"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson.
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Born to be Mild
Surly and the boys gave me a hand delivering the treadmill last evening. It's a good thing those boys have got some muscles. That thing weighs about 2 pounds less than a switch engine. We had to go up some steps and then lay it on its side to snake it through the door. Seems the door opening was an inch less than the treadmill was wide. I had measured it prior to taking it off the truck and it was less the 36" by a couple. Unfortunately, the door opening was less by 3". Regardless, it's done.
While we were there, Surly showed me the bell collection that we, meaning me, need to work on so he can finish the job. Since it was dark I didn't get a good look at everything, but enough to get me thinking on the best way to get the job knocked out. I'll run it by Surly and if gives me the go-ahead, I'll try and get it finished next week.
Surly brought me some pipes for the Sportster he got from a buddy of his. Unfortunately, they look pretty rough and I don't imagine they're going to be all that much quieter. The one in the top of the photo is straight through, the one in the bottom has the baffles in it still but someone slash cut the end of the muffler off. If I was to sandblast the paint off, fabricate a new end for it and then paint it, it might not look too bad but I'm thinking it's going to take chrome to make me happy.
The chrome on the drag pipes looks pretty good - a little blue next to the engine but that's OK. I ordered a pair of these shorty mufflers to install after I shorten up the drag pipes a bit. They're straight through pipes but they have a perforated pipe wrapped with fiberglass inside, so they'll still be rather loud but not obnoxious. At least that's the plan. I might have to make or modify the support bracket, but at this point in time I'll get the pipes squared up, install the electronic ignition and I'll be ready to ride come spring.
I don't know what happened to all the stock pipes that came on these Iron Heads. I checked Marketplace and eBay and there are plenty of used drag pipes and plenty of new drag pipes but stock take-offs are nowhere to be found. I did see a N.O.S set but they wanted $1,200.00 for them. That being more than I paid for the bike, that was a hard no. There are a lot of older Sportsters on Marketplace, though. A few nice ones and a whole bunch that would require a pretty serious investment to ever get them to move down the road on something other than a trailer. And like motorcycles in general, who the hell loses their title? You people never heard of a lock box?
my dad just sold a trailer to a guy at church who told him the paper says it was made in the 50's.... the trailer is less than 20 years old. dad asked me about it and we were perplexed.
The pipes with the black paint are the stock pipes. I found them with about 5 minutes worth of work. There's a nice set on eBay right now with decent chrome for a decent price. They're out there. It's just that no one wants a stock muffler on their motorcycle. And you gotta admit, the drag pipes look cool. The problem with drag pipes, in my opinion, is they rob the torque that you get from using a better designed system. I'm reading 5-10% power loss in mid-low end torque. Why have a V-twin if you're killing the torque. Now the title on the other hand? It's pretty easy to apply for a lost title. No excuse.
Surly: I thought seriously about using the black pipes but I would have had to sandblast them, make an end cap, repaint them and they still wouldn't have been chrome, which is what I want. As for the titles, it's a lot easier keeping track of the original than jumping through hoops at the BMV to get a new one. If you don't have a lock box, get an ammo can for all your important papers or something. It's not that tough.
my dad just sold a trailer to a guy at church who told him the paper says it was made in the 50's.... the trailer is less than 20 years old. dad asked me about it and we were perplexed.
ReplyDeleteThe pipes with the black paint are the stock pipes. I found them with about 5 minutes worth of work. There's a nice set on eBay right now with decent chrome for a decent price. They're out there. It's just that no one wants a stock muffler on their motorcycle. And you gotta admit, the drag pipes look cool. The problem with drag pipes, in my opinion, is they rob the torque that you get from using a better designed system. I'm reading 5-10% power loss in mid-low end torque. Why have a V-twin if you're killing the torque. Now the title on the other hand? It's pretty easy to apply for a lost title. No excuse.
ReplyDeleteSurly: I thought seriously about using the black pipes but I would have had to sandblast them, make an end cap, repaint them and they still wouldn't have been chrome, which is what I want. As for the titles, it's a lot easier keeping track of the original than jumping through hoops at the BMV to get a new one. If you don't have a lock box, get an ammo can for all your important papers or something. It's not that tough.
ReplyDelete