Carpenter Sidewinder Exhaust Installation - Help Needed I think

Hey Guys,

Just got my brand new sidewinder exhaust from carpenter. Super excited about it.
The only issue is that the box did not come with any hardware or instructions except some springs. I think it might use stock hardware, but just curious.

Has anyone installed carpenter pipes before that can lend some advice? How to secure is one thing, secondly the piece that attaches to the engine doesn't seem to make a good seal. Should I be using a silicon sealing agent or somthing like that?

Any help is appreciated trying to get this done so I can ride this weekend, probably the last good weekend up here in Canada.

Thanks everyone.

I mentioned the mating at the engine. See how there is a groove in the engine that the original exhaust sits in. The carpenter manifold seems to sit outside of that and is just metal on metal. I'm worried about damage to the engine and getting a good seal. Thoughts?

Engine. See where there is a lip that has a lot of crud on it (going to clean the crud too)


Here is how the manifold mates, seeminglu on the outside of the lip. That could be design but I can't tell. Thoughts?



Here is the full dissasembled work of art. It will look even better with a sexy bike attached

First, clean out all that gunk in your exhaust ports. Pop out the oval copper crush rings, part 8 in the diagram below. You'll want to put in (3) new ones either from your dealer or . While you're out, pick up some stainless steel nuts and stainless steel lock washers because those stock captive nuts won't be deep enough to use. You might want to consider having that exhaust header interface plate powder coated black (just the exposed plate).

If CR didn't provide installation instructions, it should be pretty simple to figure out which of the three pipes go where looking at the photos (that's what I did). Assembly will be easier if you put some grease on the ends of the pipes while fitting them up. It'll smoke and burn off within a few minutes after starting up. Springs are pretty easy to place with just a screwdriver, but they will scratch your pipes, so I recommend wrapping them in something (maybe a high-temp silicone sleeve?) if that's going to bother you.

You're going to want to tighten and retighten those nuts to the exhaust port studs several times over the coming weeks. Be constantly checking on those suckers until they stop wiggling loose. I went out and snapped a couple photos for you to reference... let me know if you want any more. PM me your e-mail and I'll send you the tune I have in my '14 Roadster with Ramair and CR exhaust making 154 hp and 155 ft-lbs tq after my recent dyno tune with @1olbull.

I'll add my 2 cents:

Blip,

The oval side of the 3 hole plate (your 2nd pic, Alpental's 2nd pic) crushes the copper washers, making a tight fit.
As Alpental says, you have to re torque those nuts many times, gently, because the copper washers will soften and loosen.
I did mine after every ride, after it cooled down.
They will eventually stay tight. I forget the torque spec. Don't over tighten.

Nice Pipes!

I can't wait to see the results

Awesome thanks!

I got it mostly together. And yes those sprints will definitely scratch the pipes I used packing material for now but I will look for some high temp tape or sleeve to fix that.

I did not use greese but I probably should have here are some pics.

The dealer only has 2 crush rings. I am going to try and use one of the original ones twice with some trublack silicon as well. on all three. What do people think about that idea? Reasonable or am I asking for trouble.

The pipes all fit nice on the manifold except for the left one which I've shown below Is that an issue in peoples opinion? I'm gonna fiddle a bit.

Permatex high heat copper is what I used on my older style pipe. Especially where the pipe goes on the aluminum manifold. I also used two gasket per cylinder and stainless lock washers on the studs.

blip said:

The dealer only has 2 crush rings. I am going to try and use one of the original ones twice with some trublack silicon as well. on all three. What do people think about that idea? Reasonable or am I asking for trouble.

The pipes all fit nice on the manifold except for the left one which I've shown below Is that an issue in peoples opinion? I'm gonna fiddle a bit.

Click to expand...

Why the crush rings are sold individually instead of in 3-packs is beyond me. Maybe some of Triumph's twins use the same rings? I wouldn't install with reusing a ring, but that's me.

Just because it fits up nicely on the bench doesn't mean it'll go on smoothly. I had a hell of a time trying to get the 3-1 collector to sit behind the rear brake fluid reservoir, and ended up having to space it out a bit.

My Brute exhaust doesn't sit well on cylinder 3 (left in photo, rear on bike) either. Maybe CR's jig is off a little? Not sure why it's like that. I think it may be the cause of significant decel popping that the tuner was unable to tune out, but I need to do a little more investigation. Also, I need to have a word with my powder coater.

Yep try the permatex. The double copper gasket brought he header out and allowed me to roll the merge collector in towards the engine and was able to get the pipes more squarely on the aluminum manifold.

blip said:

Awesome thanks!

I got it mostly together. And yes those sprints will definitely scratch the pipes I used packing material for now but I will look for some high temp tape or sleeve to fix that.

I did not use greese but I probably should have here are some pics.

The dealer only has 2 crush rings. I am going to try and use one of the original ones twice with some trublack silicon as well. on all three. What do people think about that idea? Reasonable or am I asking for trouble.

The pipes all fit nice on the manifold except for the left one which I've shown below Is that an issue in peoples opinion? I'm gonna fiddle a bit.

Click to expand...

You might consider using spark plug insulators (used to insulate plugs from header pipes) to keep the springs off the primary pipes. They are available on E bay in all types of heat insulating woven type material and in many colors. Just curious, anyone know why one corner of the header plate is cut diagonally? Also, anyone have the inside diameter of the outer round hole on the header plate?