Shiny new MAC's are on....

[CdnDave77]

I was one of the first to jump on Condor's MAC muffler offer a few weeks ago. They arrived safe & sound & looked awesome in the box. I had to wait for the never-ending rains to finally move through, and MacGyver some impromptu gaskets as the previous owner (or at least one of the 5 previous owners) had used a metal reinfoced muffler tape in place of proper gaskets.

 

I happened to mention that in my thanks to Condor, via a PM, and lo and behold, the man sends me gaskets ! From California all the way to Ontario ! Thanks again, Jack. I got them today, and had them installed in less than 20 minutes.

 

I think they look world's better than the original stockers I had as they were a little beat up. Worse, they were full of deteriorated baffle pieces and sloshed like 30 pound maracas. The new MAC's sound incredible - it's actually a motorcycle now ! Not obnoxious, but a definite rumble, and I really, really like it.

 

So, the prerequisite pics : I apologize if the quality isn't the greatest - I used a new software package tonight to resize these, and I think the sharpness degraded quite a bit. The first pic is the bike (obviously) with my other new baby, 2009 Dodge Ram Crew Cab 4x4 with the 390 HP 5.7L Hemi (very fun). The second shows a better pic of the muffler. Please ignore the big hack on the bikini panel on the right side of the bike as I am still burning about that (search threads using "pine cone").

 

Best of all, we finally have a week here that is 100% sunshine. It's just real cold in the morning (about 42 degrees F this morning), but that sure doesn't stop me.

 

Thanks again, Jack !

[Snaggletooth]

They are sweet aren't they. Got mine through Condors group buy when it all started. Be glad you mised that! Bet Condor wishes he had missed it. (Am I right Jack?) LOL! Anyway that's a long story.

 

As a little time passes they will open up a bit and the rumble gets better. Not so much louder, just deeper.

 

I was a bit surprised a while back when I came out of a store and found 3 guys looking at my bike. All three were riders and all three had HD's parked close by. I prepared myself for the usual banter by the HD crowd but the first thing they said was they pulled up and noticed my pipes. They thought they were odd for a bike like mine. Told them the story of the ordeal that Condor went through and how long it took to get them and when I told them what I paid for them they were stunned. (seeing what they paid for their pipes I suppose they would be)

 

I fired the bike up and they liked the sound. Then I had to go an ruin it by saying if I pulled two plug wires off it sounded like a Harley. So much for any new friends that day. LOL!

 

So enjoy. And keep that grin off your face when you hear that nice snarl when you shift at about 6,500 rpm. Sweet!

 

Ah yes! I remember the pine cone story! The wife been mowing the yard since then? It's a battle scar my friend. You can always tell the story about the pine sapp addicted tree rodent that hates bikers to liven it up a bit.

 

Mike

[Wizard765]

Hey Dave:

 

They look GREAT.. You could have come for the Tuesday night ride :nanner:and I could have HEARD them as well... Are you going to make the Labour day ride?

 

Wayne

[CdnDave77]

No, my lovely bride hasn't offered to cut the grass since the incident - go figure.

 

And, Wayne, I would have loved to go for a Tuesday night ride, especially last night, but I was in front of my laptop madly hacking nickels & dimes out of next year's operating budget for work (insert "blood from a stone" analogy here). This is my fourth submission to the parent company... it's not my fault the entire world is is a recession !

 

I am not confident I can make the Labour Day ride either, or I would have committed by now. I have been trying to juggle family commitments to ensure that day was open, but it looks like I may have to pass.

 

The one thing I did notice about the MAC's is that I have a very distinct popping on a decel.. It disappears if I pull in the cltuch. I doubt it is tied to the pipes though. Maybe I just didn't notice it before ? I am thinking it may be the decel-circuit in the carbs.. they have separate diaphrams which I bet have never been looked at.

[Snaggletooth]

I had a little of that popping, but not bad. It went away when I checked my carb sync and found the #3 was a bit off. I know my decels are in good shape. I replaced them when I rebuilt the carbs.

 

But if you have never opened them up it might be a good idea. Out of two sets of used carbs I have bought for harvesting parts I've only found three decel diaphragms that were any good. Lots of corrosion and hard diaphragms.

[CdnDave77]

Thanks for the tip.. I had the exact same thought last night, and since I needed to top my oil up a tad, I did a quick synch on the carbs and brought my idle rpm's down a hair. There is a burble or mild pop on the decels now, but not a distinct backfire, and I can happily live with that. Obviously one (or more, I suppose) butterfly(s) were open allowing a lean mixture when decelerating.

 

I did pick up a set of used carbs this summer.. I'll open them up and check the decel diaphrams. If they look good, I'll look at throwing them in the carbs over the winter. I might even spring for new ones so I don't have to think about them again.

 

Loving those MAC's tho... I'm not sure where I like them most : 3500 rpm cruising speed or 6000 rpm shift point. It's all good.

[Snaggletooth]

I hope you have better luck on used decel diaphragms than I did. Mine looked good, or at least a lot better than what I dug out of the used carbs I bought. New ones aren't too bad. I think I paid $18.00 each for them.

 

I was disappointed with the forst set of carbs I bought off a "running" bike. LOL! Forgot to ask exactly what year it actually ran in. I learned. Even at that I was able to harvest a couple hundred bucks worth of parts out of a $75.00 investment.

 

Have fun with it.

 

Mike