Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Triumph Off-Road vs Specialty Spares

Hello all-

I,m looking for some help in getting some new pipes for my 05 TBA. I want something louder than stock, but not enough to wake up the dogs and disturb the neighbors. A few folks I,ve talked to have recommended Triumph,s off-road pipes, but I,ve also heard good things about the SS pipes as well.
Does anyone know how the two stack up against each other?
Any other recommendations out there that I haven,t thought of yet?

Thanks for the help!

go with the ss, there are A LOT who have bought and sold tors for other bikes

Frank

Hi David, your question isn't an easy one really. It subjective to individuals and what they are after. The subject of noise or louder pipes is one which fits this category, so it really depends on what you are after.

For instance, all I can do is offer my opinion from my experience (obviously), but if you want a better tone than stock and most if not all of us fit into that category, the questions that need to be asked are this:

How much is too loud and, how important is maximum gains from your power plant.

If louder pipes are not an issue and you wear ear plugs, then the Specialty Spares (SS) pipes or the bubs are good value for money, as are most of the others on offer. If you like listening to music as you ride, or in my case even E books and the like, then the Tors are a good compromise IMHO.

I speak from experience here as I have only recently put on SS pipes, but on a recent road trip I (just me, not anyone else) found them to be a tad too loud given my choice to listen to music and the like.

In fact, I am now taking off the SS pipes (sad really isn't it) and putting the Tors back on.

I must admit I'm in a position of flux really cos I know I will lose a bit of oomph, but from memory of my butt dyno it's really quite neglible.

To be absolutely honest with you, if I had the money I would probably buy StainTune pipes. They have easily removable baffles so you can pick and choose as you feel like it. Unfortunately they are very very pricey at $1400AUD, so out of the price range of most buyers. Given at this stage I feel I'll be keeping my speedie for many a year yet as my project bike, I will probably get Staintunes eventually.

One aspect of real importance here in Aus that now needs to be looked at by us bike riders, is the laws regarding noise. Slowly but surely the noise police are getting on their band wagon which is why the StainTunes are brilliant compromise. Particularly considering we can have the Australian Design Rule (ADR) stamped onto these pipes, but can take out the baffles.

So, for me at this stage I am putting the tors back on given I found the SS pipes too loud on my road trip. I intend to keep the SS pipes as a project though and hopefully they'll be back on in the future but not in their standard format.

One thing to take into consideration here is that many people look at the Tors with disdain, whilst others don't mind them. I have always fit the latter but again this is personal taste.

Yes I would like to have my cake and eat it too but unfortunately in my case it's not possible.

To sum up, IMHO Tors aren't a bad compromise as they still allow some good extra gains from your motor but not at the expense of being a tad too loud.

Good luck David, cos I wouldn't be surprised if you now didn't have a number of viewpoints that bag out the Tors. Each to their own I say.

Staffo

I can't help with the SS comparison, however I am very pleased with the long TORS on my 07 SM (airbox removed). Not stupid loud, yet not quiet either, they just right for me so far. Unobtrusive at cruise & they are authoritative enough IMO when you twist the throttle.

Tell you what Dave, if you want to save some $$$ I've got a set of like new Short TORS slash cuts I'll sell for $200.00 + shipping. let me know... jmackenz@insight.rr.com

Loads of pics on my website too (when they were on my bike.)

Good luck,
Jim

dude...thats a comparison that really isnt.
Karen (my g/f) has the TORS. Nice...better than stock and not obnoxious at all.
I have the SS long cannons...I love em BUT they are loud. There are louder but comparing the two is like comparing grapes to watermellons...two totally different worlds.

If you want better sound but dont want your neighbors to hate you...go TORS.
If you want your bike to put harleys to shame and performance go SS. (btw...to me they are not louder than a harley with ScreaminEagles).

Well said Zdenko. Nice Comparison

I have the SS short cannons, and regularly ride w/ a few HD w/ Screaming Eagles, Vance & Hines and ever what else they have. I love the sound of my SS and don't think they are near as obnoxious as the others I ride w/. I have not had any complaints from the neighbors, and I leave the house @ 0545-0600.

again Dutch, we are talking about personal perceptions on what is loud and what isn't. For me I haven't had any complaints from my neighbours either but it's not really about others complaining cos compared to the screaming eagle brigade, ours are tame.

So Ok, maybe we can agree that our SS pipes aren't that loud in a general sense when riding around town and the like, and btw I haven't found anyone yet who have bought them that think they are either. In fact Eddy (FES) where I bought the pipes told me I was the first to tell him I thought they were just a little bit louder than I thought.

Getting back, my problems with the beautiful notes from our pipes came about 200k into a 1200k or so bike weekend when I wanted to listen to music. In fact I even have moulded ear plugs for the job, but unfortunately the great tunes were spoilt by the great tone. MMM, I didn't think that was going to happen

Now others may think I'm a lunatic but I'm getting a bit too long in the toofies to worry about them ratbags when I admit, I like listening to E books on my travels. Well, same deal. I couldn't follow the story cos of the beautiful tones our pipes emit. Hey, maybe I am losing it

So I put the moulded ear plugs away and replaced them with my other, don't hear anything type plugs. Well somewhere between Milton and Robertson (Beautiful places in Aus) one of the plugs came loose and being with a mate I kept on riding. Well after another 80k's I really started to get distracted by "the beautiful tone".

I don't know, maybe it's what I've got used to with the non assuming Tors, but through the mountains twisties the echoing sound really took away from the beauty and serenity of the place.

So anyway, all I'm after is a compromise where I can tame the growl so I can still have a nice tone, where I can still hear whatever I want to hear and preferably, where I don't lose too many of those beautiful ponies. Is that too much to ask. Maybe, maybe not but we'll see.

So for the moment I have my old faithfuls (Tors)back on whilst I do some research and play a bit with some alternatives to what's currently in the stock SS pipes, namely a 15" or so baffle packed with fibreglass.

So getting back to the question, which is better? Well funnily enough that depends on your perception

I suppose I should also add that no one has ever complained about my pipes either.
It is a personal preception.
The only thing that bugs me about em is an occasional small backfire when starting. More of a pop...except that first time...LMAO
Karen rides behind me and she never complains about them. I get plenty of compliments as well.

It is like Staffo ...pretty much subjective.
The audio isnt perfectly accurate but check these youtube postings out. Maybe itll give you an idea. Karens TORs are not that deep...more tinny sounding.
TORs
S Spares

I've also gotten nothing but compliments on my SS pipes - mostly from the few Triumph riders I've run into. Because I primarily ride with HD guys, they don't say much about them, but I've ridden in huge rides with 100s of bikes and none were as quiet as my SS pipes. But, as I said, I never have an opportunity to ride with other Triumph riders. NO ONE has ever told me my pipes were too loud.

Not to change the thread but that pop you hear the odd time at start up can be fixed by leaning out your idle screws a small amount. That's what I had to do to get rid of it on mine.

By the way, I own TOR long slash cuts and like them. I have had many positive comments from others who have heard my bike. Never heard any negative ones. The SS probably would sound better but.... I can't own them all.

My bike had TOR's on it when purchased. I always found them too quiet. I put on a pair of SS long cannons 25k back and never regretted the switch. In fact, I removed some of the packing material to make them bit louder. They are far quieter than the Vance & Hines pipes on my buddies HD's, but to me are perfect.

Thanks Zmilin for the comparison, makes me feel great about my new Tors comin next week. Blue

I have the tors on mine, they are the short slash cut. I really thought they were loud until i heard the youtube clip of the SS's. Wow. Anyway i like loud bikes but i think the tors are loud enough for me. I had a suzuki savage before this with a harley screamin eagle, it wasnt as loud as this bike with tors IMO.

Long slash-cut TORs here, but not much to compare them to.

I would not want anything any louder than these are, and I doubt I could enhance my performance any more without negatively affecting my fuel economy. Right now, I think she is about as perfect as she is going to get (never dynoed).

The sound is a higher-pitched sound - I tell myself this is what they must have sounded like "back in the day".

I don't ride a V-Twin, and I don't want to sound like one, either. They don't impress me.

My Speedmaster does.

I just replaced the short TOR's with SS long cannons last week. WOW what a difference. I can hear the bike idle now, and it sounds great! It is very loud, bordering on obnoxious, but I love it. It's not any louder than a lot of the HD guys out there. Nice tone too. With the TOR's it purred nicely on accel, but otherwise pretty quiet, which is ok, I just prefer it louder personally. (grunt, grunt)

Has anyone here blocked the crossover pipe? A crossover mixes the exhaust together before it exits, so the exhaust note is twice the frequency of each pipe in straight-through duals. Generally speaking, straight-through duals should be louder and throatier.

Jack

There's been some discussion on that topic here before. I'd love to actually hear how it sounds before I do it though.

Semper Fi Marine, here in the North Carolina mountains the Triumph off road short pipes are great. They are relatively quiet but when you get on the throttle you instantly know a Bonneville is in the pack. I really like mine on my Bonneville America and would not change a thing. The shop here also recommended them and was able to do the install and modifications that actually increased performance along with that great Triumph sound. From one Marine to another ride safe and get the Triumph pipes...Carry On.