I know I haven't even left yet, but I'm starting to work on my deployment wish list. Leaving in soon for another trip across the water; after paying off the CC's and saving a little, I figure I'll have about 2-3K to play with. Already figured on doing a 107 kit, but can't come to terms on the Exhaust. I know I want to go 2-1 for performance, but want a ghost pipe, cause I like the look of the bagger with 2 pipes. I think I've settled on 2 exhaust. Either a D&D Fatcat, or the Thunderheader. Looking for opinions from anyone with experience with these exhaust systems. Thanks in advance.

 

First off, thank you for your service! My experience with D&D has been excellent. There are also a lot of people run TH's and love them. It seems that every TH I see suffers from the same problems after a while though. The start to look crappy around the collector and blue, or turn a bit black if they are chrome. I always check out TH's closely when I seed them to check to see how they look as I have read a lot of stuff on their finishes. It could just be that I live close to the ocean as I have seen a very few that were perfect, but for that kind of money D&D with their perfect finishes gets my money every time. I took some pics of TH's one day but have since lost them of course. The other thing is TH's do not come with heat shields and they have to be purchased separately.

Drew

 

Thunderheader sounds better but D&D is probably better quality. That said, if you keep your bike clean, you probably won't have any problems with the Thunderheader. My $.02.

 

Thudnerheader is definitely louder.

Drew

 

louder and sounds much better the TH that is.

 

I would say you prob get alittle better performance out of d&d and great quality. I run one of each on my bikes. I would say the TH has held up quite well so far, it been on my 08 for 2 years now. The d&d sounds good, but nothing sounds like a TH.

 

10+ years on Thunderheader, no quality issues.

 

I love the workmanship and sound of my FatCats. Installation was simple and straightforward and the price from the Dr was unbeatable.

Personally, I appreciate the asymmetry of a single tail pipe and the 2:1 is always a performance boost.

 

totally agree --ThunderHeader skipped school on the quality control lesson--but there is no mistaken the sound -- you know from 100's of yards away

 

Have had both. The TH is loud, painfully so (I must be getting old). I did have quality issues with chrome and blueing.
Put a FC on a new SG in 08 and it has been great. The chrome is beautiful and no blueing what so ever. The sound is subdued until you get on it and then it really barks. Perfect for a bike with a stereo and/or touring.
Don't understand the ghost pipe thing: extra weight, extra cash and fake. Form follows function in my mind.