Thursday, January 12, 2012

My bike is a 07/ 650 V-Star Classic and a friend wants to put louder pipes with baffles , should I let him?

He wants to put on Vance-n-Hines exhaust pipes. And that's it! My bike has a carburetor and a choke. But I'm not sure if he knows what he's doing. He did it to my friends HD with out changing or upgrading anything, etc. I'm afraid there might be other things he needs to do. And I do want louder pipes. (California approved of course.) What do you recommend? I need expert advise from someone who really knows what to do? Please help?My bike is a 07/ 650 V-Star Classic and a friend wants to put louder pipes with baffles , should I let him?
Hey NuttyBrunette,



Man, never let a, "friend", work on ANYTHING. I say this with tongue in cheek, of course, but be very careful whom you let touch your ride. It's motorcycle purist philosophy 101. This is your bike, there is not another one like it. A friend who has ANY experience with a Harley Davidson product is a friend to be dubious of anyway LOL!



As far as the exhaust system change is concerned, that is an easy job, even if you have limited experience. It is easy from a, "Can I do this job myself?", standpoint, but it is also a job that will take a large amount of patience and care. An incorrect installation can potentially, "stress", cylinder-heads in a way that you won't like. Furthermore, removing the original system can easily produce broken fasteners, sometimes resulting in being forced to dig them out of a spendy cylinder-head. I would highly recommend you do this job yourself, or have it done professionally. It is a gentle, loving touch that is needed most, not any experience, per say.



I wanted to comment on, "louder pipes". I know that little V-twin has a nice exhaust note. But it is fairly small displacement and freeing up the exhaust a bit will, indeed, increase exhaust volume; but with those itty bitty cylinders, it will tend to sound a little shrill. A lot of people hear a Harley, and then want their twin to sound that way. Understood. No problem. But you should know that the Harley products displace quite a bit more. For the most part, they're twice the displacement that 650 twin is. Additionally, Harleys use a 180 degree crankshaft timing that gives them a very special exhaust note. You know that goofy, "lope", that they have at idle? Your 650 has 90 degree crankshaft timing and won't produce that kool lope, rather it will have a nice, uniform, pop, pop, pop, going.



With that said, increasing the, "volume level", on your bike will produce a unique sound, but nothing like the Harley guys you are undoubtedly inspired by. I highly recommend that you listen to a bike with the modifications you are interested in, before expecting those modifications to make your bike sound like a 1200 cc Evo motor. I say this because the performance gains available to a V-twin in the after-market exhaust game are minimal.



Some nomenclature for you too. "Baffles", are likely present in just about anything. "Straight pipes", is the opposite of baffled. Think of a baffle like you would a muffler. Volume is going to be loudest without a baffle. With that said, removing a baffle will increase exhaust flow. Increased exhaust flow will lean your bike out. Installing larger jets will address this problem as you seem to be already aware. But a baffle is a type of muffler system (There are others) and you should leave them installed on any exhaust system you decide on. There are not as many gains to be had by upgrading the exhaust on a V-twin. Mostly because it is a twin. Changing the exhaust system alone on that Road Star, and likely the Harley too, won't necassarily mean that a re-jet is in order. Change both the air intake, and exhaust, and you will definitely want to rejet. It is perfectly possible, depending upon the exhaust system installed of course, that you could put pipes on a Harley and not have to re-jet.
Hiya NB.Well I think youve got a nice bike.Ok Here goes....First you must be aware that the exhaust system and the carburettor are very much a paired-tuned Item and some times when you start tampering with it you can get into a real mine field.The third Item in the set is the Cam and the way it is ground to work best with the other two(carb/exhaust) I really cant go into the specifics of cam timing and overlap etc and why and how it is used to get performance out of a motor. There is also a problem with CV type carbs that are fitted to most bikes now that any backfiring will damage the Diaphram in the carbs and cause more problems.This can happen quite easily if you start tampering with the exhaust system.I know bikes are muffled down to hell and I love the sound of a vtwin(I have had 5-6 HDs) but really apart from putting on a set of factory spec sport pipes you may be really opening a can of worms.Dont mean to be a downer but proceed that way and you wont have too much trouble...I think VH pipes are good stuff so you should be okMy bike is a 07/ 650 V-Star Classic and a friend wants to put louder pipes with baffles , should I let him?
V%26amp;H are good pipes but you'll need a rejet carb kit or you'll be running lean on fuel (light colored plugs)..check your friends plugs and see what color they are. If he is willing to pay for everything why not, it sounds like you wanted the new pipes anyway.



www.denniskirk.com should have the pipes and rejet kit, plus you should think of a K%26amp;N air filter.
You have to rejet the carbs when putting on other pipes ,its about 80 bucks for the kit ,Vance and Hines has the best pipes in my opinion and you will like the sound but have this done by someone that knows what he is doing /peaceMy bike is a 07/ 650 V-Star Classic and a friend wants to put louder pipes with baffles , should I let him?
i have an 04 v-star classic.......on my bike i put vance%26amp;hines short shot pipes on it.. i also had to rejet the carb and install a new air breather..i went with a k%26amp;n twin volocity air breather.....the sound is awesome and horse power improved slightly

DO NOT REPLACE THE PIPES W/O REJETTING THE CARB OR CHANGING AIR BREATHER.......PIPES AND JETS ARE MATCHED
It can be done, but only if you are POSITIVE he knows what he is doing, because it also needs to be rejetted and a different air breather installed. Letting someone who is not a certified motorcycle mechanic can be DANGEROUS--I speak unfortunately from experience, a totally trashed brake assembly and over $1000 in repairs with no one to blame but myself for letting someone who "knew what he was doing" mess with my ride. Besides which, if you have the work done at the shop and things aren't right, you have legal recourse to repair the problem--What kind of warranty is this guy going to provide? You can ease the hurt feelings you might give him by saying "yes, I want louder pipes, but let's have the shop put them on, that way there's no hard feelings just in case anything goes wrong--Let's pick them out and price them together" I had Cobra pipes put on mine at the dealer's shop where I bought the bike ( I have a 2001 V-Star 1100) and they sound great!!
first of all.....you don't necessarily have to "re jet" the carbs...you just have to adjust them...this cost me $10.00 at my local shop.....i have cobra 2" slash cut drag pipes,,love them
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