I recently had reason to remove the heat shields from my V&H True Dual setup, (engine swap) and found several issues. The fact that the pipes were completely blue, not so bad, they have good coverage heat shields. Then there was the bend over the top of the outer primary cover that was so close so as to have burned out a spot in the aluminum. Right through the chrome and into the base metal. Now maybe that's not too bad since you can't seeit with the pipes in place, but what if I was to change to something else. Then I would have to buy a new outer primary cover. Not exactly what I signed up for. But my real bitch is that one of the tabs that the hose clamps slide through to hold the heat shields in place had a great looking spot weld that was all on the tab and had absolutely no penetration to the shield itself. No surprise it broke next to the other side that was actually a weld. Now I get that they have a limited warranty, but this is an obvious production defect. Who pulls these shields off in a year to make sure everything is OK? Customer service was no help. They quoted the company line, over a year, too effin bad dude. Be glad to sell you a new part, $90.00 and change, you pay to ship. The whole freakin' system was around $350.00, (headpipes only) and now I got to stand the cost of crappy workmanship and even worse quality control?

So silly me I thought, hell I'll be in Sturgiss in a week or so, maybe I can talk to someone who might better be able to resolve the problem. There at RCHD, at the vendors show booth I was quoted the same line. Over a year, too bad. Be glad to sell you a new part, we don't care that it was defective welding.

So no more, never again, ever a Vance and Hines product of any kind. Buyer beware, poor quality, design flaws, and you buy it, you own it.

Some years ago I had a similar issue with a heat shield on my Thunderheader, (Rich Products) and 1 phone call got a new shield shipped free, no questions asked. It was a broken clamp loop, but the weld had not failed. Truly outstanding customer support, not like Vance and Hines.

 

it never fails to amaze me that people want something replaced under warranty after the warranty has expired...they think the company needs to build "good will" by going above and beyond what their warranty calls for. doubt if you would have come on here to praise them if they had replaced it free of charge outside the warranty period--you seem to think you deserve that extra warranty.

vance and hines did not get to be an industry leader by building crappy products and not living up to their warranty. many dealers stock v & h products, and the moco has used them for many years to run their multi-time national championship drag bike program. nobody is perfect, you are asking for special attention and then you come on here to **** and moan because they did not give you a replacement part that was out of warranty.

 

Had it just broke, without it being an obvious defect, I might view it differently. But apparently you think that the burned spot on my primary cover is OK too? Not what I'd call good design by a long shot.

When something breaks in a hidden location, it's not obvious untill removed. When you can clearly see there never was any penetration to the base metal at all, to me it's a clear defect. I don't care how old it is, one would think maybe they'ld want to stand behind thier product. Some companies will. Rich products for one. Am I out of line to expect a quality product? I don't think so. No more Vance and Hines junk for me.

 

most exhaust systems have to be carefully installed...tighten a little here, loosen this, move that...adjust, adjust until it all fits. perhaps some of your issues come from the installation. whatever, as i stated "doubt if you would have come on here to praise them if they had replaced it free of charge outside the warranty period".

i imagine that v & h will survive without your business. if your attitude comes across on the phone like it does here on the forum, there is not doubt that they would tell you to take a hike.

 

It even states on the paperwork that comes with the pipes and mufflers:

NO WARRANTY FOR "blueing" of the exhaust. Blueing is caused by tuning characteristics and is not a manufacturers defect.

If the pipes are that blue and you had a busted spot weld, your exhaust must be running severly hot from being too lean. I would have told you to pound sand too.

 

As I stated I didn't have and issue with the purdy blue, and it wasn't a "busted" spot weld, it was that there never was a "weld". To weld infers joining of two pieces together. Mine had absolutely no connection to the shield itself. "Severly hot/lean"? It was still running after 110,000 mile without ever opening the motor except for oil changes, just was useing a bit of oil. Never burned or splattered a plug. MoCo stage 1 download. Motor still running when I replaced it. I doubt it would have given that kind of service if it was "severely lean"

I'm sure they will live, but I'll be giving my opinion anytime the name comes up in conversation about exhaust systems. If they lose even 1 sale, they're in the hole. I'll bet they would still live if they chose to stand behind thier workmanship and quality control.

Word of mouth makes a difference, I still remember and convey Rich Products customer service. I just got past the noise.

 

I've probably installed 100 exhaust systems, a dozen or so on my bikes. Only two heat shield issues. One was replaced for free, even though I actually called to get a price. I didn't see any obvious flaw in that one except it was broke. They literally said "no sweat we'll just send you a new one."

As to the rest of the install, yup all assembled brackets snug, mounts on, mufflers on,tighten from the gasket back. Heat shields last. Got it.

 

What are you guys V&H reps or something. An obvious non-weld is a blatant man defect. I would have taking the heat sheild off and showed them. Then hit the guy with it after he said pound sand.

V&H has many issues with their pipes as well as other manufacturers, I esp. dislike their ignorance with the O2 placement issues. I have added O2 bungs to actually get good readings compared to their engineered design to get them to actually read. And I have documentation to prove the difference with the placement through TTS log files.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/ignit...l#post12601616

V&H dont give a crap about the consumer, all about the dollar.....Just like most corporate scum.

As to the burn/rub, installation issue.

Their pipes look good, great coverage on the heat shields, but lacking in support, and engineering.

I have a set of V&H step drags, great pipes, I got busted several times because it stated on the pipe under the V&H logo for off road use only. Well it didnt state that on the site, or any other literature, got fined almost 1000$ for 3 violations, and had multiple emails back and forth with V&H until I finally resorted to lawyering up and threaten a lawsuit. They finally sent out a heat shield for the second pipe that didnt have the wording on it, "it wont have full coverage" they said, my reply was fine, as long as it doesnt say "off road only". This took months to resolve, it was a pain in the ***.

Other than those issues, I still buy V&H pipes, but am critical and only buy used, cause I powdercoat everything anyway.....lol

 

The real lesson here is to inspect your parts before you install them, welds and all. As it seems if I have a brand new unused part I can send pics to the company and I am sure they would take care of it. Should this have to be done? Probably not but it always makes sense regardless as manufacturing is what it is.

My guess on the spot on the primary is that your bike should be tuned to cool it down as I have run multiple different true duals and never had that happen. Suck when it happens but it falls into the SH*T happens category. That is why we call it "custom".

 

When I install any part on the helms I build for the yachts from the company I work for, trust all parts get a good going over. I just put some V&H mufflers on my RGU and they also got a good looking over, if they had any thing somebody would have gotten a phone call, just sayin'.