When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
the 77 is starting to come together, but wanted to check on the exhaust mountings.
after a lot of messing about I think the correct fitting of the support tubes are:
front two holes are 3/8 bolts that go through the frame forging (rear bolt also has the crash bar mounted behind the forging).
the tube then bends inwards towards the wheel and has a long 5/16 bolt with two spacers between the tube and the smaller muffler to front pipe clamp.
the tube now has a slight downward slope and another 5/16 hole at the end which the larger p shaped clamp bolts directly to with the p facing outwards. The downward slope means the different sized clamps (1 7/8 front and 3 1/4 rear)allow the muffler to sit level.
I think this is correct although the parts book shows the two spacers on the inside of the tube, and both tubes bending the same way.
Any pics would be a great help. Heres a couple of pics of the progress- still cant work out how some are upside down?
Not sure of your description of mounting but in your 3rd pic of post#1, looking at the clamp, it appears you have the P-clamp positioned correctly.
Standing at the rear of the bike and looking to the front, on the right side the P-Clamp looks like a normal letter "P"; on the left side the "P" would be backwards. On both the P-clamp tucks under the muffler.
Take a look at the thread by hellonewman titled "My new 66 FLH". Then go to post #952 in the thread (he just posted the pic yesterday). It clearly shows the mounting.
Last edited by panz4ever; Mar 11, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
its the tube and spacer positions that dont seem quite right. I fitted the other side today (muffler only) and although the mufflers are level(ish) and in-line with the bike, the left hand side is further away from the bike centreline than the right hand side.
Ive drawn a diagram of how I currently have the tubes and spacers (looking from above) along with the bolt lengths (the parts books seem unsure on the length of the bolts into the frame, but the bolts though the clamps are correct. Hopefully this will make my explaination easier to understand.
not sure about a '77 model ,but i replaced a cracked tube with new ones on my '82 FLH and there's a left and a right tube and they are just slightly different...HTH
Well the older fellas will tell you, good luck getting them perfectly symmetrical. it is sort of a running joke, they were off from the factory. That said, I got mine pretty close, but some of my OCD friends still complain about riding behind me and the mufflers not being even.
When I cared, I pulled both mufflers and used a length of pipe to bend the brackets to be as symmetrical as possible, then reinstalled mufflers. I would say I got about 60% of the way there. Good luck.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
Muffler support tubes
