I'm looking into putting new pipes on my bike. It's a '74 FLH, S&S carb, cam and has drag pipes on it now (that's what was on it when I got her a couple years ago). She runs really well, although I'm not a big fan of the drag pipes. I know the previous owner had the top end done, put a cam in it and an S&S carb (I've known the previous owner for over 20 years and used to ride with him before I sold my first bike and bought his). Anyway, I like the look of the dual exhaust with fishtail pipes. Is a "true dual" exhaust better then the cross over type pipes? Also, are there any mufflers (fishtail) that are better to get than others (torque? power?)? I also considered getting the Thunderheader (knowing I'd have to modify my floorboard brackets to fit). I had a Thunderheader on my sporty and that ran like a bat out of hell (with other modifications that I did). I really like the Thunderheader, but I would rather have a dual exhaust....unless the benifit with the Thunderheader is much much better. I don't ride fast (60-65 mph) on the freeways. This is my daily rider for work (60 miles a day). So any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance...

 

go on ebay and find the old 2 into 1 exhaust - cheaper -- myself i run something i found by pure accident -- on a 2001 honda prelude at the end of the muffler theres 2 "finisher cones" they act like anti reversion chambers.. they also slip right on with 1 ten mm bolt to hold them.. also you can adjust them in/out -- best to cut the pipe to remove the slash cut if they are drag pipes -- the bottom end/mid/upper power is amazing as most open pipes you lose low end..

"also my son is a master tech sarg who teaches special weapons world wide and both me and my wife build the M1117 ASV for TEXTRON..

"what cam do you have?? (i already know its an andrews) -- a FLH would work real well with a sifton 101 was known as a 55Q -- its a .410 lift it was made for the police back in 1955 to jump out from behind a billborard to catch speeders ... works with hyd or solid lifters --- makes a big heavy bike with torque... no head work but i would have someone check the cam to gear marks.. i just dont like the high lift of cams like andrews -- fishtails??? (lol) whatever floats your boat --

my wife had a 79 sporty that had a set of robinson thunderheads and a set of andrews "Y" cams -- S&S "E" had to pry it away from her -- shes 90lbs (wet) and only knew WOT --

 

Fishtails and shovels don't do well together you take a performance hit don't care what you do out side of bigger inches , actually any cross over pipes will do that the left side will struggle with flow balance . Best fitting and performing reasonable prices pipes for the old FLH are Cycle Shack taper turbo , years back there where a number of big bike mags do the dyno thing and proved that out as well personal experience . I've run everything you can on a shovel and always come back to them .

My beast with the Cycle Shack 2" Tapered pipes

 

On my first Shovel, ran Paughco 2 into one with a Fishtail ext. Got tired of backing into curbs after one to many..Hell of a curb finder setup...I run Cycle Shack 1 3/4 slash drags with Krome Works baffles in my 76 FLH.....

 

If you want to get the most out of your performance modifications, SuperTrapp is the way to go. These pipes are tunable to the motor. They were available in 2into1 or dual. I'll bet if you look around the junk piles of your local indy shops, you'll find a set lying around cheap. Contrary to some beliefs, stock, or near stock (under 100") shovels do like a little backpressure.
Like everyone, I ran the fishtails on my FLH. They robbed horsepower, and sounded weird, that blap blap blap sound. But they looked cool.

 

thats why the honda prelude finisher cones work on a under 100" bike-- drag pipes and those cones and you dont lose bottom end even mid and upper works better.. heres the part # 18310-SS0-J30

 

If you do want to run open drag pipes, 1 3/4" , 39+/- inches are it. But to get it exact, you need a dyno. I don't suggest a dyno on a stock shovel. Dyno's are brutal to the bike, even with someone who knows what they are doing. You get a rookie, there goes your tranny and driveline. 1 3/4 with mufflers work Really good. Look at TB's bike.

 

thats ok no mufflers 4 me -- i KNOW the finisher cones work and im 62 yrs old how many types of exhaust ya think i have ever used??? the cones surprised me.. i actually took them off to see if they really did work and i noticed the loss of low end right away-- even the 2 front head shovel im building will have them and i have added an "X" pipe..... when we use to build big inch bikes we would buy unchromed pipes they were around 44" run the bike on I-10 wide open -- it would burn a purple ring at the end-- i would cut the pipe 1" back from that burn the front pipe was 37.5" and the rear was 39... in the early 1980's a 100" harley doing 147mph was unheard of -- like the guy on the twin spans on the kawasaki 1000 he took off and left victor vic caught him and like vic told us the look on the guys face was "im taking this thing back to the dealership on monday" 3 13/16th bore X 4 3/8th stroke custom ground tom sifton cam 468++ it had 280 duration 35/65 -- 65/35 -- regular 468+ was 270 and 30/60

 

Look, I'm not questioning your qualifications or knowledge. I think you and I are saying basically the same things, just in a different way. Believe it or not, a lot of folks don't know bore and stroke from cam lift.
You and I, and others like us, give life experience on these old machines the younguns buy.

 

Yeah............. Al...........!