Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Staintunes and discolouring

I was interested in Staintune pipes for my America but my dealer tells me that they will discolour and he is trying to get me to buy Thunderbikes. Has anybody had an issue with Staintunes discolouring or does my dealer just make more money out of Thunderbike pipes.
They also say that the Thunders sound better, what do you guys think???

Never heard of Staintunes discoloring.

Both pipes sound great.

Soren

Staintunes are stainless steel, and will yellow with enough heat, but it can be polished out. Thunderbikes are chromed and won't discolour, but they can rust if scratched etc. Staintunes are a bit more expensive, and have a more high-pitched note. There were some bad Thunderpipes are year or two ago that had poor chrome and rusted but these were replaced by Thunderbike without question, and since then have shown no problem. Both have removable baffles if you really want to shake windows as you pass. If staying with local manufacturers concerns you, Staintunes are Aussie made, Thunderpipes are kiwi.

I had a T100 loan bike with Staintunes (which apparently sound the same as the America/Speedy ones) while my bike was being serviced and liked them well enough, but I preferred the sound of the Thunderpipes and ended up with them.

To help this discussion I just took this of one of my pipes. As you can see there is a difference which is noticable but to me not of much consequence.

Matt (sandman) is correct when he mentions stainless steel will change to a light golden colour when heated up enough.




I also rang Staintunes for you as they are just down the road and the bloke I spoke to said everything we have said. Basically the stainless steel will go a slight golden colour when heated up enough.


So where does that leave us on this one. I can only mention what I know and for me this was the last factor in the equations and having seen a T100, I actually liked it cos it breaks up what can look like too much chrome.

Would I be dismissing these pipes because of it?

Your dealer might but we as thinking individuals might just have a look at the other factors such as:

1... Bike Breathing better and with it more power,

I would expect this is much the same as the T-bikes and not less and maybe even more.


2... Bike sounding better,


Personal preference but I've fallen in love with the sound. I guess I would have fallen in love with the Thunderbikes too if I had bought them. I didn't fall in love with the SS pipes though


3... Pipes being ADR compliant


I don't know whether Thunderbikes come with the sticker but I suggest not.

4... Construction beyond reproach and materials won't rust or corrode

On there own here I believe.


5... Not having to repack the baffles :bikesmile

I've read that all others need to be repacked but I might be wwwwwwrong like back in 82



6... They are made in Aus (Waltsing Matilda)


7... Pipes go a light golden colour near where they meet the header pipes.

but you can polish it out if you want.

Personal opinions differ but you can also look at it and say Hey, this is another reason I love these pipes. It's a state of mind thing but some just may not like the idea of that one.

Does it tip you over the edge then?

Good luck with your choice.

Thanks for your replies and advice. I used to be indecisive but now I just can't make my mind up!!!
I suppose that I will be happy with whichever choice that I make soundwise as they both must beat the sewing machine sound of the stock pipes. The local dealer has Thunderbike pipes on their demo machine but they haven't remapped and it backfires a fair bit (silly really as a demo should be perfect). I would just hate to spend that much money and then have chrome issues but I do prefer the slightly deeper sound of the Thunders. A decision will have to be made as It's booked in for its 800 K service tomorrow.
Thanks again for the replies, it all helps.

Matt, my T-Bike pipes have packing in the baffles. I've already repacked them once.

Actually, that's what I thought Matt,

Quote:

---

my T-Bike pipes have packing in the baffles. I've already repacked them once.

---

and it was one of the factors that steered me more towards the tunes.

Just one more thing I wanted to make sure you were aware of Tezza before you commit one way or the other. With the current settings my bike is running better now than any time before which includes having used Tors and SS pipes.

What I mean by running better is how well she now responds with the GO GRIP. Before for instance there was always just this slight delay or stutter type of thing if I turned the throttle too quickly and It didn't matter what I did, I just couldn't get my bike to be this responsive. With the SS pipes and the same settings it was close but it still wasn't as pleasurable to ride and I suspect it has something to do with the Staintune's being tuned properly to our bike.

I'm not saying the T-bikes aren't tuned to our bikes either but thought this should be mentioned.

BTW, tmw I will try and take a half descent sound recording of my tunes with my camera video function. Obviously it won't be super high quality but if it's close I'll try to put it on here.

A sound sample would be good Staffo. I've heard the Thunders but only had a very brief listen to Tunes. Having to repack the Thunders would be a downer.
This is one of the problems of living in a smaller town with not many Triumph owners around which of course makes this site invaluable.

Cheers Tezza

Try this. It's not real flash actually and doesn't do the pipes justice at all but what the ...

so let's see if this works

You really need to hear them in person though, like all pipes cos these sound clips are hopeless really.

Staffo...Man that sounds crazy sick!

Agreed, one of the better videos for pipes

Sounds good!

Staffo,

Was that clip taken with the small removable baffles in or out? I couldnt quite tell when you brought the camera around to the back,

Thanks,
Carl

When you pull the TBike baffles, you have to remove the 2 screws from the mount also, not just the setscrew.

Thanks for that Staffo, sound and picture quality is great.

Carl, that clip was taken with the restrictors in as I don't like my pipes too loud. I suppose you are now going to ask me to do a clip with the restrictors out aren't you?

BTW, it's a pretty simple procedure to remove the restrictors as it's only one grub screw each.

Thanks for your comments too but they do sound a lot better than that in real life.

Oh and yes, it has the baffles in.

(I also hadn't realised just how bright my tail light was... and that's without the brake light on!)

Great stuff Matt. Yep, those Thunderbikes still sound great there's no doubt about that. In fact they were my second choice in pipes other than just a few complaints scared me a tad, even though I would doubt they hadn't sorted those issues out anyway.

Thanks to everybody for their help. I made the decision and went with the short Thunderpipes. I can now hear the motor and find it much easier to judge gear changes. The pipes are well made but are let down by the use of the original clamp which looks like crap. I'll have to replace them because it is annoying me already. I let the dealer put them on while the bike was in for it's 800K service but I should have done it myself. $1200 Au fitted and they couldn't be bothered putting a shiny new clamp on. I will now not go back to that dealer so they have lost a customer over a couple of dollars.

Thanks again Tezza

I'm trying to work out how to send a picture of the offending clamp.
http://s418.photobucket.com/albums/pp269/Tezza222/?action=view&current=IMG_5215.jpg

Where did those clamps come from??

My stock clamps are either chromed or SS (I've never checked) but the point is they are as shiney as the pipes/silencers.....

/Bike/IMG_5223.jpg

I think that I got it right this time.

Deon the clamps on the newer Americas are all like that and they're hidden by the heat shields. My problem is the slack dealer who just used up the old clamps. I went back to him this afternoon and he's going to find some new clamps to use. Could have saved us both some hassle if he'd done that in the first place.
Cheers Tezza

Oh.

Well done tezza. Nice pipes and I won't even comment about these



I'm off on a 3 day ride now Tezza around some beautiful courntry New South Wales for anyone who gives a rats here's the link. cheerio

Wait for me Staffo. it'll only take me a week to get there.
Hope you have a great ride, the route looks really interesting.

Wow, great videos guys...thank you staffo...now I really made my mind up and will get the staintunes this Friday if my dealer is open...yee haw! Happy Thanksgiving!

good on you Jim, this will be one of your best purchases so far