I'd been tempted to get V&H Short Shots or Slip Ons when I get my Iron, but even more recently I've been thinking about this Biltwell Do-It-Yourself Pipe Kit.

Someone sent them in a pic of an exhaust they made using ONLY items out of their kit and it didn't look like a total POS, surprisingly.

Here is Biltwell's Kit: http://www.biltwellinc.com/exhaust.php

And here is an example of what someone came up with: http://www.biltwellinc.com/blogpage....14579282800361


Have any of you done this with your Sporster?
I am thinking that it will lend itself well to the bobber look I want to go with (and perhaps wrap the pipe). I wonder what other figurations their pipe kit could come up with.

AND IT'S CHEAP!

Yes, I also have someone that could weld it up for me. Probably for free.

Do you see any major downsides or anything I may be missing?

THANKS

 

Looks like a fun project, you had better be good with a welder.

Also, if performance is something you care about, abandon 2 into 2 exhausts, because NO 2 into 2 will ever perform as well as a 2 into 1.

 

me and a guy from work were talking about this friday, I understand NASCAR and the headers and stuff, the exhaust concept, but I'd have no clue how to do it. It does however sound like a fun project, I'd be interested in learning about this!

we talked about kinks, smooth bores and edges, etc, but anything else would be cool to know about!

 

I wouldn't say that I don't care about performance, but the decrease in power from using a 2-2 exhaust still leaves plenty over for a beginner rider such as myself.

 

Sure, I hear that.

I think if you did hack up your own exhaust, it would be pretty freaking awesome.

Also: hit up a local exhaust shop. They often have TONS of bad bends, and discard cut off pieces that they just have someone haul away. They might be very happy to give you a trash can full of cutoff pieces and such, would make good practice for when you do the final weld up on your own.

 

Yeah I had them too but in the end I went with a 2 into 1.

 

I have made my own exhausts before, and was thinking of producing some to sell. Just think that every exhaust system start out life as a piece of steel tubing. Wither it has been bent, or cut and welded, they all had to be fabricated, so to make something look good that started out as a piece of steel, or as a weld together kit, should not be surprising. Just remember to cover the engine and the bike as much as possible to prevent damage from slag, snug up the nuts to the flanges to locate them properly, then do a few tacks just to hold the tube in place. Don't run a full bead, as it can cause damage from the heat. Better to take the pipes off where you can access the entire exhaust easily and weld it together on a bench.

 

+1 Some good points.

Also keep your riding style in mind. If you like the twisties stay away from a set up like this. I'd end up grinding that front pipe off in a weekend.

 

So true! Nothing like having a nice low rider style exhaust and scraping on every right hand turn. Also sucks to have a drawn out system (like found on some Softails) that stretch out four feet from the rear tire, only to find out that they don't exactly clear the speed bumps in your neighborhood subdivision. Plan the entire system out before you fabricate, and know exactly how you are gonna run it and what you want it to be before you start cutting and welding.

 

I've never used that build your own kit but I've made a few of my own. When you break them down to simple measurements it's easy to do.



















Not done with this set yet...a few pieces on this one are recycled from the first set I made for it



I make the head ends out of tube too.