Author Topic: What header choices are out there for the cb750's & cb550's ? (Read 11485 times)

BLUE71TURBO · « **on:** March 20, 2012, 09:56:54 PM »

I'm curious as to what choices " style and brand name " of exhaust headers are available for the cb750's and the cb500-550's . The reason i'm asking is i had a very interesting lunch with Russ Collins Jr. when i dropped off the Ceriani front end for the tripple engined drag bike. For those that are living in the dark, This piece of motorcycle history is being restored and a few of us members have been helping the R.C. ENGINEERING family to complete this special task. Go to the high performance section to read up on it and get involved.

To get back to what i was going to tell you, R.C. Jr was thinking of starting up production of the R.C. ENGINEERING special exhaust headers for the old Honda cb750's and cb500-550's again. So i was wanting to get all of your opinions on this subject. Do you think you would want a R.C. ENGINEERING special header on your motorcycle ?

Post your thoughts fellow members !

Don R · « **Reply #1 on:** March 20, 2012, 10:09:57 PM »

Well, I'd have to think about it....OK. Yes. Something that will turn a corner both ways, not block the filter and make at least stock 4-4 power would be great.

BLUE71TURBO · « **Reply #2 on:** March 20, 2012, 11:48:18 PM »

So what choices are out there ?

brandEn · « **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2012, 11:49:51 PM »

Hell yes I would want one.

brandEn · « **Reply #4 on:** March 20, 2012, 11:52:37 PM »

Quote from: BLUE71TURBO on March 20, 2012, 11:48:18 PM

So what choices are out there ?

I am running a 4-2-1 Yosh copy from Yamiya in Japan. But Cycle X makes headers as does Carpy, Kerker, Mac, and Benjis Cafe.

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #5 on:** March 20, 2012, 11:59:56 PM »

I would be very surprised to see Carpy makes anything, he does steal the odd idea but doesn't make a thing on his own... Someone posted the guy's info that makes his pipes {not Chris} , that would be the cheaper route.....

brandEn · « **Reply #6 on:** March 21, 2012, 12:01:18 AM »

Quote from: Retro Rocket on March 20, 2012, 11:59:56 PM

I would be very surprised to see Carpy makes anything, he does steal the odd idea but doesn't make a thing on his own... Someone posted the guy's info that makes his pipes {not Chris} , that would be the cheaper route.....

Your 100% right. I guess what I should have said was he offered them for sale...haha

Greggo · « **Reply #7 on:** March 21, 2012, 12:11:45 AM »

For the 500/550's, as far as new stuff goes there is of course Mac 4-1 & 4-2 style pipes. Also drag style pipes are available from them too I think. There's Benjie's pea shooters, and a couple good looking 4-1's from Carpy. Most of these can be had for $400 or less. Stock 4-4 Honda pipes can be had from Honda (I think) or David Silver Spares for probably $1k.

I personally would love to have a new RC 4-1 for my 500/4. Yes, that means I'd pay too.

ekpent · « **Reply #8 on:** March 21, 2012, 05:23:26 AM »

Love the RC stuff but seems most I have seen,the RC pipe for the 750, was bent up bad/scraped on the bottom from street use.Think they had a slight ground clearance issue and were really great for using them at the strip. If he were to go forward it may be something to look at a little.

EricHa · « **Reply #9 on:** March 21, 2012, 08:30:49 AM »

I would buy one for my 550K if available.

KRONUS0100 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 21, 2012, 08:57:44 AM »

i have a lead on RC repop pistons and a hardweld RC cam, so i would like to have an exhaust as well for my 750

mycb750k6 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:01:05 AM »

I would love a set or maybe two. I currently have a beat-up set on one of my bikes. I bought my first set from Russ back in the seventies before the versions with the RC Engineering logo came out. Mine had the reverse cone on the end with a removable baffle. These pipes were well made from heavy tubing and had a wonderful deep throated sound. I'd love to find a set like that for nostalgic reasons. The dyna tests of the day (documented here somewhere), showed these pipes to be very similar in performance to the stock 300s and other headers of the time. So re-creating those doesn't seem to make much sense to me. Many people seem to believe the Yoshi style pipes of today offer the best performance at a reasonable price. So if the plan is to design and develop a modern high performance exhaust in the $600 dollar sweet spot, I'm all in. But to reproduce what was a hot setup 40 years ago doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Does the plan include extensive design and testing or is it I want an original RC Engineering looking header? If the plan is for extensive testing, I'd volunteer to help

but I'd rather see the effort go into a set of 4-4s to replace the $1500 stock pipes in performance and price. my two cents, FWIW.

754 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:10:45 AM »

I liked the RC 750 pipe, it had better ground clearance than Hooker and Jardine pipes, it tucked in a bit more inboard. They also fit on Amen frames. most 4-1 do not fit them. I would prefer the look of the early traditional , rather than the newer, or a redesign..

If I can go nearly as fast as some RC equipped went back in the day, that would work for me..

Hinomaru · « **Reply #13 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:13:23 AM »

I definitely would buy the RC header for the 1969-76 750 in chrome, the original part number was: RC 1010. I especially would like to see the return of part number: RC 1010-Q. The Q model was the quiet version of the standard baffled 1010 and had about the same sound level as the stock HM300 pipes w/ baffles at WOT. Never received a single “excessive noise” ticket back in the day running the 1010-Q model.

Click on image below for a larger view:

Don R · « **Reply #14 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:45:38 AM »

That's what I'm talking about! It been a while since many of us have seen one.

EricHa · « **Reply #15 on:** March 21, 2012, 11:07:56 AM »

I agree on the original pipe. Reverse cone or the later version is fine too. Do Russ Sr. or Jr. still have the jigs for the old pipes?

It would be cool to have the little R.C. Performance Products badge on them, but that would add cost. I have an old RC megaphone in the garage with the badge on it. :-)

BLUE71TURBO · « **Reply #16 on:** March 21, 2012, 03:05:45 PM »

EricHa , I have no idea if the family has the jigs for the headers. Like i posted eariler this is an idea that Jr. is rolling around in his head along with hundreds of other important thoughts that are going on in his life. It's something that might come to pass after the drag bikes are done.
Only Jr. and the family know what is going to happen.

Alot more research is gonna have to be done before any production takes place.

ekpent · « **Reply #17 on:** March 21, 2012, 03:08:41 PM »

I thought I read in one of his posts that the 'family' still had the jigs ??

Tim2005 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 21, 2012, 03:54:22 PM »

As well as the other makes mentioned, there's also Marving, Motad, Predator, and I think Marshall Deeptone's are still made too. I believe these are all still available for 550s as well as 750s. There's also those extremely expensive and very tasty German (??) ones, but the maker's name eludes me at the minute.

BLUE71TURBO · « **Reply #19 on:** March 21, 2012, 07:05:23 PM »

Quote from: ekpent on March 21, 2012, 03:08:41 PM

I thought I read in one of his posts that the 'family' still had the jigs ??

You will have to ask R.C. Jr about the jigs.

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #20 on:** March 21, 2012, 07:28:00 PM »

Quote from: Tim2005 on March 21, 2012, 03:54:22 PM

As well as the other makes mentioned, there's also Marving, Motad, Predator, and I think Marshall Deeptone's are still made too. I believe these are all still available for 550s as well as 750s. There's also those extremely expensive and very tasty German (??) ones, but the maker's name eludes me at the minute.

The other manufacturer you are referring to is Schule....

http://schuleusa.com/pages/exhaust_classic/cb750_rick.htm

sorcerer · « **Reply #21 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:39:43 PM »

OK...I guess I should weigh in here.

I have been given the go ahead to use the RC Engineering brand name / trademarks for all things motorcycle related with exception of injectors of course...which is the current business direction. I have access to numerous jigs etc but that is not so much an issue as "what do people want ?".

Until I started the rebuild of my Dad's race bikes I had not given much thought to the nostalgia market...this site has changed all of that. I'm thinking....we sure sold a lot of pipes over at least a ten year period. I wonder if anyone wants to restore using "period correct" pipes from RC Engineering. OBTW I'm partial to the pipe my Dad is holding in that iconic poster shown above.

When I restored my 70 Chevelle, I used period correct hot rod pieces because it is a driver but I still wanted that look under the hood that I remember from 1970...right down to the Hooker headers...the ones that hit speed bumps occasionally...not the expensive equal length ones or the upscale newer racing pipes...the original stuff complete with the original sound. Of course I did upgrade to a Chevy HEI so it is not completely old school but you do not see an MSD box bolted to the inner fender. I have won numerous Best Muscle Car awards with staying true to the "period correct" look and it takes me back to a good place, mentally.

Maybe there is a market for these....I just do not know if it's worth the effort without good polling.

On the high tech, up to date front...I'll bet I could give some people a run for there money. If I may be so bold, there is something to say for name recognition if backed up by hard numbers like HP/torque at a good value. Is this my way out of the Aerospace business.............hmmmmmm?. It's awfully comfortable over here, but its not the same as your own business. We call it the golden handcuffs.

I would need a partner already in the business....that would be the quickest way in.....one of several crazy thoughts since I inherited some of the most significant race bikes of our time. Like my Dad called them...rolling business cards.

I'm listening....

Russ Collins Jr.

754 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:58:54 PM »

I like the pipe in the pic, I think mine might have not had the emblem, not sure.. But I want a spigot mount, hp be damned..
those stud mount headers just look too "New School" for me..

I just want a pipe like the man with the ceegar, that had the winningest dragbikes, or pipes from his family..that's fine by me..

mycb750k6 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 22, 2012, 05:48:36 AM »

+1 on the spigot mount. The set I'm running now is sigot mount.

Russ, how many is enough initially do you think . Also would you start-up the rods, cams, etc at the same time?

brandEn · « **Reply #24 on:** March 22, 2012, 06:18:35 AM »

I would buy a header from you Russ. I like the one in pic too. A performance 4 - 4 would be a hit as well.

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Author Topic: What header choices are out there for the cb750's & cb550's ? (Read 11485 times)

Hinomaru