into getting my stainless pipes chrome plated, but the plating firms I spoke to were not keen on the idea.
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Looking at all the sites which sell pipes & silencers... do we have feedback which are good, poor or average???
 
olympus said:
Looking at all the sites which sell pipes & silencers... do we have feedback which are good, poor or average???
Click to expand...

I’ve never bought any standard Commando downpipes so cannot comment. I guess if I was in the market for some I’d go with AN.
 
I received two sets of new AN downpipes for my 73 850 purchased from Oldbritts. Neither set fit which sucked. Fred then ordered me a replica set from another manufacturer but the chrome was so poor that he didn't even bother to send them to me. He recommended Viking. They were expensive but fit perfectly. No regrets. I mated them up to a set of CNW peashooters which were also nice. I did put multiple coats of high temp ceramic spray paint inside of the headers. That trick seemed to help a lot with bluing.
 
eskasteve said:
He recommended Viking. They were expensive but fit perfectly. No regrets. I mated them up to a set of CNW peashooters which were also nice.
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Good point, I kinda forgot about Viking! I fitted a set of his pipes to a T160 once and the fit, build quality and overall finish was awesome.
 
I bought a Pair of unbalanced MK3 header pipes off Viking/Paul Bryant a couple of years ago,nice chrome,fitted well, cleared the underside of the chaincase and also had no issues with kickstart lever. I also sprayed the inside of the headers with heatproof paint before running it.They are mated up to a pair of now rare Australian made Staintune stainless replica peashooter mufflers.
Viking are good to deal with.
Brett
 
Back in the early 80s when I converted my 850 to the Featherbed frame I got my header pipes made to fit, lucky for me the exhaust shop had a mandle bender and the owner was very good in its use, told him how I want the pipes and tucked into the bottom frame rails, he bent and checked each bend as he went, took him a whole 15 minutes to bend each pipe and to weld the flangers, so complete straight through pipe to the rear axle, all up he charged me $20 and beside his shop was a new chrome plating shop he also charged me $20 to chrome both pipes, this was over 38 years ago now and the pipes are still on the bike, but now showing their age but still working great.
All I did was to cut them where I mounted the mufflers, am running cocktail shaker mufflers with only min. baffles in them.
So if you can find someone with a mandle bender and knows how to use it then its not to hard for them to make, my pipes fit so well and they sit perfectly tucked into the frame and no way of ever scraping them, I can remove my whole headers and mufflers with just unscrewing the flange and one muffler mounting bolt in less than a minute each side, my whole bike is built like that.

Ashley
 
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Olympus
I found that chrome pipes and peashooter silencers from RGM Norton fitted my '72 Roadster fairly well.
They still look good after 3 years use - including some winter and wet weather riding.
The 'fairly' bit is because I had to shorten the pipes by approximately 3cm at the silencer end.
I just offered the joined parts up to fit and the shortening required was obvious.
I've learned that this sort of modification is often required for parts from many suppliers.
Not necessarily their fault as original Norton build quality and dimensions can be a bit variable and sometimes you never know what a DPO has fitted.
Andy
 
ashman said:
all up he charged me $20 and beside his shop was a new chrome plating shop he also charged me $20 to chrome both pipes, this was over 38 years ago now and the pipes are still on the bike, but now showing their age but still working great.
Ashley
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Times have changed. I paid $400 US to have a pair of original Norton 750 pipes rechromed. The bends on the right side are different than aftermarket pipes such that it hugs the frame rail and clears the kick lever.
 
In my experience stainless pea shooters are very good
But stainless down pipes can crack well mine did anyway several times
 
My wassell down pipes touched the side stand bolt changed to Andover Norton fitted perfect chrome is far better
 
I did considered the Armour 2 into 1 down pipe, and they do look rather nice... But the fact that you will have to swage/flange the left hand pipe once the rose is fitted has put me off somewhat
 
phippsy said:
My wassell down pipes touched the side stand bolt changed to Andover Norton fitted perfect chrome is far better
Click to expand...

And yet my Wassell peashooters are the nicest I've ever had. Seamless welds and outstanding chrome.
 
maylar said:
Times have changed. I paid $400 US to have a pair of original Norton 750 pipes rechromed. The bends on the right side are different than aftermarket pipes such that it hugs the frame rail and clears the kick lever.
Click to expand...

Off course things have changed since the 80s and there is also a lot of work, time and money involved with anything to do with chroming as well its a very dangerous environment to work in, the environment hazzits and also more involved when it comes to rechroming, but my bit was more about getting pipes made for your bike, having someone bend the pipes while your bike is there and bent for it only to get the perfect fit and getting it bent so every thing is tucked away and in the right place.
My primary side of the header pipe is down lower than my right side but both pipes get to the rear of the bike inline with each other and both mufflers sit inline with each other at the back, it took me a while before I notice one of my header pipe sitting lower, that is how well done the pipes were bent.

Ashley
 
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