Joined
·
1,461 Posts
Just received my new Thunder Alley pipe and put it on tonight. Here were some of the highlights from order to install:
Every time I've called, Bob himself has answered the phone, and after the first call, knew me by name. He was very helpful in making sure the right questions were asked, considering every pipe he makes is a hand-made custom pipe, the type of riding you do along with where you want the power range to be is important. From order to ship was a little less than 2 weeks.
I ordered the pipe without the ceramic coating, as I'm going to use a seperate company to do that, the pipe simply has it's natural metal look - which I have to say doesn't look bad. I didn't like the look in previous posted pictures, but seeing it in person, well - it looks better than I thought.
Unlike my previous Yosh Ti system, there are no springs or hooks to keep the header pipe and the muffler/cone together. At first I wasn't sure that I was real excited about that, but after installing it, it's as solid as anything I ever put on, and the clean look it great. As a side note, on my Yosh exhaust I could sometimes hear the springs rattle against the pipe which was pretty annoying.
Inspecting the system shows you that the system is definitely a quality system. The welds are small and straight, install on the pipe was about 8 min. total as both pieces bolted right up in place the first time. Fit of the pipes are first rate! If I had to complain about anything, it would have to be that one of the holes in the header flange was slightly off, making the allen bolt a little hard to line up - that added on a couple of minutes to the install.
The header pipe is 6" longer than stock. I asked about the 8" version, but Bob said that unless this was a 100% drag bike only, the 2" difference wouldn't matter. I liked the idea of my previous pipe being tucked under so as not to burn anything on the pipe, and was concerned that this longer header pipe (with no tabs for the stock heat shield) would stick out. After comparrison, the new header pipe, while taking up a little more room in front of the motor, does not stick out any farther to the side that the stock or previous header pipe I was using.
Another thing worth mentioning is the weight of the complete system. I originally purchased the Yosh Ti system partially because of the claimed weight of 3.8 lbs under stock. I don't know exactely how much the Thunder Alley system weights, but simply holding it i can tell you it's not much more than the Yosh system - this kit is very light!
After installation, I started the bike up and was greeted to a new and very cool sounding exhaust. The TA is definitely lower, throatier sounding, it almost growls. It is also definitely louder than my Yosh pipe, but not unpleasantly so. One of the first things I noticed was that throttle response was quicker, and there was no off idle stall or hiccup. As I ripped up and down the street a couple of time (not much of a test granted, but good enough for now) I was very impressed with the gains in the low and mid ranges, which is where I requested Bob build the pipe to run. What was more impressive was that I don't feel like I've lost anything on the top end, as can sometimes happen with some pipes - if anything I feel the top end is a little stronger. The power build up is smoother than before, and definitely stronger.
I realize that I haven't listed many issues with this pipe, but that's because I'm very impressed and happy with this pipe. Customer service was great, build quality is there, assembly was easy, and the results were top notch!! I would recommend this product to anyone whose thinking about it, or at the very least - woudl tell someone to include this pipe on their list of possibles.
Bob - Great Job!!
Thanks,
Nils
Every time I've called, Bob himself has answered the phone, and after the first call, knew me by name. He was very helpful in making sure the right questions were asked, considering every pipe he makes is a hand-made custom pipe, the type of riding you do along with where you want the power range to be is important. From order to ship was a little less than 2 weeks.
I ordered the pipe without the ceramic coating, as I'm going to use a seperate company to do that, the pipe simply has it's natural metal look - which I have to say doesn't look bad. I didn't like the look in previous posted pictures, but seeing it in person, well - it looks better than I thought.
Unlike my previous Yosh Ti system, there are no springs or hooks to keep the header pipe and the muffler/cone together. At first I wasn't sure that I was real excited about that, but after installing it, it's as solid as anything I ever put on, and the clean look it great. As a side note, on my Yosh exhaust I could sometimes hear the springs rattle against the pipe which was pretty annoying.
Inspecting the system shows you that the system is definitely a quality system. The welds are small and straight, install on the pipe was about 8 min. total as both pieces bolted right up in place the first time. Fit of the pipes are first rate! If I had to complain about anything, it would have to be that one of the holes in the header flange was slightly off, making the allen bolt a little hard to line up - that added on a couple of minutes to the install.
The header pipe is 6" longer than stock. I asked about the 8" version, but Bob said that unless this was a 100% drag bike only, the 2" difference wouldn't matter. I liked the idea of my previous pipe being tucked under so as not to burn anything on the pipe, and was concerned that this longer header pipe (with no tabs for the stock heat shield) would stick out. After comparrison, the new header pipe, while taking up a little more room in front of the motor, does not stick out any farther to the side that the stock or previous header pipe I was using.
Another thing worth mentioning is the weight of the complete system. I originally purchased the Yosh Ti system partially because of the claimed weight of 3.8 lbs under stock. I don't know exactely how much the Thunder Alley system weights, but simply holding it i can tell you it's not much more than the Yosh system - this kit is very light!
After installation, I started the bike up and was greeted to a new and very cool sounding exhaust. The TA is definitely lower, throatier sounding, it almost growls. It is also definitely louder than my Yosh pipe, but not unpleasantly so. One of the first things I noticed was that throttle response was quicker, and there was no off idle stall or hiccup. As I ripped up and down the street a couple of time (not much of a test granted, but good enough for now) I was very impressed with the gains in the low and mid ranges, which is where I requested Bob build the pipe to run. What was more impressive was that I don't feel like I've lost anything on the top end, as can sometimes happen with some pipes - if anything I feel the top end is a little stronger. The power build up is smoother than before, and definitely stronger.
I realize that I haven't listed many issues with this pipe, but that's because I'm very impressed and happy with this pipe. Customer service was great, build quality is there, assembly was easy, and the results were top notch!! I would recommend this product to anyone whose thinking about it, or at the very least - woudl tell someone to include this pipe on their list of possibles.
Bob - Great Job!!
Thanks,
Nils
