I recently purchased an 04 SM and I'm very happy with the bike, but the stock pipes/sound are pitiful. I bit the $$ bullet and bought the tbike pipes. It took exactly 6 days for them to arrive in Virginia from NZ. Not bad!! Removing the stock pipes wasn't so bad...but very tricky to get your hands where you need them to loosen/tighten -- that goes for re-assembly too. The tbike pipes were equally as heavy as the stock pipes, and the finish was really nice--they look very stock except for the slash cut at the end...much nicer IMHO. The fit, however took some finesse. Both connecting ends on the pipes needed re-shaping in order to fit properly over the (header?). One was seriously mis-shapened. This ate up a lot of time. I'm no mechanic by the way. The connecting end also had "loose" chrome on the ends, and after re-shaping, came off a bit (anyone know how to re-chrome...I'm guessing there is no such thing??)
Regardless, after about 2 hours, they were on. Again I'm no mechanic, but I took my time and made sure they fit like the stock ones did. I fired it up, and wow what a difference! The pipes have a nice deep throaty sound, and yes, loud enough to get anyone's attention, but not so loud you ****** your neighbors off everytime you hit it, or lose your hearing after 10 minutes. It's a very classic rumble but certainly not over the top...I am not dissapointed in the way they sound at all. In regards to power gain, it most certainly is there. The power response feels AND IS more immediate and steady thru the RPM band. The bike pulls noticeably harder and smoother. More power...awesome sound...what more could you ask for??
Aside from the reshaping and loosing a bit of chrome, all is well...I'd do it again if I had to...no regrets!
