Topic: The heartbreak of stock mufflers

[Don R]

   That happy moment when you buy a bike with stock mufflers and then a week later you find another one. And on a snowy cold Saturday you take them apart to make one best set and realize you have no one best set. And the junk on Ebay is $150 per pipe and up, and all of them are worse than what you already have. And DSS has no listing for 341's and 300's are out of stock. And everything else is $1800 and up. And aw fudge.

 On the up side, my good ones are better than the junk online.

[eigenvector]

Bastard.

Meanwhile I have to make due with those crummy Mac exhaust set because no one that I can find makes a repro 4-4 set.

[Terry in Australia]

Back in the day when CB750's were as common on the roads as Harleys are now, we binned those HM300's and HM341's and put flat black RC 4 into 1's on our bikes that needed repainting with BBQ paint every other weekend. Seriously, there are no "Barn Finds" of CB750's with original pipes here, simply because we chucked 'em, and for good reason too, they'd rust out in one Aussie winter, which is like only one wet week in some parts of the US.

Having said all that, I scored a really good set of HM341's from a member here who needed a dual front disc setup for his K2 Cafe Racer, they're perfect except for one little hole that I'll probably just JB weld when the time comes to take them down from the wall and put them on a K2 basket case I bought recently.

[BomberMann650]

I often lament the rust holes and collapsed wall that was on bloo when I found her.  Still have the headers kickin around the garage.  Alas, I'm happy with the factory performance MAC retained in their design.

[Kevin D]

My original 300's rusted out in a couple years and I scored a set of 341 take offs from a guy that wanted a 4-1. The 341's have been on for 40+ years, one of them is blistered/cracked just behind the header pipe weld. But it has been holding on for a good long time. When/if it blows out I don't know what I will do, find a top notch welder/brazer man??? I haven't kept a running total of $ I have spent on this ride but $2000 for new pipes might equal to the rest of it, and its hundreds more than I paid for the whole bike when new in 1971.
 Maybe time for a new CB1100?

[Don R]

 I know a guy that took two pickup loads of stock pipes to the scrap yard. In 1972 or so. I have one really nice top right and one pretty good top left. The jury is out on one lower right, I haven't gotten it off yet.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I know a guy that took two pickup loads of stock pipes to the scrap yard.

[Don R]

  The local Honda shop built a 2x4 rack down one wall for the takeoff pipes and when it got full they did another wall. When Charlie got out of the service he went back there to work and the boss said clean off those racks, they're starting to sag, no one's buying them anyway so out they go.
  He gets a little misty eyed when he talks about it, when he opened his own shop he bought them out so he might have had all those exhausts himself.

[Don R]

 Hey, I got 2 really nice ones, for cylinders one and three. The number four on one bike looked rough but usable  until I wiggled it trying to get it off the engine and the muffler snapped off in my hand.
 So I begin a quiet search for two, which is really rare and four.

[MikeSimon]

I bought a set of new 341s when they were still available from Honda. It was probably some 12 years ago and I remember they weren't THAT expensive. They were not all the same price, but the whole set was under $1,000.-. A few years later, the 4-4s suddenly showed up new everywhere again. CMS in the NL sells them for $900.-/pipe

[Johnie]

I was able to get some 300's and 341's when they were still making them. Then the last couple of sets I got the chrome looked like it was hit with a sandblaster. Sent 2 pipes back and it took a while for Honda to find me good replacements. They must have had issues with whoever was making them for Honda. My next project for next winter is the K1 I brought home in September. I am afraid I will not be able to find any 300's for it.

[Don R]

 I remember when the real ones were up to $1200 then Honda made what probably was the last batch and the going price dropped a little. I told my wife we should buy a room full of them and wait. She laughed.

 I'd be up for a set of non stock appearing stainless ones if they looked proportioned right and were a thousand or so.

[RAFster122s]

Would ceramic coated versions be popular as they should be far longer lasting than a chromed steel version.  I do not know if a stainless would outlast them. I doubt they would give similar care.  Part of that equation would be whether the environment they lived in was humid or dry.
They would not satisfy those wanting stock pipes but those wanting the tone or looks of 4-4 pipes might be interested if quality of construction and finish was good.

[faux fiddy]

I remember when the real ones were up to $1200 then Honda made what probably was the last batch and the going price dropped a little. I told my wife we should buy a room full of them and wait. She laughed.

 I'd be up for a set of non stock appearing stainless ones if they looked proportioned right and were a thousand or so.

Cone exhaust company, time, torch and some mandrel bent tubing. A  recent brainstorm was the aluminum baseball bat megaphone to make 4 into 4 for the guzzi 254.  The bat handles are right for it but a 750 would need a much larger diameter handle.

[BomberMann650]

I remember when the real ones were up to $1200 then Honda made what probably was the last batch and the going price dropped a little. I told my wife we should buy a room full of them and wait. She laughed.

 I'd be up for a set of non stock appearing stainless ones if they looked proportioned right and were a thousand or so.

Cone exhaust company, time, torch and some mandrel bent tubing. A  recent brainstorm was the aluminum baseball bat megaphone to make 4 into 4 for the guzzi 254.  The bat handles are right for it but a 750 would need a much larger diameter handle.

How about a Cricket Bat?   

[faux fiddy]

I remember when the real ones were up to $1200 then Honda made what probably was the last batch and the going price dropped a little. I told my wife we should buy a room full of them and wait. She laughed.

 I'd be up for a set of non stock appearing stainless ones if they looked proportioned right and were a thousand or so.

Cone exhaust company, time, torch and some mandrel bent tubing. A  recent brainstorm was the aluminum baseball bat megaphone to make 4 into 4 for the guzzi 254.  The bat handles are right for it but a 750 would need a much larger diameter handle.

How about a Cricket Bat?   

That would be like a floundertail would'n't it?

My understanding is they 'spin' those bats out of one piece like bowls. It would be simple to manufacture a bigger hole through it but that might not make it a baseball bat BY REGULATION with a larger grip.  Maybe a custom order option, but doubtful unless You want 9000 UNITS.

[Terry in Australia]

I remember when the real ones were up to $1200 then Honda made what probably was the last batch and the going price dropped a little. I told my wife we should buy a room full of them and wait. She laughed.

 I'd be up for a set of non stock appearing stainless ones if they looked proportioned right and were a thousand or so.

Here you go Don, you can still buy HM300's from Yamiya for $1396 US per set, plus heat shields, hardware etc. Maybe not "Genuine" but they look like the real thing, and 46 years after production ceased, not bad really.

http://www.yamiya750.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=246_251_142_88&products_id=142

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Those are pretty.

[Stev-o]

Those are pretty.

Make that "faithfully scrupulous" Don.  Not a bad price either. 
I recently paid $1399 for a re-pop exhaust for my H2, and only got 3 pipes!

[Johnie]

Those do look really close...nice finish.

[Don R]

  There's an OK deal, I'd love to know if there is one source every dealer buys from. These are no numbers pipes, that's as good as or better than 341's on a 71.

 I swear I looked last week and Yamiya's were almost 2K shipped. I once got a nice set for my sandy from mach IV motors for $1275  That may have been Mach IV's last Ebay auction. The price went to $1600 buy it now, afterwards then they stopped.
 Yamiya shows $212 shipping to here. Maybe a new run of them just came in, it appears everyone ran out about the same time.
  DSS charges $17 shipping but I don't know if the quality is the same as Yamiya. And they're listed as out of stock anyway.

 Any new pipes I get will be coated inside with eastwoods heat proof paint and the 18" long spray hose. The first set seemed to get a good internal coating, There was enough spray that I taped the ends and swirled it around inside before dumping the excess on my shoes. I re-opened the drain holes after too.

[RAFster122s]

DSS pipes for one of the models I remember seeing a thread where there were pronlems with a few and they had to be exchanged.

[Kevin D]

I swear I looked last week and Yamiya's were almost 2K shipped.

Totally believable.
Currency fluctuations will affect prices on imported goods. A strong US dollar makes for good shopping overseas. Yamiya has a currency converter built into their parts pricing, how often they alter the exchange, I dunno. I don't track exchange rates, but it has been in the news recently.
 EDIT: Here is a 5 year chart dollar vs yen:
http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=JPY&view=5Y
117.6¥ per $ right now, and frankly, I'm not price shopping when I go to Yamiya. Yes the shipping costs a lot but the goods get here lickety-split. If I was loaded or had half a dozen CB750s like johnie, I might lay a set of these up on the shelf.

[Don R]

 I need to sell this K1 and I want it to be stunning. 4-4's are part of the picture in my mind so whatever it takes I'll get a good set. Except take the ones off my keeper bike. Unless I find better ones L0L!

[Johnie]

That is the same issue I will be looking at next winter Don when I start my next project the gold K1. Will have to decide if I paint it and get new 300's and hope I still have a margin when I sell it.