Roadhouse Dooley ?

[radco]

Anyone here have Roadhouse pipes?? How do they compare to V&H.Cobras??? ?????? THANKs Rich

[caddman11]

I've got them and love them. Great deep sound, to me not very loud; the wife's Sportster with Screaming Eagle pipes is louder, but positively not deeper. Their loudness doesn't bother me at highway speeds either. I thought they would be loads louder because the mufflers are straight through. They are very heavily built, thick steel. You've got a choice of ends tips as well as how you want the down pipes to look, serrated or chrome covers. You need to be aware that the serrated covers are stainless steel, and they do turn golden when heated, so if you're a shinny chrome freak, get the chrome covers. They are loads of work to get on correctly but in the end IMO it's worth the extra time and money. I did marble my bike after installing them to get ride of a small amount exhaust popping which is pretty much gone now.

I've heard a lot of V&H pipes on Harleys, but not on Vulcans and on HD's they are too loud for me. I've also read a lot of posts here where members are not happy with the volume level of the V&H and are looking for ways to quiet them down. Also, the last thing I want is problems with downpipes and I've read too many stories about cracked downpipes.

I don't know if you save much weight by going with Dooleys. The crossover pipe will cause some confusion, so make sure you do a full trial fit first before ever trying to get them on the bike. I ended up talking with the company about the xover pipe and even they thought for a while that the pipe was wrong, but it was me. I did my final trial fit with the mufflers and once I added those, I found my mistake. You also need to realize that they are two into one into two pipes and they use a small deflector inside the crossover to balance the final exhaust output to the two pipes.

I would buy the Dooleys again over the other brands even though I know nothing about the Cobras or Jardines. I do have to admit that I got them new at an unbelievable price which helped sweeten the pot; cheaper than any price I've seen for a new set of any other brand. I did have a Jardine on my 750 Honda back in the days, and after I installed it, it cured a high end miss I had in hot weather that I couldn't seem to get solved by re-jetting. So I know Jardine does some quality engineering.

[goldstar225]

I have them on my '06. I can't tell you anything about the installation since they were on the bike when I bought it. I like the sound. I'm running them with the baffles but no packing. You know that their there with being obnoxious IMO. The chrome looks good and has good coverage over the pipes. The exhaust output on mine isn't equal between. The right side pipe seems to flow about 2-3 times the amount put out by he left pipe. As far as tuning goes this shouln't matter since the pipes are 2-1-2 with equal back pressure.

[drhart]

hello caddman11, You mentioned the xover pipe confusion. I have the dooleys also and my problem was I could get the right side on just fine but, the left side was about 1" too narrow . I tried everything and couldn't make it happen. I ended up with spacers between the support mounts about 1/2" on both sides. What issue did you have?

Thanks, Dan

[caddman11]

I think we might have run across the same problem. Once the x-over pipe was figured out, the perpendicular pipe that runs under the bike seemed too short, but it was the left muffler being held outward by the clamp holding it to the frame; it wasn't anything that needed to be cut. I thought about spacers, but I decided to go for a bend. I wrapped a tie-down strap around the forward ends of both mufflers and the frame and pulled them together until they were parallel down the side of the bike bending those clamps.

I learned very quickly that you need to get everything on the bike loosely and then snug stuff down making sure it's still movable with a little force, a heavy rubber hammer. Then I started at the head pipes and started tightening down bolts. I had to loosen the mufflers several times to get their lengths and angles right. If you look at my signature pictures, you'll notice that the left muffler is lower than the right; this was the first fit and I just couldn't wait to go for a ride. All is symmetrical now, my wife thought I was pretty "anal retentive" with the measuring tools getting them just perfect.

When I read that the V&H pipes go on in about 1-1/2 hours, I as amazed that it took me about 4, I'm usually better than that. Those top clamps that hold down the serrated shields ate up a load of install time. They are a real bugger to get an allen wrench into.

[radco]

THANKS for the info guys,, I had the Road House 2 into 1s on my Honda Sabre.. Best sounding pipes on the Sabre,,,,Guess Ill start saving $$$ for the Road House. :).......Rich

[caddman11]

Keep your eyes open radco. I've seen a few sets go on ebay that went for under $400 and a few on other forums (I got mine from VROC). I really wasn't going to change pipes because I was happy being debaffled, but when I found a cheap set, I had to do it, and now that they're on--it's just great. Even HD owners at bike nite take notice.

[billmac]

I heard a set of roadhouse and they sounded great. But they definitely seem harder to come by than the Cobras or V&H. Caddman11 struck gold.

[radco]

Originally Posted by caddman11

Keep your eyes open radco. I've seen a few sets go on ebay that went for under $400 and a few on other forums (I got mine from VROC). I really wasn't going to change pipes because I was happy being debaffled, but when I found a cheap set, I had to do it, and now that they're on--it's just great. Even HD owners at bike nite take notice.

THANKs Ill keep a eye on VROC,, and E Bay,,, Rich

[drhart]

caddmann11, I wanted to thank you for the reply. I haven't been on for awhile and I just read your response. Once again , Thanks.
Dan