D&S Harley Davidson, a dealer in Phoenix, Oregon, has its own blog, and recently they addressed a popular question.

"Will putting an aftermarket exhaust system on my Harley Davidson void the factory warrantee?"

Apparently, the answer is yes. According to D&S Harley Davidson...

This warranty will not apply to any motorcycle or sidecar as follows:

1. Which has not been operated or maintained as specified in the Owner's Manual.

2. Which has been abused, misused, improperly stored, used "off the highway," or used for racing or competition of any kind.

3. Which is not manufactured to comply with the laws of the market in which it is registered.

4. Installing off-road or competition parts to enhance performance may void all or part of your new motorcycle warranty. See a Harley-Davidson/Buell dealer for details.

Read the whole blog post here...
http://www.dsharley.com/blog/?p=60

Point #3 pretty much kills it for everyone of us. There's already a federal law against modifying the exhaust system.

On the other hand, I have a stage 1 modification on my Electra Glide, which includes a set of Vance & Hines slipons. And, I've had warrantee work done twice already, and having it done after the slipons were put on. The first time was to address the engine light coming on, and the second was to install a new rear cylinder head after the original one broke.

So while Harley-Davidson can void the warrantee if they want, the fact is that they don't, if they want to maintain happy customers.

Anyone reading this encounter a voided warrantee after installing aftermarket exhaust? Click on "Post a Comment" below and tell us about it.

Labels: Motorcycle Exhaust Pipes, Warrantees

D&D Performance has completed dyno testing and is shipping the 2007 Fat Cat exhaust pipes and slip-ons for the Harley-Davidson VRSC family of liquid-cooled V-Rod power-cruisers.

The Fat Cat performance pipes are now available for the new 2007 Harley-Davidson 1130cc and 1250cc double-overhead cam, V-Rod engines. There is a Fat Cat performance exhaust pipe for each Harley-Davidson power cruiser including the VRSCAW V-Rod, VRSCD Night Rod, VRSCDX Night Rod Special, VRSCX Screamin' Eagle and VRSCR Street Rod.

The company says their D&D performance exhaust pipes are designed to bump the V-Rod power and increase the low end torque.

The 2 into 1 Fat Cat pipes are manufactured with show chrome and full wrap heat shields, which keep all discoloration from view. Riders can also select the black ceramic coating option as an alternative to chrome.

Visit D&D Exhaust online at: http://www.danddexhaust.com/

Labels: Fat Cat Exhaust Pipes, Harley Davidson V-Rod, Motorcycle Exhaust Pipes

If you're looking for a new exhaust system for your 2007 Harley-Davidson touring bike, D&D Performance Exhaust has something for you. Here's their press release from yesterday...

D&D Performance Enterprises is shipping dyno-tuned Boarzilla and Fat Cat 2 into 1 exhaust pipe systems for the all new 2007 Harley-Davidson Twin Cam 96 and 110 Screamin' Eagle engines equipped in their touring line of motorcycles.

Harley's touring motorcycles are outfitted with a new fuel-injection system that comes with an oxygen sensor to adjust to changing environmental conditions. D&D performance exhaust pipes include preinstalled stock factory oxygen sensor ports as well as direct fitment with no cutting, welding or grinding.

The new 2 into 1 high-performance Boarzilla and Fat Cat pipes and slip-ons improve power and torque on the entire touring family of motorcycles, which includes the FLHR Road King, FLHRS Road King Custom, FLHRC Road King Classic, FLTR Road Glide, FLHX Street Glide, FLHT Electra Glide Standard, FLHTC Electra Glide Classic and FLHTCU Ultra Classic Electra Glide.

The 2 into 1 Boarzilla and Fat Cat pipes are identical in appearance except for the muffler cut but are customized on the inside to accommodate modification of the Harley-Davidson Twin Cam engines. The Boarzilla pipes are designed for big-inch and Screamin' Eagle engines.
The Fat Cat pipes are manufactured for 96 engines.

Both pipes are dyno-tuned for maximum performance, rumble and encased in a full wrap heat shield that keeps all discoloration from view. D&D performance pipes are delivered in show-quality chrome or ceramic black.

"The new TC96 engine still looks pretty much the same on the outside, but there's a lot that's new on the inside," said Dave Rash, President of D&D Performance Exhaust Enterprises. "We took our time to wring out performance and deliver that sweet Harley sound that our customers tell us that they want."

Factory Harley-Davidson dealerships are increasingly finding that D&D Performance Enterprises delivers the value to their customers. "We have four criteria in carrying a pipe in our dealership that includes performance, fit, finish and heat shields," said Walter Birmingham, Assistant Parts Manager, Mancuso Harley-Davidson Houston. "They meet all of our criteria and if they didn?t meet the performance standards we wouldn?t recommend them. They are that good. They consistently out perform Samson, Reinhardt and Hooker."

These 2007 Harley-Davidson pipes are torture tested on D&D's state-of-the-art in-house Super Flow Eddy Current Ram Air dynamometer.
This is done in combination with the Super Flow Bench and the first in the industry, multi cylinder Lambda Fuel Air Ratio Sensors, which are interfaced with the Dyno for real time meter and graph analysis. This means that performance is always increased with a D&D exhaust pipe.

The dyno chart and dyno video with audio clip for both the Boarzilla and Fat Cat style Harley performance exhaust pipe is located on the website in the catalog section at www.danddexhaust.com.

D&D Performance Exhaust has sold over 250,000 exhaust systems in the past 30 years. Visit them at: http://www.danddexhaust.com

Labels: Fat Cat Exhaust Pipes, Motorcycle Exhaust Pipes

An older post from the Kneeslider reports that Harley Davidson will cease selling Screaming Eagle exhaust systems for street bikes after May 31, 2006.

In my conversations with other riders, there seems to be those who hate loud pipes, and those who love 'em. The Kneeslider seems to hate 'em...

I like the sound of performance as much as anyone but being considerate of others is one of the hallmarks of civilized society. If you act like an inconsiderate fool, people react, and often their reactions are bad for a lot of others far beyond the guy that got their attention.

Ok, I respect that opinion, even if I have aftermarket pipes on both of my bikes. But I wanted to make some comments.

If it was simply about preserving the quiet, then where is the effort to reign in on obnoxiously loud cars and trucks?

• There are a lot more pick up trucks with loud aftermarket exhaust than bikes with loud aftermarket exhaust.



• There are more lowered Honda Civics with loud whiny megaphone tail pipes than there are motorcycles with loud aftermarket exhaust.



• There are more 1970's muscle car hot rods with loud aftermarket exhaust than there are motorcycles with loud aftermarket exhaust.

If there are more loud cars and trucks than loud motorcycles, why are people focusing on bikers?

It's because people hate bikers. That's all it is.

Laws against loud motorcycle exhaust is simply the justification for stopping bikers from enjoying too much freedom. It's the biker lifestyle that a minority of people are afraid of. They use the loud exhaust pipes as rationale for removing them from their town.

For one thing, the issue of loud pipes never comes up in cases of a single rider gunning his throttle in a suburban neighborhood. It's not even an issue on freeways and city streets where motorcycles are loudest.

Rather, the issue of loud pipes comes up during bikefests. I monitor the news everyday for this blog, and that's the only time the issue comes up. It's been a big issue at bikefests in Laconia, NH, and Daytona, FL, but in only in certain cities like these. You don't hear complaints about loud exhaust pipes in Sturgis, SD. People in Sturgis seem to love the bikes, or tolerate them at best.

That's why I said it's an issue of hate; it's not consistent throughout every city. Perhaps, the folks in Sturgis understand the history and significance of their annual bikefest, that they appreciate it. But in Laconia, they take an anti-biker attitude, and use the loud exhaust as the justification. If they had a Boy Scout Jamboree in Laconia, would they just as well complain about screaming children?

The helmet laws, the loud pipe laws, even that stupid federal law on owning just one chopper in your lifetime, it's all an attempt to stop people from enjoying the biker lifestyle, and making them conform with the mainstream.

Harley Davidson is only concerned about protecting the wonderful business position it's in, hence is taking measures to prevent legislation that might hurt its sales.

But the fact is that the reason why laws against loud pipes can easily pass, along with helmet laws, is because few people ride motorcycles compared to cars. The solution towards preventing such legislation is to increase motorcycle ridership to the point where lawmakers fear angering their constituents.

Labels: Harley Davidson, Motorcycle Exhaust Pipes, Screaming Eagle Exhaust Pipes