Rgm exhaust pipes not fitting?

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nonsense

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Just got around to fitting these mk2 balanced exhaust pipes. Is it just me or are they a couple inches to far away from the frame? I made them hand tight in the head, and both pipes are about the same. At first I thought it was just a different muffler upsweep angle (as I THINK it should be) then the straight pipes, but if I pivot them down the side stand starts hitting.



On a related note, the crossover tube doesn’t quite fit, by about 1/4”.
 
RGM do MK2 balanced and MK3 balanced pipes, both made for Wassells. It would not surprise me if Wassells get both made with the MK3 bend which has extra clearance for the fatter primary case of the MK3 and only the exhaust port ends are different. As for the connector pipe just shorten it. Also on the 2 joint covers only tighten one nut/bolt as this reduces the risk of a weld breaking on the pipe.
 
kommando said:
Also on the 2 joint covers only tighten one nut/bolt as this reduces the risk of a weld breaking on the pipe.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that, but will bear in mind when I come to fit mine.

Surely though, ex gases will escape from that area if not tightened?
 
Looks like the issue is more than the mk3 clearance idea Kommando.

In the OPs second pic it shows he’ll need 2 inch spacers to mount the silencers! Also looks like the side-stand won’t work?
 
Fast Eddie said:
In the OPs second pic it shows he’ll need 2 inch spacers to mount the silencers! Also looks like the side-stand won’t work?
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That's possibly an issue from the flange being misaligned on the pipe, on my very early MK2a I had this type of pipe when I bought the bike but could not get replacements in the 90's so I went MK3 balanced pipes and added the spherical seats. These spherical seats give some extra movement on positioning that the flanges do not. Even later when I went 750 flanged pipe without balance I kept the spherical seat to allow that extra movement at the expense of the number of threads engaged. That extra movement allows you to tuck the timing side pipe in so the kickstart lever has clearance.

A bit of silicone sealant will fill any gaps at the connector with the loose nut and bolt, by loose I mean tightened just enough so the nut does not come loose. Carbon will eventually fill the gap until the next time the pipes are removed.
 
kommando said:
That's possibly an issue from the flange being misaligned on the pipe, on my very early MK2a I had this type of pipe when I bought the bike but could not get replacements in the 90's so I went MK3 balanced pipes and added the spherical seats. These spherical seats give some extra movement on positioning that the flanges do not. Even later when I went 750 flanged pipe without balance I kept the spherical seat to allow that extra movement at the expense of the number of threads engaged. That extra movement allows you to tuck the timing side pipe in so the kickstart lever has clearance.
Click to expand...

The problem with the balanced system is that with the balance tube and connectors in place the pipes are set in one position or at least any adjustment is severely restricted even with the connectors not fully tightened.
 
I don't think I have ever bought a set of down pipes for a commando that I haven't had to pull about to make fit
If you fit any part of the exhaust under any amount of strain it will fail
 
Given that all pipes these days are pattern parts, and that fit is often down to ‘luck of the drawer’ fitting a balanced systems seems like asking for trouble to me. Just too many fixed points and too many opportunities for error in manufacture.

Resulting in poor fit and / or failure inducing stressed fitment.
 
Do Armours still exist/make their own??

Had satisfactory pipes for both P11 and balanced Commando set from them, though we are going back 32 and 11 years respectively.....
 
Fast Eddie said:
In the OPs second pic it shows he’ll need 2 inch spacers to mount the silencers! Also looks like the side-stand won’t work?
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s correct, although those mounting plates are for straight pipes with the greater upsweep; I can’t figure out if these pipes are supposed to have that upsweep or the lower black cap upsweep. I’m prepared to make new mounting plates if I can get the rest of the pipe to fit correctly.

My larger concern is the pipe clearance for side stand, center stand (haven’t tried, it’s holding the bike up while wheel is off), and foot controls. The side stand barely clears in the picture, I don’t think the center stand will.

Sounds like I’ll be giving RGM a call. Unfortunately I bought the pipes a while ago, so not sure I’ll have much luck.
 
nonsense said:
Yes, that’s correct, although those mounting plates are for straight pipes with the greater upsweep; I can’t figure out if these pipes are supposed to have that upsweep or the lower black cap upsweep. I’m prepared to make new mounting plates if I can get the rest of the pipe to fit correctly.

My larger concern is the pipe clearance for side stand, center stand (haven’t tried, it’s holding the bike up while wheel is off), and foot controls. The side stand barely clears in the picture, I don’t think the center stand will.

Sounds like I’ll be giving RGM a call. Unfortunately I bought the pipes a while ago, so not sure I’ll have much luck.
Click to expand...
Let them know you're sharing your experience online/worldwide ;-)
 
nonsense said:
Yes, that’s correct, although those mounting plates are for straight pipes with the greater upsweep; I can’t figure out if these pipes are supposed to have that upsweep or the lower black cap upsweep.
Click to expand...

The upsweep angle between peashooter pipes and black cap pipes aren't significantly different so peashooters should mount on black cap pipes with the correct set of plates as shown in your pictures although the peashooters can be splayed out very slightly so it appears to be the pipes that are not bent accurately.

Some pictures (generally Interpols) show black caps at a lower angle (for panniers etc.), however, that was achieved by using angled silencer brackets that rotated the black caps to a lower position at the rear but using the same set of exhaust pipes.
 
the RGM pipes if Uk made would be manufactured by T.J Wassell , the balanced systems are a real pain a few degrees out at the port or balance tube and they are a nightmare

non balanced headers are much easier to fit
 
EstuaryBoy said:
Do Armours still exist/make their own??

Had satisfactory pipes for both P11 and balanced Commando set from them, though we are going back 32 and 11 years respectively.....
Click to expand...
Non balanced set on the 750 very happy with the quality & fit
 
Back in the day at the Norton shop, we bent almost all Commando replacement pipes, to much cursing. Didn't seem to matter the source. The boss came to believe that the ports in the heads weren't all the same. Just a tiny alteration in the angle of the thread and seat in the port gets multiplied many times over thirty and more inches on. Of course the suppliers weren't as careful as they might be knowing they could blame the heads and threads.
 
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