Another Exhaust Thread (Vandemon Headers) with Installation Pictures

It's finished and the beast finally sounds like it rides and looks. I've only let it run for a few minutes since it's late but holy sheet it sounds good.
The arrow in the pic points to where the exhaust is sitting right up against the center support but I don't think it's avoidable becasue moving the pipes away to the left would make the forward left mount even more difficult to line up and the pipe going into the headers would be crooked so it is what it is. I'll go for a spin in the morning so the ECU can get used to it's new accessory.

Looks great and I’m sure sounds like a beast!

I must say that this exhaust is louder than I expected, even stock to aftermarket side by side YT videos don't convey what one actually gets. Maybe the size of the cans implies a tamer sound but don't get me wrong, I love it. Of course all that racket emanating more or less directly below my ears calls for earplugs which I normally wear anyhow, but skipped them on this maiden voyage to get the full experience. I flashed the Penner tune a few months ago and even with the then still stock exhaust the decel pops sounded more aggressive. Now it sounds outright evil with all the other noises that emanate from the beast which were silenced before.
I went back and re-tightened the clamps since last night before heading out and also checked on the upper center mount where the pipe contacts it from the left and there is nothing I can do about that. I'm pretty sure that curved piece is actually plastic so we'll see how that goes and eliminating it is probably not a good idea. I'll find out if my rear tire will come off without removing the right muffler when it's time for a tire change.

gadget_ho said:

Do you have the Penner tune loaded? I found that Triumph would flash the ECU at each service, and a couple of services ago I had that crap fueling too, way lumpier than it used to be. Reloading the Penner tune smoothed it out a lot compared to whatever Triumph seems to be doing to their stock tables.

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On my to do list but to answer your question, no I do not have the tune. I would like to do it but I guess I would rather ***** and complain than get the throttle issue taken care of. I don't ride as much as a few years back so the only time I think of getting the tune is when I ride and when I park the Rocket I forget about it. Oh one other small problem, a mechanic or any facsimile I am not.

Mighty Mouse said:

On my to do list but to answer your question, no I do not have the tune. I would like to do it but I guess I would rather ***** and complain than get the throttle issue taken care of. I don't ride as much as a few years back so the only time I think of getting the tune is when I ride and when I park the Rocket I forget about it. Oh one other small problem, a mechanic or any facsimile I am not.

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If you'd like I can help you with getting the Penner tune flashed, I have everything required and it's actually pretty straight forward. You don't live too far away so let me know.

I've gone back and re-tightened the clamps twice so far. Before the first ride this morning and again before another this evening. Seems like as I ride and things settle into place that is necessary, the clamp on the headers was actually just snug when I checked it this afternoon and after tightening everything up again the sound volume has settled down a bit. I'll keep checking it for a few days.

This being my first time installing an exhaust I have figured out a few things and my initial impression of the sound was due to these factors:
1) The clamps were not as tight as they should have been. The manual seems to default to 10Nm for any clamps, even the ones on the rubber intake manifold, which just feels wrong even before one gets close to that value. As a result I tightened everything by feel and wound up leaving the header clamp even looser than I thought, which likely contributed to the initial racket I heard.
2) Rather than cranking every clamp down from the get-go doing it in stages between short rides, as I wound up doing unintentionally, seems to be the proper way. This way the clamps have a chance to align into place and get tightened down very evenly at the end instead of torquing them down immediately and possibly winding up with a bad seal.
3) The ECU needs time to adapt to it's new environment so any crazy popping/snapping noises will settle down eventually.
I have sent an email to Vandemon asking for clamp torque values and also let the know how happy I am with their system.

Sounds like you're getting it sorted. I like the look and sound of the Vandemon's but I'm not real crazy about their pricing.

atomsplitter said:

Sounds like you're getting it sorted. I like the look and sound of the Vandemon's but I'm not real crazy about their pricing.

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Same here on the pricing but once I received the product and got to appreciate the craftsmanship followed how they sound and look in real life I have zero regrets.