Headers-good, Mufflers-bad

[Fix]

It looks like I can salvage the old headers on my '78, but the mufflers are a lost cause. I thought I read that you can come by stock Harley mufflers pretty cheap since they like to put on customs. Any suggestions that will bolt easily onto stock '78 4-2 headers? Harley or not, I'm just looking for inexpensive.

[Hawkins]

The ones I have are 1200 sportster mufflers I think. I recall reading the 883 mufflers are the same or similar.

[Fix]

Do you recall what year, or are they all about the same? Also, did it require much finagling to hang those?

Thanks!

[tinman905]

Measure the inside and outside diameters then you will have a better idea what to buy. I have a set from a FatBoy if you want $25.00. I will have to measure the diameter it's been a while . You might find a set cheaper in the US as the shipping would cost more than the mufflers.

[Fix]

Measure the inside and outside diameters then you will have a better idea what to buy. I have a set from a FatBoy if you want $25.00. I will have to measure the diameter it's been a while . You might find a set cheaper in the US as the shipping would cost more than the mufflers.

I was trying to avoid taking the mufflers off til I had replacements in-hand, as the bike's my current day-to-day transportation. Anyone have a set they can measure? I checked online and in the manuals and can't find any measurements.

[bikerphil]

If you have a caliper, measure the OD of your header pipe, and that will be the ID of your replacement muffler. JAT

[Fix]

Well, I don't have a caliper, but I measured the circumference and got 120mm. That works out to 38.2165 mm OD on the header give or take a bit considering I measured with a tape.

[Hawkins]

I measured a set just aft of the heat shield and got OD=45.5mm. The ID of the Harley mufflers I have is 45mm. When I installed mine I found a piece of car exhaust pipe about 4" long that fit into the mufflers, then made several length wise cuts in the end of the header pipes so stub pipe fit into them too. Doing it that way required two clamps for each muffler, but it was the quickest way back on the road at the time, and it's lasted 8 years now. The only problem I had was that the center stand has finally beaten it's way through the left muffler.

I just bought a set of stock headers from Andreas complete with the crossover, but mufflers cut off about 6" aft of the crossover. I'm trying them just as they are. If they are obnoxiously loud I'll try making up an endplate for them, maybe with a simple baffle attached. I did that to a set of cherry bombs on my old XS650 and it worked great.

If all that fails, I'll cut them just aft of the heat shields and go back to Harley mufflers.

[Fix]

That sounds like a lot of work I don't have the tools for. I'm not sure what to do now.

[webbcraft2150]

The stockers on my G went south a long time ago. I bought a pair of EMGO "extra long" mufflers from JCW. At the time they were about $50 each. I did have to cut the cross over out and buy two exhaust reducers from Pep Boys. I was able to use the stock rear hangers with some slight modifications. I also fabbed a new center stand stop from some scrap strap metal. You have to do some tweaking on the right side so the brake lever will clear the muffler but it also was no big deal. The EMGO mufflers look "almost" stock, have nice exhaust note and did not require any carb changes. They have been hanging tough for 10+ years now, I suspect 4-5 more years out of they before replacing due to rust out (thanks texass) and the chrome looking too shabby for my tastes. EMGO also sells some shorter mufflers which will allow you to pull the rear axle with less hassle.

[bikerphil]

Fix, you can make a makeshift caliper to measure outer diameter of your pipe with a piece of cardboard and a scissors. Cut out a slot in the cardboard smaller than the header and cut a little away at a time 'till it fits over the pipe. Measure the slot and that will tell you OD.

[Hawkins]

That sounds like a lot of work I don't have the tools for. I'm not sure what to do now.

It's not really, if you don't get too fancy. A Dremel cutting wheel can make the slits in the stock headers, or if they are off the bike a hacksaw would do. I made hangers by drilling holes in some scrap flatbar.

[D. P. Larmee]

Heres what I did. Cut off old mufflers right where it starts to flare out. Take two 1 3/4 OD X 1 3/4 ID adapters about 4 inches long and hammer them on to the stubs that are left on the headers. They are really tight and must be whacked on pretty good. I used a piece of wood and a sledge hammer, but anything heavy could be used. This leaves 1 3/4 OD that any of the Harley mufflers will mate to with the Harley muffler clamps. I have found that the touring mufflers seem to look the best. Here what it looks like:



The bolt pattern on these mufflers is way at the back of the mufflers and pretty useless, but I just put a large hose clamp around the muffler and the foot peg bracket and it is very secure, and unless you are really looking, you probably would not notice it. They have been on there for a few thousand miles and no problems at all. Quiet, no rejetting necessary, and they look good too. So a hacksaw and a hammer is all you really need.