The Hooker 2-in-1 exhaust system that was on my ride when I got it was looking pretty ratty. Added to that was that when I got the bike, it had an annoying decel popping and took a long time to warm up, and I could not get the thing tuned for ****. I replaced it with a NOS 2-in-2 Samson pipes I got at a great price. I like the look and I love the rumbling sound and retuning the carb was a snap. However, no good deal comes without issues and the primary issue I have with the swap is that there is a noticeable loss of low end and mid-range torque. I heard rumors about torque cones giving back some of the low end and mid-range performance lost with drag pipes and since I was running the least restrictive baffles I could in these Samsons, I decided to give the torque cones a try and got a pair a few months back.

After getting my carb problems resolved last week, I decided to go ahead and install the cones yesterday. I replaced the taper gaskets with SE flat gaskets and re-tweaked the fuel mixture and took it for a spin...While I did not get all of the performance back that I had lost with the exhaust changeover, I have to say that there is a noticeable improvement with the acceleration curve. So, I can conclude that for me, these cones did what they are advertised to do.

 

Thanks for sharing! I'd always wondered if they worked as advertised.

 

Umm, I'd prefer to see a dyna sheet showing the change. Otherwise it could be something most of us suffer from: "I've spent some money so it damned well is gonna feel better!"

You might want to watch those flat SE gaskets. I have never had any luck with them. Always seem to leak and need swapping out for stock crush gaskets.

 

I have tried torque cones and found they had little to no effect on anything. There is no substitute for a good pipe.

 

Thanks for the head's up on the SE flat washers. I have taper washers but the indy said that I would need the flat washers (maybe he was just trying to push parts) but the cones did seem to work better with the flat ones. I did not feel or see any evidence of any leaks but I will keep an eye out.

It is not about how much they cost (these are Samson torque cones and I paid $20 for them from a local indy who was stuck with them after he ordered them for a customer who never came back to get them), If they didn't work, I would take them off in a heartbeat. If something doesn't work as advertised, then I have no use for it and my ego does not come into play.

I know there is controversy about whether or not torque cones actually work and I have had them for almost a year and waffled on putting them in. I also know that you know your stuff from reading your posts and replies, and you were dead on the money with the problems with my carburetor, but IMO, unless I had access to a dyna for free, then spending $50-$100 doing a dyna run just to establish performance to tweak my ego does not make sense to me...doing a dyna run to tweak the carburetor for maximum performance does...I have put over 12K miles on this old SG over the past 19 months and most of those have been with these Samsons...I do not need a dyna run for proof to know that I sacrificed performance with the exhaust swap and to know that I regained some of that lost performance with the carburetor retune and installing these torque cones...I understand what you are saying about knowing how much improvement I gained before and after the cones, but the improvement it is there. The pull is stronger and the acceleration increase in the low gears is definitely noticeable.

If I could find a long straight slip on for these Hookers, then I would put them back on...but the only thing I can find is a short horn type that I do not like.

 

I've dyno tested them on mild stock head motor with no baffles and they did nothing. I'm sure on a built motor it would hurt by restricting the exhaust port.

 

TQ cones are a joke. Just properly set up the bike would work. The pipes diameter need to correspond to your cubic inch engine. Too large of pipes don't work better. My guess your bike is out of tune.

 

You actually ran a before and after dyno run just to see if torque cones work? Really??
Torque cones are marketed for drag pipes without baffles to provide some back pressure. These Samsons have a mild baffle. Maybe that is the difference?

 

I just spent a lot of time rebuilding and retuning my carburetor from the last, "expert," who fumbled around trying to tune it with aftermarket performance parts for the Hookers and stage 1 intake...I spent considerable time and money last summer trying to get that carburetor dyno tuned and the results were disappointing to say the least. After that experience, I do not have all that much faith in using a dyno for fine tuning carburetors even if it may be the go-to way to tune electronic firing and injection systems. Since I went through the carb I have finally realized improvement...and the torque cones added just a little more.

But, I will keep an open mind...if I can get a dyna run for a reasonable fee, then I may just do a before-after test. In the meantime, they stay and I will imagine that the performance improvements I am seeing are the results of PFM.

 

Little secret.. Dyno tuning a carb is useless and anyone telling you to do that is an idiot or a thief or both. Once more Tq cones are useless. What size diameter ex pipes you running? 88" engine should be 1 3/4" header. Carbs can be tuned by the looks of your spark plug.
Also most mechanics only static time your engine, no matter what they tell ya. you need it dynamic timed for a starting point.