Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Mystery of the TORs

I finally got to the point that the loudness of my Specialty Spares was starting to keep me off the bike so I began scouting for a used set of TORs. Found them, bought them, fitted them to the bike and took a ride. Surprise, surprise, it's like riding a new bike...crisper acceleration and a much smoother wind to the redline. All without any other mods at all to the fuel chain, well, one, I did have to rebalance the carbs. Got the noise level down to an acceptable uproar at the same time and now I want to ride sunup to sundown again. Dang, I thought I had those SS pipes dialed in, too, thought I had me a real hooligan of a bike. Who'd a thunk it?

I got my work cut out trying to make those slash cut TORs replicate that SS look, all blacked out with that sweet billet tip. Maybe I'll have to source a clean set of headers and start over...meanwhile I have a set of SS pipes to tinker with baffling and packing to try and get the dB level down to a good neighbor level.
I thought I might try to build a full length baffle to see if I dumb the SS down a lot. Anyone else have any ideas?

its funny how that works, thats why i l ike the bubs, they are deep but not in your face loud, but i have had bikes in the past did some work and thought "man this is great" then you forget about how it ran stock or close , you go back for some reason and its like" why did i change all that stuff" life i guess, we just have to try stuff.

Ed, I tacked 1" washers in the baffles of my SSs. First I put just one in at the front... still waaay to loud for my liking. Then I tacked another at the rear of the baffle... better but still too loud. What gets to me is a sort of shriek heard just under the roar of the pipes. I finally gave up and put my TORs back on.

I hear what you say about the look. Your bike looks fantastic with those SSs on it.

ha'ha Ed, After several sets of different pipes over the years I went back to TOR's about a year ago. Bet that's what got you in the mood after our litte cruise around Tenn/Ala last fall
I'm running TOR's on the america and speedmaster. As we know there were about three version of TOR's over the years. One thing I found on the america set, there is a reducer washer in the front of the exhaust, not so on the speedy set. That was the only difference I could find. I removed the washer on the america set but interestingly the speedy set is throatier.

Man wish I had some Specitaly Spares

That's what I get for being cheap now I should get off my butt this weekend and rip the guts out of pair of short slash cut TOR's

I'm thinking maybe you're right, Ed. Maybe the front of the pipe is acting sort of like an echo chamber causing unpleasantness. My pipes have an obnoxious sound I just can't take... well, one day I listened up and down the pipe with a screwdriver to my ear and thought the front of the pipe was where the problem lies. Hmmmm, maybe a guy could get a longer chunk of perforated pipe, and borrow the 'cup' ends off the existing baffles for the new pipe.

My TORs are the straight through type. I'm not sure what's there on the inner wall but they work quite well to produce a good sound. Like you, I love the look of the SSs and would love to keep them for aesthetic reasons.

I have some 20" turn-outs that I got cheap on jc whitney. they have a welded in, minimal baffle. When I first installed them I loved the sound, except for this tinny echo-y undertone that just kind of pinged along behind the rumble. I solved it by pulling the pipes and stuffing some steel wool in ahead of the baffles. That took out the ping-y sound but left everything else sounding the same. That was about 6 months and a lot of miles ago and so far so good.

As of today, I'm on my second try with TORs. I had long TORs on the bike the first couple years, then went with Specialty Spares for the last 5+ years. I decided it was time to quiet things down a little, so got a set of short TORs and put them on yesterday. I actually like the quieter pipes so far, and don't notice any performance gains or loss vs. SS pipes.

It's been five years since I heard them, but I'm pretty sure this version of TORs are quieter than my first set. Honestly, these don't really seem much louder than stock pipes; they give the bike a low, muffled "putt-putt" sound even when I open them up. I didn't re-jet or make any changes, and the bike still pulls strong from take-off all the way up.

I still like the look of long pipes on the bike, but these might grow on me. People aren't turning their heads when I'm still a block away like they did with the SS. The SS pipes are in a box right now, and I'm going to hang on to them in case I decide to put them back on. But I've got to say I'm happy with the TORs so far (and my neighbors probably are too).

Will

Sceptres, D&D's: What? I can't hear you!

TORS: Whisper Jet. Ahhh. What a difference especially after 15 hours in the saddle.

The barkers are still fun and sound great. But the whisperers are oh so gentle on the ears.