the exhaust pipe on my `97 road king cracked at the rear cylinder crossover,i welded it back together 2 weeks ago and seems to be fine.Anyone else have this happen and is it a common problem?
thanks,skipc

 

Common problem

 

Yes, it is quite common. Happened to my 1990 bike when it was 2-3 years old and I found a secondhand take-off, which lasted a lot longer.

If it does it again you could consider a Fulsac true duals kit, which will convert what you have left and dump the broken part.

 

Caused this on a road trip (behind the motel in Pierre, S.D):

 

Mine broke at the bottom of the crossover. I had it welded. It lasted a year and then broke off at the top.
I didn't really want to go to duals as I was worried about the associated torque loss.
I replaced it with a set of V&H true duals.
The butt dyno says all is well, and it sure is nice to hear both pipes.
AAAAAHHHHH, Stereo.

 

We've discussed TDs on HDF in the past few months. I think loss of torque is an internet myth! It may be the case with more highly tuned motors, but for our 'normal' street motors I don't think they make much difference.

I have Samson TD pipes and S&S ovals with my S&S 107 and it is giving slightly better figures than S&S claim for it. Not much loss there then! A good 2-into-1 will probably give slightly better figures.

Buell use equal length pipes and a clever 2-into-1 system that enables them to use a much higher tune than is usual with Harley motors, but there is nothing comparable for our big twins.

I'm sure your TDs will be just fine, as mine are!

 

Mine cracked as well several years ago....I just welded it back together. Still holding....

However, I have been debating on whether to go with true duals. This would eliminate the crossover where so much heat comes off and onto the passenger.

I would love to see an exhaust system just like the 2009-up touring models applied to the early models such as the bagger.

 

As I stated on the other similar threads, the cracking is caused by slight mis-alignments of the exhaust sysytem or movement. This causes the system to flex and crack after time. If you take your time and align the system by removing it a few times and tweak it by bending here and there you can get it to slip on with no/minimal stress. Hope this helps.

 

When you install your pipes, tighten the head connection first.
Check the support points down the line, if their are any gaps, shim then.
If you just crank everything down, somethings gonna crack, sure as ****.


Bob
97 Heritage

 

You can state it on any thread you like, but it does cover the full dynamic at all.
Now bending and tweaking are good fuel for cracking.