Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust fishtail conversation lets get it started

here is a conversation I started with cowtipper. he has promised pics so my fingers are crossed?

Background info:
My 'tails are 50" long total- 36" with a extension pipe.
Mine are the straight pipe meaning that they are 1 /78" all the way down- no baffles just straight pipes- no bulges (like Sorens)
I sealed off the crossover pipe
FREAK- no airbox

Here are some things you should consider when making up your set.

Fishtails are loud. They are drag pipes. They have a very distinctive "crack" at the end of the exhaust note.


Baffles: the open tails do not have enough back pressure. You will lose all of the low RPM torque. Power doesn't come on until near WOT. That and they are painfully LOUD.

I went through at least a dozen baffle configurations before I got them "tuned" correctly for my overall set up. I've also tried several different types including Samson's, Khrome werks, the welded bolt trick, and old skool "beer can" baffles. Currently I have two 4" "beer can" type baffles in each pipe. One at 20" from the header exit and one at the exit end of the 'tail. I ran a 3/8" rebar through them to open them up and reduce the restrictions in each one. I also have them in with the small end facing the head (some might say they are in backwards). I can promise you I've run them every way you can imagine.

They can be bought from a guy named shotglass88 on eBay. I've bought 4-5 sets from him. that is the cheapest I could find them @ $9.50 shipped.

At 36", they will stop at the axle nut. I wanted mine to go past the rear tire, and didn't want a bunch of splices in the pipes. I had a muffler shop cut some 1 3/4" straight pipe 24" long and flange one end, then I had these chromed. Chroming is very expensive and I latter fond them new on eBay for about half of what I have in these. These are my extension pipes. I also bought the 36 'tails. I mocked them up am set the 'tails to end where I wanted them to end, and cut the fishtail header end off directly under the mounting bolt hole. That way, the P clamp is both a hanger clamp and a pipe clamp, and it covers the seam from the extension pipe to the fishtail- no visible seams. I also marked the extension pipe at the same point, added 4", and cut off the extra.

You don't need custom brackets, there are brackets on eBay that have a clamp and stem. Drill a hole in the stem where the bolt goes. They are called p-clamps.


I love my 'tails. They may be my favorite part of the bike. They look great and have a proper Triumph sound to them.

OK so did you gain any power by putting them on? sounds like a lot of work to get some loud sounds and cool looking pipes. My buddy Mike and I pulled out the BAFFLES in his bubs last weekend and now I want to make some noise too. It sounds like a lot of bolting things on which I can do with out a doubt but I am more then a bit nervous about doing any kind of damage to the engine( this is after all my very first new vehicle and it is my baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

wow! What a lot of work. Sounds like a cool setup, I love retro/old school. Hope we get some pics. Rock On!

Sure. Pics to follow as soon as the batteries charge. Yes I did gain power (over stock). Now they run as well as my BUB's.

Here is one of the baffle in the extension pipe. It shows the orientation of the baffle, the "modified" tabs there-in, and the way I secured it inside the pipe. i'll tack it in this weekend now that I'm sure they are tuned correctly:

The baffles look like this:

so they are in the correct way not backwards. from what you were saying before I pictured them in the other end so that they would have been in backwards. My mistake.

Dogg. No. I've had them in both ways. Your assertion was accurate.

Having trouble uploading pics. Tried snapfish, but can't get the image location from them. Guess that's how they keep from being a free hosting site for business...

If anyone knows a free image hosting site, please let me know.

Remeber- the welds are all temporary and have been in and out several times. I just got the final configuration this week, so I'll be finishing the welds and cleaning them up this weekend. I weld a lot better than this looks- really. Also, the bike is really dirty and the pics were taken at night.

Lets see if this works:

Extensions:

Thank you Image shack!

Pclamp:

Rear Baffle:

Some shots of the bike:

I have to tell you man I love that look!That is exactly the way I wanted to make my exhaust but wanted to do it in 1 piece. Now that I see yours I see that wasn't a must. I would still love to do it but I have mine running so well not sure I want to mess with it.

Thanks Ian. That means a lot coming from a long time Triumph dood such as yourself.

As for yours, as you said- if it ain't broke...

There the best looking fishtails I've seen so far ,you got the length perfect, I'm going to do the same to my America,
Credit to ya
Hoffo

I,m with HOFFO best looking tails I have seen to date! I will be doing it to mine over the winter. One last question till the next one pops in my head. When you tack weld the baffles in will that blue the pipes? Thanks again for all the effort you have put in with the pics and all. Peter

You're welcome. I've been the benefactor of the knowledge pool here, as well.

Yes it will blue if you are not careful. In the set I bought, by sheer luck (I didn't plan it that way) there is a weld ring inside the 'tails where the factory welded the fishtail tip to the straight pipe. You can see it in the rear baffle pic. If you weld it to that ring, go slow and only hit it for a spot then let it cool some, it does not blue the chrome. The one in the extension is covered up so it doesn't matter if it blues.

Well, I DID IT! Got the fishtails. these things are awesome, real ear breaking pipes. I will be road testing them today since the weather GOD has given us a 50 degree day here on the flat lands. I will get the bike jetted on Tuesday so that should make a difference but I just have to get out and ride today.

Can't wait to see pics!

Soren

ok just uploaded two pics to my gallery check um out let me know what you all think

Looks Great!





Soren

Thanks soren for posting my pics. I got in a hurry yesterday afternoon. I live next to the Arkansas river and we have 5 bald eagles roosting somewhere down/up river. They decided to hang out at the end of the block, about 3 houses away.......it was way way cool. I think they heard me talking about "fishtails" and thought there would be a free meal!

Where did you get the tails and what are you doing for baffles?

Kaiser, Peter got em from a company that sells stuff on ebay. The only one on there that sells 36" fishtails. Don't remember what the others were, but they were a lot shorter. I know all this because I actually bought the things for him. His wife wanted it to be a surprise Christmas present, so I got online and picked em up. You can check the company out directly at their website, DebrixCycles.com. They take about two and a half weeks or so to ship though, so no immediate gratification.

Anyway, the baffles are four inch "beer can" baffles like what cowtipper is running on his, only we used two baffles instead of four. They're pretty loud and have a killer crack when you let off the throttle, enough to p!ss the neighbors off. He's getting the bike rejetted today and I'm curious to see whether or not this affects the crack when he lets off the throttle. I'm running bubs with the original baffles removed and the same four inch beer can baffles and there is no crack when I run mine, but it has been rejetted, so who knows whether or not this makes a difference.

Thanks "smokeyman" I stopped checking the link cause I've been riding. Anyway Yup they sound pretty good. I am a VERY HAPPY LITTLE CAMPER I am thoroughly happy 100%

Thanks. Fishtails are on my wish list for the spring. I was thinking of going with the shortie mufflers from jc whitney or emgo and the tails attached to them. Thinking maybe the mufflers will tone down the crack a little, as well as add backpressure. Not for sure yet though.