Exhaust pipes again

[groily]

Somebody was kind enough to tip me off a few weeks ago that some pipes from some people aren't all they're cracked up to be; by which time I'd gone and ordered some new ones anyway, only to find  . . . the fit wasn't great and heat had to be applied . . . (silencers were just fine I should add).
Well, lasted about 2000 miles before, owing to stress on the forward mounting to engine plate bolt caused by dubious alignment, darn thing broke and pipe fell out of the head 100 miles from home this lunchtime. . . nursed it back with frequent stops to ruin boots and gloves by shoving offending pipe (now nicely smeared with leather and bits of charred fingers) back up its 'ole, and a bit of ironmongery this pm has fixed it for the time being. But who really does supply downpipes that fit and fit well, stay fitted, don't cause hassle with the angle of the silencers, don't foul the rear of the primary chaincase or the lh footrest . . . etc? It can't just be me, surely! Or is this why so many bikes have Siamese systems on them. Groily

[dpaddock]

C&D Autos is probably the best place to source A7/A10 parts. I've not ever got a bad one. In fact, they have their preferred suppliers and will have you wait, if necessary, if the supplier is out of stock.

[groily]

Thank you very much indeed - I shall try them. Need is not urgent as the thing is together again and can't now break (famous last words!) so can wait if necessary. Groily

[G/F DAVE]

Hi, Groily I think I have said this before on this forum but I have a set of pipes on my A10 plunger bought from    feked.com   nice pipes that fit well also good heavy chrome (had to emery pipe at head as was tight due to chrome plating) but everything else was good. I have in my workshop a pair of original A10 pipes from a 1960 super rocket still in good condition. The weight difference between these and pattern pipes is really noticable.You should not have to modify something that is supposed to fit to the extent of bending the pipe I have bent mounting brackets in the past but anything else is unacceptable. regards Dave....

[groily]

Looked at feked a few weeks ago when I was trying to get the ones I have got and they couldn't do downpipes at that point - will have another look to see if they've got any, when I check out C&D. All I really want is something that fits, won't fall off and bridges the gap between exhaust ports and silencers, without too much of the sort of blowlamp ironmongery I had to do to get mine to fit first time plus again yesterday to get the thing back together with home-made mountings on the drive side. Pretty, if it happens, is a bonus, but steampipe would suit if it could just hang together and survive 52 weeks a year of general use.
Should be grateful, though, that the original-style 6 volt electrics have survived the winter (I hereby proclaim it officially nearly over, despite threats of snow this week - the mornings are lightening and the evenings lengthening) and quite a lot of use with the lights on . . . nothing to worry about there then till the end of September at least (correspondents in Chicago may have something to say about that as they think about blowing more snow from their driveways!). Miracles do sometimes happen. Ironic, as I was expecting to have to redo that side of things almost from when the clocks changed last year, but haven't had to lay a dirty digit on any of it bar putting in a belt drive. Groily

[fido]

I bought a pair of pipes for my A7 rigid from Armour Motor Products of Bournemouth, England in June 1999. They fitted without any problems and cost £61.50 plus postage.
http://web.mac.com/Armours/Armours/Home.html

[groily]

Thanks Fido. That's where I got my latest set, and although the timing side went on beautifully in 2 minutes flat and the silencers were fine too, the lh pipe wouldn't clear the primary chaincase/footrest (s/a frame) by a mile. Had a choice - cut off the fixed bracket to engine plate to get clearance and make a new one to suit the actual alignment, bend pipe outwards where there's a double kink in it (why?) at bottom of primary case (least visible place to mess it up) - or send it back. Should have done the third thing . . . but from France . . . plus one always wonders 'is it me and my bike or is it really them?' So I bent pipe accordingly, and put up with a fairly tricky fit. Now have worst of both worlds: home-made front mounting and bent pipe. All my own fault, but irritating all the same! In their favour, I bought a siamese set for my AMC twin in the '80s, and it's still there, perfect fit and good quality, although as I don't do much in the polishing department the shine went off about 20 years ago. Groily

[fido]

It might still be worth contacting them and explaining your difficulties.

[groily]

You're right Fido - but after butchering the thing I'm a bit embarrassed to be honest. I'll continue to live with it for a while, but shall want something better before too long. Could discuss, but can't, in all reason, complain! It does, after all, fill the gap between head and silencer . . . and looks OK from 5 metres . . .