Best exhaust?

[Lindsay S]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum but not new to A10s, having owned one back in the 1970s. It was a ‘cafe racer’ ‘58 Gold flash with a Spitfire cam, 9:1 pistons, fibre-glass tank and seat and, having had all its extraneous lugs and brackets removed, little prospect of being returned to standard! It languished in my shed for several decades until I recently sold it.
Anyway, I felt I needed another A10 in my life and have just bought a totally original, if tatty,1958 Golden Flash on eBay.
I am looking for a new set of down pipes and silencers but having read positive and negative reviews regarding quality and, in particular, fit for systems from both Armours and Feked I am confused if not exhausted! It would seem that it is the ‘luck of the draw’ when it comes to exhaust pipes that fit properly but can anyone suggest where the best chances of success can be found in the UK? I hope I am not opening a can of worms on my first posting!

[Worty]

It is a 'can' (geddit) of worms and how dare you open it (heh).  As far as I can tell, it's a case of try it then adapt it.  On my '61 Flash, I had to dent the left hand downpipe to go underneath the footpeg nut, otherwise it would not have fitted.  The silencers have been generally fine, but I don't get the problem with manufacturing downpipes that are correct.

I generally find exhausts to be exhausting too - having similar problems adapting a non-standard exhaust to a Kwaka W650.  All I can recommend is taking your time, be ready with the hammer, and pray for a bit of luck.

Would be great to hear more about you in intros.  Oh, and welcome to the best Beeza forum available - lots of friendly people, advice, and complete nut jobs.

[Lindsay S]

Thanks for that Worty. Judging from other comments on the exhaust subject, I thought the answer might involve a hammer!

[Worty]

Aye, bad as it may seem, it may be necessary.  I'd toyed with the idea of bending the downpipe out to fit the silencer, but then the silencer wouldn't line up.  Then it was pushing it in a bit, but then the bracket would be out of place.  I even reversed the silencer bracket thinking that would help and, whilst it did a bit on the primary side, when I tried to match it up on the timing side I didn't realise the kickstart would foul the exhaust.  Yes, you guessed it, I went to kick it up and put a massive dent in the silencer.  This was when I was very new to the foibles of British bikes - I'm pretty rounded off now with 11 years' experience (a bit like most of the nuts on the bike).

[jhg1958]

Someone must make stainless exhaust systems. I have one on my Honda and it is going to outlive the bike.

John

[Worty]

Someone must make stainless exhaust systems. I have one on my Honda and it is going to outlive the bike.

John

There will be John, but it'll be way beyond my budget.

[Kickaha]

Anyway, I felt I needed another A10 in my life and have just bought a totally original, if tatty,1958 Golden Flash on eBay.
I am looking for a new set of down pipes and silencers but having read positive and negative reviews regarding quality and, in particular, fit for systems from both Armours and Feked I am confused if not exhausted! It would seem that it is the ‘luck of the draw’ when it comes to exhaust pipes that fit properly but can anyone suggest where the best chances of success can be found in the UK? I hope I am not opening a can of worms on my first posting!

Raysons exhausts, I follow him on FB makes some very nice stuff, I don't know what his lead times are though and of course it'll depend on your location to him

[Rex]

I use Armours and they've always fitted well for me.
Feked pipes may fit (I can't comment) but woe betide anyone who wants to send non-fitting/broken/not working/not as sold stuff back to them as their customer service is the worst I've ever experienced.
They sell some right old Taiwan tat too.

[Billybream]

Another vote for Amours, went for full stainless and pleased with quality and fit

[Petergj]

I will be following this thread with interest because the 1958 A10 Golden Flash I am rebuilding came with exhaust pipes and silencers from an unknown supplier and won't know what the fit will be like until the engine is refitted into the frame!
However, I did use Raysons to make an exhaust pipe and silencer for my B50 engine in an Eric Cheney frame and the result was outstanding from an absolute "top notch" craftsman - the exhaust pipe has been sand bent. The only issue is his skills are in great demand and he has a waiting list!

[limeyrob]

That's very interesting. My Matchless competition came with a new pipe that didn't fit (the bike was unfinished) and really didn't fit after I tried to "adjust" it.  I got a new high level pipe from Armours and service and quality were good, but it lacks the small extra bends that you B50 pipe has to get in really close around the box, frame and oil tank.  OK for my application as it green lanes and its good enough but I think I would mock up a pipe and get one made from that if I wanted a really close fit.
I see you have retainer springs and drilled fins, I'm very tempted to do that on my A10 as it has a 2-1 that is hard to keep in place. I'll start a new thread on that and see what the consensus is.

[Petergj]

Yes, Ben at Raysons spent a lot of time on the routing of the exhaust pipe to follow the profile of the timing side cover.

P.S. Apologies for the B50 pictures on A7-A10 forum!