Delkevic Stainless Exhaust

V&H 4 into 1 Merge collector has way more design an better flow. However, stainless is a one time fit and forget bussiness.

I like how the pipes fit tight up to the sump cover. That should help reduce the tendency of dragging the collector in low ground clearance situations.

When building my 750 I considered, but dismissed, the Delkevic header for my bike because the 650/750 pipe hangs down much lower than this 1000 pipe.

z1kzonly wrote: YES! Delkevic, Quality items! I like stainless, might yellow up when ran, but, you have to know that going into stainless! You should anyway.
I cleaned mine up with some stainless bolts & washers instead of studs and 1/2" length spacers to hide threads.

I think the SS hardware looks great, but eliminating the head studs you also loose the ability to tighten up the header pipes "just a little more" to eliminate any header pipe / gasket leakage, and the possibility of pulling the threads out of the head. I used some SS self locking nuts on mine with SS flat washers when I initially built my bike, and although the nylon locking material has melted and seen better days, they still stay tight and are shiny after 5 years of use and abuse.

undiablo wrote: V&H 4 into 1 Merge collector has way more design an better flow. However, stainless is a one time fit and forget bussiness.

Agreed, the V&H even looks like they flow better numbers than the Delkevic. And they should flow better for 2 1/2 times the cost. The V&H also save on weight over the SS setup,from the mild steel / chrome and the need to eliminate the center stand.. Not that any of this stuff matters on anything other than a drag bike.
In hindsight I kind of wish I had never sold it, but after I built a few bikes, I seem to accumulate so much "junk" that there comes a time to clean out some of the unused parts, and that was one of them.

I was tempted to try and run down the guy I sold it to, but nah.. Brand NEW stuff is nicer and I LIKE my center stand. .

Nice pics old_kaw man. I look forward to seeing one of your bike with it installed. Curious what the tail-end of the meg looks like, and if there is a competition baffle available for it, like the V&H 13009-J that currently sells for $499.99 on ebay. Talk about price fixing. :ohmy: Mine was $360 shipped way back then.

Can't believe I can't remember what I paid exactly for the V&H back in the winter of 81 but was very close to 260-270 with a 15% discount off that (special was in the back of Cycle world add or Motorcyclist). Comp baffle was 50 when I got it and I think jumped to 75 soon after.. Gotta admit the Del is very sharp looking and mine is a little rough if you look close but it is still solid. Like that hardware too Z1 very nice touch.

daveo wrote: Nice pics old_kaw man. I look forward to seeing one of your bike with it installed. Curious what the tail-end of the meg looks like, and if there is a competition baffle available for it, like the V&H 13009-J that currently sells for $499.99 on ebay. Talk about price fixing. :ohmy: Mine was $360 shipped way back then.

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I don't remember where I saw the $800.00 pricing on the V&H daveo, but I believe the correct term would be price GOUGING. OR, perhaps an incentive to steer people away from buying the V&H setup into a different exhaust system? (all pure speculation on my part)

Here is a close up of the baffle end dave. It has an inner and outer baffle that can be removed progressively. The documentation list that no rejetteing is necessary if all baffles are left intact.

I tried several times to get a good pic looking into the silencer. This one was with the flash set to on, instead of auto.

This is the pipes end of the collector. These welds are so tiny and articulate it is hard to capture it in a pic.

I may need to postpone installing this system until I sort out a problem with my truck. No truck=no work. The vortec p0300, in a van no less, is a real PITA to find / fix. I firmly believe in diagnosing problems rather than "parts changing" but THIS truck has to be jacked up and the wheels removed just to get to the spark plugs.

Wow, that exhaust looks beautiful, and thanks for posting the end-shot. Can't wait to see it on your bike! :woohoo:

Good luck with your van...hope it's pre-07 and the fix is simple and cheap. Had AFM deleted on my 07 Sierra 5.3 and that was anything but.

daveo wrote: Wow, that exhaust looks beautiful, and thanks for posting the end-shot. Can't wait to see it on your bike! :woohoo:

Good luck with your van...hope it's pre-07 and the fix is simple and cheap. Had AFM deleted on my 07 Sierra 5.3 and that was anything but.

I found another baffle end pic on my phone. I knew I had taken more than just one baffle pic. There looks to be 3 dimples poking into the area where the center baffle is inserted that hold it centered opposite of the bolt end of the inner baffle, if that makes any sense? Check out the tiny weld around the rim of that megaphone.


I ordered a OEM AC Delco wire-set from Rock Auto, that came today. (nice delco set BTW) I also have an OEM AC Delco ignition coil ordered (fleabay), that should be here next week. I may bite the bullet and do the intake gaskets around the 16th or so. If I didn't like the convenience of the van keeping things dry and secure, compared to the major project just to tune it up I would not like these trucks quite so much. (my 2nd GM van this model) It's a 2005 with MAF.

old_kaw wrote:

daveo wrote: Nice pics old_kaw man. I look forward to seeing one of your bike with it installed. Curious what the tail-end of the meg looks like, and if there is a competition baffle available for it, like the V&H 13009-J that currently sells for $499.99 on ebay. Talk about price fixing. :ohmy: Mine was $360 shipped way back then.

[/quote

I don't remember where I saw the $800.00 pricing on the V&H daveo, but I believe the correct term would be price GOUGING. OR, perhaps an incentive to steer people away from buying the V&H setup into a different exhaust system? (all pure speculation on my part)

Here is a close up of the baffle end dave. It has an inner and outer baffle that can be removed progressively. The documentation list that no rejetteing is necessary if all baffles are left intact.

I tried several times to get a good pic looking into the silencer. This one was with the flash set to on, instead of auto.

This is the pipes end of the collector. These welds are so tiny and articulate it is hard to capture it in a pic.

I may need to postpone installing this system until I sort out a problem with my truck. No truck=no work. The vortec p0300, in a van no less, is a real PITA to find / fix. I firmly believe in diagnosing problems rather than "parts changing" but THIS truck has to be jacked up and the wheels removed just to get to the spark plugs.

Let me/us know when u get the exhaust installed. I'm curious to know what you think of the sound. I think it's pretty loud with both baffles installed. Been thinking about taking the baffles out putting in some baffle material with the baffles to see if any quieter. Keep the pictures coming too

perrykz1000 wrote: Let me/us know when u get the exhaust installed. I'm curious to know what you think of the sound. I think it's pretty loud with both baffles installed. Been thinking about taking the baffles out putting in some baffle material with the baffles to see if any quieter. Keep the pictures coming too

I got it installed today, Perry. There goes my stealth bike.. I seemed to pick up an "escort" within half a mile from home while on my maiden voyage. No more coming home quietly. It does have a deep "knarly / throaty " sound, turning my mild mannered, docile bike into the monster it always has been. (it was lurking under that quiet, muffled persona.)


I went to a carpet store and picked up some carpet remnants from the dumpster a few weeks ago, to try and keep the pipes nice.. at least until I got it installed.


I removed the stock exhaust yesterday. I stuffed shop towels into the exhaust ports, sprayed on cheapo degreaser, then pressure washed the oil and crap off of the front of the engine and center stand. I let it dry in the shed last night with a fan blowing on it, since I couldn't give it the usual interstate 70 dry cycle.


All together, the install itself, after cleaning the bike up only took a couple of hours. It all went together / fit rather nicely. I reused my SS self lock nuts and flat washers on the flanges. They still look great after all these years on the bike. Note how the pipes are yellowing after only a few minutes of run time. Even with the yellowing they still look better than chrome / mild steel pipes turning blue.


I have more pics (and comments!), but don't want to choke the server all at once.

Now , my fitment rant and raves:
The stop for the center stand runs too close to the rear tire for my tastes. (aprox. 1/2") The pic looks like it is even closer, but it is not. I could have positioned it further away by bolting the silencer bracket to the outside of the muffler support, but that in turn would make the silencer stick out an additional ~1.5" from the bike. I may try to fabricate a different stop for the center stand.


As far as changing the oil and filter, this looks to be a breeze! It looks even easier than with the stock system . The stock crossover pipe and clamps were always in the way. I often worry that the neighbors might learn a few new cuss words, but it seems they probably wrote the book on that anyway. Note that I added another wire clip to keep the igniter wires up away from the exhaust.


I did get a video of the bike running, but don't see any way to post it without making a profile on YouTube. The rear view installed and running. As you can see, sticking out 1 1/2" more would not work.