Topic: New HM341 Exhaust Pipes Wanted

[Gazza5800]

[Im after a new set of HM341 Exhaust Pipes for my 750 K2 Honda.
Im an Ozzy so theres no worries there.
So can anybody help me try and get a set at a reasonable price
Taa

[turtle]

Good luck 

[jsaab2748]

www.davidsilverspares.com or www.cmsnl.com. probably have the best prices.

[Jonesy]

www.cmsnl.com currently has a complete set on special. They run 534.00 Euro, or 898.94 Australia Dollars.

http://www.cmsnl.com/products/muffler_00000kit0083.html

[Dave K]

Aren't they still available through your local Honda shop?

[Ted Nomura]

How come only the Europeans have the best Honda sources? Is there one in America other than American Honda? I just hate risking purchasing from overseas.

[6pkrunner]

Get them through the dealer! Or you can pay way more and get them off of eBay. Those guys just buy from the dealer, hike up the price, and sell it. So cut them out and let your local Honda shop pay freight to get them to you.

[Ted Nomura]

I agree. They usually buy parts from closedown shops and hike up the price to make up for their efforts. Unfortunately you pay for more rare items. Too bad that American Honda dumped most of the older NOS parts after Mr. Honda died until they realized that they were valuable. I get good deals from ebay but that's still risking it a bit. Fortunately I got most of the parts I needed pretty cheap. Now I'm just detailing.

[petercb750]

Gazza - I'm in Oz. I got mine recently from David Silvers - got the lot inc pipes, baffles, heatshields, star clamps, balance tubes and all screws etc, and with freight, ins, customs and gst they were on my doorstep for around $1700. Local dealer quoted around $2600 just for pipes!! and they can be got from a couple of other places in Oz (eg Z1 Enterprises or Custom Choppers) for about $1700 just for the pipes, or around $2100+ for the lot.
To me, getting the full kit from UK was a better option - fully insured in transit, trackabale, and took 10 days from time of order. Very happy with the purchase and service. Although a little lighter in the back pocket!!!! But it was worth it - bike looks great.

One thing I notice though - modern chrome/metal is never as thick as the early originals. These are factory but you can tell they are made cheaper than back in the 70s.

Hope that helps mate.
Peter.

[Dave K]

Peter, not wishing to dispute your claim of new pipes being cheaper or poorer quality. When I bought my K3, new in 1973, I took her down to bits over the winter like I always do and I saw rusting the very first winter. The mufflers were rusting out at the end near the baffles! The bike was bought on June 9, 1973 and it is now the week or two after Christmas! The bike was put up for the winter and had not seen any winter weather or road conditions and it had 7000 miles on it. I went to my dealer, because I was HOT. This new bike was rusting it's mufflers out in about 7 mos.! Next thing you know, I get a call from my dealer. There is a warranty issue with these mufflers and I would get new ones under warranty, heee haaaa. Anyrate the new ones lasted until the next winter tear down for waxing as well. I remember there were 7 of us who all bought new K3's at the same time and we all had the same problems with the mufflers.I think this issue is almost what made Jardine slip ons famous. The older, pre 341's, held up much better. I now have had new replacement 341's on my bike now for about 5-6 yrs. No problems yet with these. I did though take them out of the box and filled them with paint. I also make sure if I start the bike it runs for at least 10 miles. I then oil the heck out of the inside of the mufflers when I put the bike up for the winter. I really think the new mufflers are better. JMHO

[Bob Wessner]

The older, pre 341's, held up much better.

You might have something there. I have three of the orig. unmarked pipes on my 750 and they are still solid and rust-free. The number one pipe was a total loss after 22 yrs. in the corner of my garage (can't figure why such a difference?), but the others held-up well.

I then oil the heck out of the inside of the mufflers when I put the bike up for the winter.

How do you go about doing this?

[Dave K]

The older pre 341 pipes didn't have the moisture trap at the rear of the muffler that the new baffling created. So you had to get the 341 pipes pretty hot to get them dried out. Go for a ride and even after 5 miles of speed, the tails of the 341's are not all that hot and the moisture trapped in the tail section just doesn't escape.

I oil them by placing a an aerosol with a straw on it, of a water displacer like LPS into the drain holes while the bike is running. Just spray into the running "jet" stream and it coats the muffler. Of course,the excess will drip and drool out those weep holes all winter so I place pans under the holes. Also, JMHO I NEVER fire up a bike to lubricate it. All I am doing when I do that is placing combustion acids into the oil and into the exhaust system. If I feel the bearings and cylinder walls need lubed, I just turn the kill switch off and use the electric starter to turn the engine over till I have oil pressure. Has worked for me since the '73 rusted her mufflers, back in the winter of '74.

All of this is based on my feeble opinion, your mileage may vary.

[petercb750]

you're probably right Dave - I've read a few old road tests (or owners tests) from the mid 70's and a couple of them reflect just what you are saying. I was probably more referring to the chrome thickness than anything, but they do feel lighter in weight too, which I rightly or wrongly put down to metal thickness.
(As an aside, I've got a couple of old cars too, and any new replacement parts (eg bumpers) for those are thinner, lighter, and crappier than the originals, with razor sharp edges too! It is far better to refurbish the originals if they are not too far gone, but that's a bit hard for bike pipes).
I had a K2 from new in 73 for 2 years and never had a problem with rusty pipes, but then it spent most of its life with the baffles out, much to my parents embarrasment and neighbours disgust!! I know a lot of them rust at their lowest points too because owners don't keep the drain holes clear, especially on the left where they get covered in chain oil and thus the holes get blocked - a good point of note for anybody purchasing new ones like Gazza.
Anyway, my new pipes won't be a problem - the motor is so rooted that they have a very liberal coating of oil on the inside!! 
Doing a full rebuild as we speak.
Cheers.

[Bob Wessner]

I oil them by placing a an aerosol with a straw on it, of a water displacer like LPS into the drain holes while the bike is running. Just spray into the running "jet" stream and it coats the muffler.

I wondered if this would work, thanks for the confirmation.

[Terry in Australia]

The reason why the OEM pipes are in such short supply is because they were poorly designed from new, but the easiest way to slow the rot on new pipes is to run some 2 stroke fuel through your engine every 10th tankfull, and they'll never rust. Ever seen a rotten pipe on a "stroker"? Cheers, Terry.

[Dave K]

Your right Terry.  I have hard some guys actually run about 10% oil in their gas for that very reason. I think I will give it a try. What is a little oil in the gas to keep from buying expensive pipes!

[74cb750]

Hmmmm...you mean my Kawasaki S2 2-stroke pipes will be rust free for a while?
peace,
michel

[Terry in Australia]

Hmmmm...you mean my Kawasaki S2 2-stroke pipes will be rust free for a while?
peace,
michel

Yeah mate, the worst thing about old two strokes is the need to "decoke" them at regular intervals to stop the pipes blocking. I used to watch my cuz doing it at his bike shop with a blow torch, it was fascinating!

Nowadays you can buy two stroke oil that doesn't smoke at all and can be run at 70:1 as opposed to 25:1, so why the EPA has banned 2 strokes has got me kinda confused?

I wanty a H2! Woohoo! Oops, there goes my attention span again..........

[siter81]

Did you say H2?   

I WANT ONE TOO.





Siter81