Ordered V&H dual baggers hope I like them

Got 9,000 miles on my 07 Nomad. There are times the stock exhaust system is nice, like when I park in the hospital parking garage ,or pull into a campground late. However other times I feel that I am missing much of the joy of ridding a big V-Twin. So I finally ordered the Vance & Hines dual baggers. Had a hard time choosing between the Cobra true duals and the Baggers. No one seems to have the Cobra,s in this area and the only sound compassion was the sound clips available. I have heard the Vance & Hines on two different Nomads I thought they had a very good sound , perhaps borderline on being too loud. A little concerned about the rear head pipe cracking that some have reported. Ordered them from Morepowerracing for $424 with free shipping, don't know anything about the company but I did call them before ordering and the seemed very professional , said they had 13 in stock. Probably take me over a week to get them they are in Washington State I am in Indiana. So I am looking forward to getting them I am fairly sure I will be pleased with them, if they prove to be too loud for those occasional 400 to 500 mile days I ride I have the option of modifying the removable baffles . Any comments on my concerns will be appreciated

[dogdoc]

Shilohsam: i think your going to love em as much as I love mine. I smiled ear to ear for a week after installation. it was the deep sound I wanted. they are maybe borderline too loud for some but for me they are just right as is. be sure to grind that inner weld down slightly!! inside the front part of the mufflers so they will slide on easily. i fought for many hrs until I figured it out myself. Dremel too works best. then go tear up the town!!!

[jayc]

Love my baggers. The stock pipes where just too quiet.

I will be 60 years old in December. Few things in life have retained the enthusiasm and interest that I had when I was a kid. I purchased my first motorcycle magazine (Cycle World) in 1963 and I still have it. I have not ridden continually all of those years but have always had the interest. Have enjoyed about 20 different motorcycles both street and off road. I have had parallel, flat, and V- twins, 4 cylinder standard and sport bikes and a 6 cylinder GL 1500 Wing. The one I wish I had kept as a second bike was my 1968 BSA Thunderbolt. There are a lot of things that I really, really like about my present Nomad. I consider myself a mature and practical man in most aspects of life however motorcycles seem to maintain a youthful hold on me. Waiting for these Vance & Hines baggers remind me of this. Thanks for your input about the pipes , helps me to endure the wait for their arrival.

[nomadman]

Good decission Sam!

I loved mines as Doc says. I complete my engine with a Power Commander and a K&N airfilter, finetuning is now possible and the output of the engine is TOP

Enjoy them!

Nomadman

[skyhookman]

Sam I think I've got you beat by one. I'll be 61 in Dec. Have fun with your pipes and much happy rideing in the years to come.

[Todd]

You'll love the V&H.........they are JUST RIGHT

That installation tip from Doc is right on....will save you some frustration figuring it out.

I have wondered if the cracked rear pipe some have experienced could be due to the muffler/baffle assembly being too tight during installation, being forced into a position to bolt up, and it putting an undo pressure on the rear header pipe (i.e not hanging from the mounting points freely). Just a thought since the only points that it mounts are the baffles and the engine...dunno...merely speculation.......mine might malfunction the next time I take it out.

[rickmeister56]

i think you will be satisfied with the v/h baggers. i have 24,000 miles on mine with no problems. i did replace the baffle packing though. that was only a matter of calling v/h giving them the number off the pipes and they sent me the packing. only reason i relaced it was the pipes were getting a little loud.

[dogdoc]

Glad to see some older farts riding than myself(I'm 55). Rick what was the cost on that re-packing material from V&H? easy job? thx,

V&H baggers are sweet. Just know that if you have a problem with the left side muffler fitting the header pipe just right we all had that problem and had to grind some to get it to fit. so yes it's normal. V&H does know about it but seems unwilling to fix it. But I love my V&H Bagger pipes.....

todd
I had wondered about the rear header pipe crack some have reported being caused by improper installation procedure also. I downloaded the installation instructions from Vance & Hines site and it does state that the exhaust flange header bolts on the engine cylinder head should be left loose at first as well as the muffler clamps that attach the mufflers to the header pipes. First tighten the muffler body to the frame, second tighten the header pipe flanges and last tighten the muffler clamps. This would allow every thing to properly find its alignment and not be in a bind, particularly if the muffler inlet were cleared out to allow an nice sliding fit as Doc informed us is needed.

Just got back from a 135 mile ride , it was a beautiful day here in Central Indiana, rain is suppose to come in tomorrow . Had a good experience on the ride. As stated in my original post I was concerned about the dual baggers being borderline too loud. Nomads are a little rare in this part of the country , but I was able
to follow one for several miles today that had the baggers on it. The sound was indeed sweet as VulcanCouple said. Not at all too loud , just the right sound , just the right volume. Perhaps the one I hear earlier that I thought was borderline needed the packing replaced or had had the baffles shortened.

[ringadingh]

You should be very happy with your new pipes, I dont think the mounting has a lot to do with them cracking if you follow the instructions. Mine cracked after about 31,000 miles then again at about 35,000. I put a patch over the pipe after I welded the crack the second time and it seems to be holding up ok so far.

[ds06nomad]

I knew immediately after the test ride taht the stock exhaust would not due for me. So, I ordered the V&H Baggers, had them (and the PCIII) installed and took delivery of the bike that way. I LOVE the sound of the exhaust now. Can really hear the power of the big V-Twin.

DS

[hangon702]

COBRA'S rule http://s2.images.proboards.com/tongue.gif even thow they sound like super duper quiet honda civics . VH's are made in N. korea

[jlamz]

Hangon702, I really like the look of your bike. Are those cobras on it? I just received my slashcut cobras but haven't had time to install yet. How did you remove the crossover tube? The left side of your bike looks so clean. I installed a thunder airkit, but left the inoperable left side on. Thinking about removal, but hear it is a real difficult job. i can't tell from the pic, but is there anything on your leftside now or just open. It looks great.

[Scoot]

I really looked hard at 2 different sets V&H's and one No One has mentioned BUDS. The Buds sounded very good but I never heard them with the baffles in.
My friend kept them out all the time, Still they are not as load as the V&H with the baffles out. I guess the main factor for me was price at the time I bought mine the Buds were double the price of the V&H.

[rickmeister56]

Glad to see some older farts riding than myself(I'm 55). Rick what was the cost on that re-packing material from V&H? easy job? thx,

[rickmeister56]

doc,
the packing is 7.50 per side. if you need new baffles they have them also.

[Scoot]

[quote:k06i7qhw]I really looked hard at 2 different sets V&H's and one No One has mentioned BUDS. The Buds sounded very good but I never heard them with the baffles in.
My friend kept them out all the time, Still they are not as load as the V&H with the baffles out. I guess the main factor for me was price at the time I bought mine the Buds were double the price of the V&H.

I think you are referring to BUBS, and unless they have recently started making them for the Nomad again the only place someone could expect to find them is on E-bay or a swap meet.[/quote:k06i7qhw]


Yep that's what I was thinking, LMAO not the beer. I didn't know they stopped making them for Nomads ???

Thanks for getting me updated http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

LOL I haven't looked into pipes in long time 2002 I guees was last time.

[dmspike]

Shilohsam: When I first put my V & H dual baggers on, I thought they were too loud. It only took a few days to get over that thought thou. I now like them a lot and Doc hit the nail on the head when he said to be prepared to grind the inside of the muffler flange welds to obtain a nice smooth installation. I am amazed that V & H never seem to fix this quality problem. Everyone seems to complain about it. Enjoy the new pipes! Doug in Oregon.

[jayc]

The problem I had with the V&H was the left muffler. Tried using a file etc. I think it has something to do with the chromeing process. Someone, I think on vroc recommended using one of those muffler expanders to help.

Received my Vance & Hines Baggers, They installed easily but only because of the information from Doc and others about grinding the insides of the muffler inlets. I did not even attempt to put them on until I checked this and made sure that the head pipes would slide easily into the mufflers. When I installed them it was plain that if I had not done this I could not have gotten the mufflers positioned far enough forward to get the bolt holes to line up. The tip saved be a lot of time and frustration. Thanks all.

I believe the sound is going to be just right.

[towering]

It seems to me that if V&H pipes are such a problem why not get some cobras ?

Had a hard time choosing between the Vance & Hines and the Cobra's True Duals. They may be a fine product but I when with the Vance & Hines for several reasons. First no one in this area has them on their bikes and I couldn't have a chance to listen to them, when I questioned some dealers about the sound difference they said some of the Cobras where not as deep sounding, a little higher pitched in sound. Sound clips I listened too were hard to determine the sound quality . Second reason I have had some quality issues with other Cobra products I have ordered for my C-50 Suzuki , mainly a poorly fitting back rest. I also like the removable baffel feature of the Vance & Hines, to get this on the Cobras you have to pay for the more exspensive billet end model. So it was more of less a toss up, I sure the Cobras are also a good pipe.