kerker vs. vance & hines

does anyone know why kerker is so much more expensive than vance & hines. $560.00 for the kerker and $259.00 for the v&h. is it a sound thing? i can't imagine the performance being an issue. i have a v&h on the bike but needs replacing. what are people using for exhaust and why?

ive had both.absolutely no comparison when it comes to fit and quality the kerker headers have always left vance and hines at the starting line,which really sucks since terry vance and byron hines did so much for the racing world in the past:(

Scuttlebutt has it that V&H are now manufactured in China...stick with Kerker (although Kerker has also displayed some quality issues)...I have both and also have several MACs...I prefer Kerker, but would sell one of my children for an old Yoshimura and Bassani...I suggest you chat w/Jeff at Z1Enterprises as he has a better explanation that I.

I remember reading a few years ago that Vance and Hines was sold off. Terry remained as leader of the company but someone else actually owns it now. I believe the Harley part was kept but all the metric part of the company was sold off. I may be partly wrong, completely wrong or right on, but if it was sold off, that may be the problem...quality issues. Might be why Byron started his own company. I know they used to be one of, if not, the best out there in my opinion. If it's true they are now made in China, lately, that would explain a lot.

V&H has been owned by MAG since 2002 - MAG is the Motorcycle Accessory Group - a venture capital / investment company. .

The same organization that owns Progressive Suspension, Kuryakyn, Performance Machine, Renthal, White Brothers (although that's being shut down) and more.

In the past few years MAG has been squeezing each of the companies to be more efficient - Progressive consolidated their manufacturing with Performance Machine. V&H recently took over White Brothers off-road exhausts while the rest of White Brothers is being dismantled.

I'm not sure the pipes are made in China - it is possible some of the components are, but I think the typical Chrome 4-1 is still made here in the USA.

Sadly both V&H and Kerker are phasing out pipes for our older bikes. Kerker recently dropped a number of their pipes including the chrome 4-1's for the KZ650.

Kerker is a better company from a customer service perspective. We had a problem with a Kerker pipe and 2 days later we received the replacement muffler. With V&H they take forever to resolve any issues. The pipes are still good valuve for money, but the company is one of the worst to deal with from a human perspective.

Mcdroid wrote:

Scuttlebutt has it that V&H are now manufactured in China...stick with Kerker (although Kerker has also displayed some quality issues)...I have both and also have several MACs...I prefer Kerker, but would sell one of my children for an old Yoshimura and Bassani...I suggest you chat w/Jeff at Z1Enterprises as he has a better explanation that I.

see if you can find 2 of the old yosh pipes,ive got a daughter ill throw in!:woohoo: