Hey Guys

I removed the exhaust from my softail today. After getting the system off, this cone looking thing fell out of one of the head pipes. Thought hmmmm,
and checked the other pipe, sure enough it had one as well.

I looked at this thing, and it appears to be a restrictive little bugger. The ID of this thing measured 1.200 this seems to neck the exhaust down quite a bit. Are these things usefull, or should they be left out?

The next thing I noticed was the exhaust dough nuts that were still in the heads, appear to be another restriction as well. I guess when they get squashed down they hang in the port some. So, on that note, is there a better exhaust dough nut to use?

Pic enclosed of that cone looking thing.

 

Those are torque cones that are used in drag pipes.

For gaskets I use the kuryakyn crusher exhaust gasket part #482.

 

Leave those cones in. They break up reversion and add a lot of torque compare to open pipes.

You lose a lot of torque (20 ft lbs right in the freeway cruising range) if you have completely open pipes. I was amazed to see this video and dyno sheet but when I put in the thumbscrews I felt like I added a big cam. Great results.

See here.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...confirmed.html

 

Thanks Joe G for the link on the subject.
Though I am not using drag pipes, by the sounds of things I would most likely be better off putting them back in the new exhaust system.

So I quess I shouldn't worry to much about the exhaust dough nut squishing out and restricting the exhaust flow as well? My motor is just a stock Evo so it shouldn't make a big difference with that restriction.

Once I get the new system fitted up, I will post pics
The bike is a 87 Heritage, using Paughco True Dual head pipes, with Paughco 28 inch fishtail mufflers.

Anyway, thanks for the input guys, and will take the advice, and put the cones back in.

 

Are you running baffles on your new pipes? Then the power cones aren't as critical I wouldn't think. I think they are really beneficial on drag pipes.

You might want to google them and see what the manufacturer has to say about them, I think they are designed for drag pipes and aren't much of a benefit on muffled pipes, but I could be wrong so I'd hate to give bad advice!

On the donut, you could bolt things up and see if you have leaks, if it was me, I'd probably buy a couple of new donuts particularly if they are kinked from the prior install, they are pretty cheap and exhaust leaks sound bad and are bad for the valve seats.

 

Unless you are running open drag pipes I wouldn't use the torque cones.

I've tried it and a full exhaust works better without the cones. At least I felt it did.

 

are you changing your pipes?? if so then you wont need them if your going to a baffled system.

 

Thanks for the additional input guys.
As it ended up, when I tried to put the cones into the new pipes, they would not seat fully like they did in my old pipes. I could have probably laid a piece of wood over it, and a good smack with a dead blow hammer would have seated it that 1/8 inch it needed.

The new head pipes are the true dual Paughco setup to fit a 87 FLSTC with the starter soliniod mounted to the primary case. So ,I focused on the trial fit to see what horror shows may lay ahead. So the torque cones were set aside for me to deal with at a later date.

I was more interested in the fit up to the bike, and could I get the starter solenoid mounted back up with the LH head pipe bolted up. Yes, its tight but it installed fine.
The mufflers are 28 inch baffled Paughco fishtails , so the cones probably wouldn,t be needed for this setup.

I am curious though, and will end up trying the cones just to see the effect with Paughco,s exhaust system. I just didn't want to hammer these old ones in the new pipes in case there was a fitment issue and needed to be returned.

Thanks everyone

 

I have heard that those Paughco pipes with mufflers are pretty darn quiet and restrictive, I doubt you want to restrict the flow any more.

Will be interested to hear your thoughts after you can go for a ride (with pics).