Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Thunderpipes - review

WOOT! When I bought my sewing machine... err.. I mean my America it sounded like George Jetson's little flying car. Then I had my standard pipes modified, gutting the first two baffles and it sounded like George Jetson's car on steroids. I'd been considering some better pipes for a while, and after going for a ride with a friend who'd recently put Bubs on his bike I was convinced that it was worth the cost. I like the look of the standard long slashcuts, and wanted stainless steel rather than chrome for its longevity, which pretty much narrowed my choices down to Thunderpipes, Staintunes, and Scepters. I was favouring the Scepters simply due to price till I realised I'd have to purchase the baffle separately to at least come close to Australian noise laws, which made the price very close to the Thunderpipes once you added shipping and currency conversion in. The Staintunes ruled themselves out on two points; the much higher price and the somewhat tinny note, despite me wanting to be patriotic and buy Australian.

Today I took delivery of my very own long, slashcut Thunderpipes after waiting with eager anticipation. Shipping took a mere three days from New Zealand, more impressive given that it's just after Christmas. Contact and communication was excellent, with emails from Jason Howcroft giving fast answers to questions and notifying of shipping dates. First impressions of these pipes; very well packed - there was no way these were being damaged in transit. Beautifully made and polished with no visible welds etc once fitted (in fact I don't remember noticing welds before they were fitted either). Instructions were fairly simple but they said what they needed to say clearly. It was at this point that my only criticism appears; unlike the Scepters the Thunderpipes don't come with their own mounting bracket, rather they rely on the Triumph one (though they DO have new stainless steel mounting bolts etc). In itself this isn't a huge issue, except that Triumph mount the brackets to the standard exhausts using some incredibly strong thread lock that usually requires a blowtorch to loosen. The instructions clearly described what needed to be done but several hours were added to the fitting to find someone with oxy-acetaline gear. It did work as advertised and the bolts came out easily once heated. A little bit of black paint from a spray pack to touch up the heated brackets and I was good to go, however I have to wonder how much more it would cost to make up some simple stainless brackets to include with these (admittedly not cheap) pipes.

Other than that, removing the old pipes and fitting the new ones was a piece of cake. Required tools were a ratchet handle, a 13mm socket and a 12mm socket. You'll also need to buy a small tube of red RTV silicon sealant from any auto shop (the high temperature stuff). Total fitting time (minus traveling to the oxy gear) was under an hour, and not a single curse word was spoken or tool thrown across the workshop.

The finished result is a very pleasing low rumbling note at idle, and a definite, very British bark when you twist the throttle. I think the volume is very slightly less than the Bubs but I've not heard them side by side yet. If you play nice with the throttle you can quietly burble out of your street at 6am without waking the neighbors, but every time I've given it a twist heads turned, fingers pointed, and faces smiled (well most of them smiled - some scowled but that's just as good). They do come with removable baffles that I've not yet played with yet (a single screw set into the underside of the pipe removes them), but I imagine that'll get into "hot dang, where's my earplugs" territory.

Thunderbike advertise a 28% power gain for using these pipes without changing jets. Just going by the "seat-of-the-pants dyno" I've noticed there's definitely more power at higher RPM but low down seems about the same to me. I should point out here that I'd already gutted my standard pipes and put slightly larger idle jets in so I may already have gotten my low RPM power gains. At some point in the near future I'll get my bike dyno-tuned and publish the dyno run here so we can compare to those shown on Thunderbike's site.

The pipes cost me AU$1002.10 including shipping to Australia (about US$875 on today's exchange rate). That's more expensive than a lot of the other pipes out there, but most of the pipes out there aren't stainless and will eventually rust out. They're available from Thunderbike's Website.

Same experience except as my bike only had 200kms on it when I did the mod, the bolts came right out (no heat required). Heard many other pipes side by side and I pesonally still like the Thunderbike pipes the best.

I have a 2007 with the 865 motor. I don't think the power gain was that much but it was noticable.

if they are stainless now that would be great, cuz mine are chrome and are showing a bit that i am doing everything in my power to keep to a minimum

Frank

A quick retraction. I can't find anywhere on the Thunderbikes website that their pipes are made of stainless steel. I'm not sure where I came up with that idea, but apparently they're not. Re-evaluate their worth as you see fit.

Epco Stainless are, as the name implies, stainless steel. http://www.epcostainless.com/TriumphspeedmasterSL.jpg
http://www.epcostainless.com/TriumphspeedmasterST.jpg
http://www.epcostainless.com/triumphSMlongb.jpg

I expect they would cost a pretty penny to have them shipped to OZ though.

I have the Epco slashcuts and like them very much. The only downside to a stainless finish is that they get a bronze tint to them after a while. Lots of elbow grease and any good metal polish and they come right back up, but it does get tiresome after a while. Thus the consisitent bronze hue to my pipes. It's okay, it hides the black boot marks that are usually there too. I would rather ride than clean. It's certainly not a rat bike, but it isn't going to win any bike shows. I can creep out of the neighborhood, but they make a beautiful throaty sound when you crack the throttle. My neighbor pointed out that I might want to wait a bit longer before I crack the throttle in the early morning - the sound must carry pretty well

Really have enjoyed the Thunderpipes, think they sound great, maybe a little too loud for these old ears, there has been no problem with fitment, chrome, or the authorities..... and it's fun saying: "they're from New Zealand".....and they look like stock....

ride safe

Wow! Almost 900 dollars for a pair of pipes?!! Are they that expensive here in the states? (thats %10 of the entire cost of the bike brand new!

With the exchange rate they are a bit cheaper but not much... They do keep the original look in that they come with the heat shield.

Just as a note, Triumph uses clear Silicone Sealer at the joint. I spoke to a long time bike builder and he advised that you do not need the Red high temp stuff at that point of the exhaust. The Dynagrip Clear Silicone Gasket Maker is rated at 232deg C which is fine for that part of the exhaust and being clear is a bit neater looking. No matter how much you clean up, there is always a little bit of sealant showing.

I'm still running TPipes after 1 set of replacement "shells" (they rusted really bad) and 1 repack of the baffles. I still love the sound and the look. I left the heat shields off when I got the new shells and I like that look even better. They are chrome plated - not stainless, and as they see all the road slop they need to be cared for, especially on the undersides. Some polish now and then will do the trick. Also, Hi temp RTV can be had in a few colors - I use black - and it's purpose is not just to keep the soot from coming out of the seam, but to also keep the engine from sucking air in at that seam. So use it...
A few observations from my experience - you can loosen the 2 bolts on the hangers with a propane torch - you don't have to get all hyper-thermal-oxy-acetylene here..
And.. you have to remove those 2 bolts and the single bolt at the rear to get the baffles out.

One final observation: Buying $800.00 pipes from New Zealand was a giant leap of faith for this Pennsylvania boy.. but the guys at Thunderbike stand behind their products and are a pleasure to deal with. I put them right up there with Brent as far as customer service goes.

if the day comes when i am no longer a BuBber,
i will be a Thunderbiker for certain.

After running tor's and trying stock with some of the baffles out and even gutted, tried Epco's, they were a little loud for my taste. Knew I had lost my mind when I ordered a set of TB pipes, But worth every penny once I fired it up and heard them. And as the saying goes, to each his own what it should sound like. Like the looks also. That is what mine should sound like.

I took the plunge and did them too , I've got only one Lola . Lotsa capital , but they look and sound great . You don't need an acetylene torch to loosen the stock bolts - a small propane torch did the trick for me .

I like the sound of the Thunderbike pipes, but the NZ chromework bad. It's a battle keeping them looking good, with the rust breaking out all over them......

T-pipes sound wimpy!

ditto x3