Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Thunderpipes on

Thunderpipes installed last Saturday, haven't taken the big smile off since.... What do we need all these gears for? No longer searching for 6th. hittin the rev limiter with ease. Everything worked just like they said it would. Old brackets off with heat, on with red rtv, backed out the mixture screws and can feel the increase.....happy boy, happy boy here.....

They are great pipes aren't they, I love mine. They have a really nice tone at idle and sound even sweeter when you twist the throttle.

It looks like your happy with your pipes,thats great. I got an E-mail Wed. said they shipped my pipes out. I checked the tracker and they left New Zealand Thur. I can't wait to get them on and feel & hear the difference for myself.
The hard part is waaiiting. haha

I thought I heard a new set fire up last weekend. I was sitting at work and my ears perked towards Va, familiar sound way in the distance. Keep them clean and dry, mine got some surface spots on the back and undersides after sitting on a concrete floor all winter, (the bike, not the pipes) need to take better care next winter for sure. I'll probably just take them off next winter and store them downstairs. A little chrome polish cleaned them up though.

I know all about the happy boy thing. I got mine on last week and absolutley love them. That sound! Wouldn't ya know it though, its been rainy and cold ever since so I have gotten ti ride it all of once since they were installed. It was hard enough looking at it sitting in the garage this winter but know its just torture! I wanna get it out and open it up just to hear the roar.

Pat,
What do you use to protect your pipes? I put semichrome on them before I mounted them. Any brand you prefer? I sure do like the sound and performance improvement. Another question, I thought I read to turn the idle mixture screws out a bit if you were getting 'popping' on decel. Is that correct? it sounds counter intuitive to me...... but, so do a lot of things.....

I use semi-chrome too, it's good stuff. Mine pops on decel, did with the TOR's but i've never thought of it as a problem. I did go up to 132 on the main jets though, felt like it was a tad lean at highway speeds.

John,
It looks they are traveling together to this point, and the always wrong weather man says we will be trying them out next weekend. I sure hope he's right cause this rain sucks.

OK, all of you Thunderpipe owners. Would you say that you gained 28% (I think that's what they claim, I haven't been on the Thunderpipe site in a while.) more hp? That number just sounds too good to be true. But if you guys tell me that you think the gain really was that much, then a set of Thunderpipes are going to the top of my wish list!

Thunderbike's claim of HP is based on a stock motor and just slapping the T'pipes on and NO other mods at all. But, I will say that there is a very noticible improvement.

Can't tell you how much for sure, but, seat of the pants and grip on the handlebars tell me it is a noticable change! 28% was at 7K RPM (not a range I ride in alot) Power increase was noticable, first time I hit the rev limiter was after I put the pipes on, and then there's the sound...... happy boy, happy boy.....

it was like a whole new bike. woke it up A LOT all around and especially from 5-7 the bike pulls very hard. plus the sound cannot be beat

Frank

Thunderpipes are on !!! I got an E-mail last wednesday saying they were shipping them out, five days later counting the weekend and they are on. I didn't go for a ride cause it was late and we had snow all day long,almost did though. I broke the nuts loose inside the pipe on two of the allen bolts on the original pipes and had to cut the bolt heads off, so I only have one bolt in each side on the back mount. Can anyone tell me what size the allen bolts are so I can get two more before I ride much. The sound is FANTASTIC, at least in the garage,WOW!! I need to get out this weekend so I can do any tweeking that needs done if we could only get rid of winter around here.

WOW Pipes arrived yesterday just as I was leaving for work. Checked them out late last night, and installed em this AM. Took a ride, and did it ever make a change. Was doing 65 mph before I knew it. All I can say is if your thinking about getting pipes, these are all they claim to be, and more. Love the sound.

Has anyone else noted a more "cold natured" warm up period? It seems I have to let the bike 'warm up' a lot longer before I can take the choke off. Did turn out the idle mixture screws a full turn. After it warms up it idles on the fast side according to the aftermarket tach. Any advice from the collective wisdom? Thanks in advance.

Warren,
Just put mine on last weekend and love'em. I didn't notice a 28% hp gain but then my 05 SM is still workin on the 500 mile break-in and I'm tryin to hold it back from high revs. I also noticed a cold natured startup and a faster idle after warm up. These pipes have a much more free exhaust route than stock. I had to back down the idle speed to 1k. I still get a slight pop on startup so I may have a little more tweaking to do but no popping on decel.

Regards,
Richard

Warren
I have the same cold natured effect after the Thunderpipes were put on. I kept adjusting the idle up then down after it got warmed up, but now I just start it with the choke out,let it run while I get ready to ride,then jump on and take off with the choke out and push it in as I head down the road. By the time I stop somewhere it's warm and the idle is right,no more fiddling with the idle. Works for me. I love the pipes, they are everything I was expecting.

Have no problem with them now that the temps have reached mid 70s - 90s....... that helmet sure is hot though. How come it lets so much cold air in and so little when it is 90 degrees?
Warren