I do appreciate your 2 cents. Now to answer your question. I'm of the opinion and apparently so are many others here that the manual although generally considered the bible can be used as a tool and not as the last word according to the gospel. Would it be a good idea to follow it's every sentence, most likely yes. Is there room for common sense to maybe go against the manual, most likely yes. It's not about saving that 8 bucks per clamp x 4 it's about the thousands of other total dollars that Harley would have you spend that may not be entirely neccessary. Have you ever heard of the millionaire next door? If not it's a great read. Highly recommend. It teaches you to not spend money frivolously. You ask if I trust the folks on this site before the service manual. Well in this case I solicited opinions from forum members on the advise of reusing a muffler clamp in hopes of hearing from members who have 20 plus years dealing with this issue. I am now satisfied that enough competent members have done so with excellent results. The responses have been from those who have done it with success and those who say why be a cheap bastard just replace the clamp. I have not heard from those who tried to reuse and had failures. I call that using common sense. You call it foolish and your entitled to your opinion.

Cheers

 

noserider... Great response! Did you major in diplomacy or something? When I try to be diplomatic with an opposing perspective it doesn't always come across so cleanly. Good job dude!

 

Very Well Said!!

 

Actually I have read Mr. Stanley and Mr Danko's publication and I do appreciate their views .... as far as the re-use of the clamps are concerned, my statement was based on an experience that I had regarding service on my scooter. It was in for warranty work ( I generally do all the service myself .. I am a retired ASE certified tech and owned my own shop for over 25 years ) and they had to deal with the rear tire. After I picked the bike up, on my way home I noticed that something was wrong, pulled over and ... bingo ... the right side muffler was completely seperated from the header pipe. They came out picked up the bike and took care of the problem ... the clamp had failed ... the re-used clamp. I failed to include this in the original post and in hindsight this was and error. As far as the "penny wise dollar foolish" is concerned I may have chosen a better phrase to convey my point and if you took it the wrong way my apologies are in order. 'Nuff said.

 

I also had the clamp fail. It was an 01 ultra. Seems there was a bad batch of clamps at that time (01,02). So bad a problem that it was difficult to find new clamps. That problem must have been solved because I have since reused clamps with no issues. If your muffler falls off you will know you have a bad clamp.

 

Thanks for the reply Larry. I just finished reassembling my exhaust system after a good cleaning. It was more of a PITA than I thought it was going to be. Not much clearance to remove that right header from the front header even after everything is loose. Thank god for large rubber mallets also. It's my first time working with torca clamps but I can see how they could be an issue after retighting my old. I'll spray soapy water around all my joints to make sure my seal is good and will replace on the next time around if all goes good. In regards to the penny wise comment you might have struck a nerve although slight. It's a fair observation on your part however and I try not to live up to that creed. I DO appreciate your input and consider it valueable. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

I just ordered my American Custom Bomber slip-ons and a set of new clamps. Even they said on their website that HD recommends against reusing old clamps. Seems like cheap insurance.

 

Mystery solved