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Installing Road King Pipes - By Venturous

  Author: Gary L Mace (Venturous)
  Views: 33187     Votes: 4
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Modified Harley Road King Pipes

By Gary Mace (Venturous)
Many members have found that factory mufflers from a Harley-Davidson Road King bolt right onto the Royal Star Venturers exhaust pipes. A little ingenuity is needed in order to make a bracket to mount the rear of the mufflers. Since many new Road King owners discard the stock mufflers before even taking delivery, they can often be found for free or very cheap from local Harley-Davidson dealers. If not, they can be found on eBay.com often for about $25.00. These mufflers offer a deep throaty sound without being obnoxiously loud. However, if you want louder, they can easily be modified by drilling. You will need to get two muffler clamps from your local Harley dealer. I can't remember the numbers, but just tell them they are for Road King pipes.

This is the way I installed Road King mufflers to my Venture. I wanted to retain the stock look with the heat shield. NOTE: This method NOT recommended for anyone who may want to reuse or sell their stock Venture mufflers. They will be worthless when finished.

After removing the stock mufflers from the bike, I carefully cut the heat shields (shown left) using a high speed dremel tool. There are three spot welds holding it in place. Also at this time, use the dremel tool to cut off the stock mufflers mounting bracket. Cut so as to leave as much of the bracket in tact as possible.

Next, as shown left, I made a cut into the heat shield to allow it to expand over the Road King mufflers slightly wider diameter. DO NOT cut the top section, just where shown. Next, drill three 1/8" holes for rivets around the edge of the heat shield. I suggest drilling in the area where it was previously spot welded.

Next, as shown below, place the stock heat shield over the Road King muffler. Be sure to slip the clamp over the muffler end before putting the heat shield on. (Trust me on this!) Align the heat shield so that the opening is facing the bike when the RK pipes are installed. Be sure the heat shield extends about 1" beyond the pipe end. (see below) Now drill through one of your 1/8" heat shield holes into the RK pipes, and put one rivet in. Just one!

Next, slip the muffler over the Ventures exhaust pipe and tap gently with a rubber mallot to firmly set in place. DO NOT tighten clamps at this time. Once the pipe is on as far as you can get it, hold it in place where it will be mounted. Take the stock bracket you cut off earlier and aline it with the RK muffler and mounting holes on the bike. Carefully mark this position using a marker. While bracing the muffler in place as it will be installed, carefully align the front heat shield so that it does not touch the heat shields on the exhaust pipes. Mark through your remaining two 1/8" holes as a drilling guide. Repeat for the other side.

Next, remove the RK pipes from the exhaust. Using the marks you just made, drill and rivet the remaining two holes on the heat shield. Also, drill and rivet the stock bracket to the RK muffler. Repeat for other pipe. When finished, you should have something that looks like below.

You are now ready to install your mufflers. Again slip them over the exhaust pipes and tap gently with a rubber mallot. This time tighten the front clamp and mount the pipes to the bike using the stock brackets. The finished product should look as good as stock, even better in my opinion as the slash-cut on the mufflers match the angle of the saddlebags almost exactly. Of course, you may also want to drill or punch out the pipes to get the desired tone. On mine, I took a 4 foot long 5/8" steel rod, sharpened it, then drove it through the center of the entire muffler. Enjoy!

Last update: 10:46 PM Monday, February 14, 2005

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