Disappointed by V&H exhaust

Vance & Hines doesn't seem to care. We've beat on them so many times...

We receive roughly 30% of the pipes damaged or bad. We have to go through each pipe and inspect for damage due to poor packing, and unacceptable imperfections.

The only reason we carry them is for some of the bikes it is the only option other than MAC.

Here is an excerpt from an email I sent their sales manager a few years ago... not surprisingly I didn't even get a response to it. Sad.

Packing & Quality:
30% of the pipes coming in were unsalable. Many of the mufflers ended up getting dented in transit as there was nothing to stop the header pipe moving around inside the box. The ‘one-size fits all’ boxes just don’t stop some of the headers moving around. It wasn’t unusual to receive the boxes and have header pipes punched through the carton and hanging out the side…

Kerker uses expanding foam packs to protect their pipes – it works well.

...dinged mufflers, a mis-welded header on one pipe, missing emblems on a couple of mufflers. It took THREE months to get the final replacement mufflers for the last shipment of problem pipes. All the while V&H had our money tied up. Many of the mufflers didn’t fit on the collector. Customers would have to sand the inside of the muffler to get them to fit. The chrome quality was poor. Additionally, it wasn’t unusual to be missing some of the little parts that were supposed to be in the box. Because of all these issues, we unpack and inspect and repack EVERY pipe coming in. Something that shouldn’t happen.

So not only me it seems!

Thats the problem now...these bikes are old enough no one wants to make parts like headers for them anymore so we are relegated to whatever is out there which is getting worse and worse. All the money is in the new sportbikes...no money making some parts in the small quantities for older bikes...could be a great niche market for a smaller firm but it comes down to whether enough can be sold to make it worth while...which is getting to be ...no!

I bought a stainless steel Yoshimura (copy) from a company in CA for my CB 750 a while ago, super nice exhaust. A bit on the load side for my KZ project (they make them for KZ too) but for only a little more than the V&H it would have been worth it had I known....

I bought a V&H in 2007. I was fortunate as the fit and finish was good, especially considering the price. I had to work the inside of the Meg a bit with a sanding roll but that was easy. Like everything these days, quality seems to be put on the back burner and profit is all that matters. It's a crying shame because the design of the pipe is good as far as performance goes.

I'm just glad I picked up my chrome Kerker when I did ~ $500 new... Now they're >$800... :blink:
The fit, plating, exhaust tube positions etc.... on the money!

BTW Lar, still sucks you sold that phenomenally gorgeous build of yours...

I am glad mine already had a nice chrome kerker on it when i bought the bike years ago.

Are new chrome Kerkers still available? When I checked a couple weelks ago I only saw the V&H for ~$350 and the black Kerker for ~600.
Having wanted chrome and liking the V&H on my Harley, I thought it was a no-brainer to get the V&H. Learned my lesson...

I must be the lucky one. I have had no issues with mine.