Just got my muffler back from Randy. I would agree with everyone that he is a great guy. Super friendly and knowledgeable. Haven't gotten my bike back together yet but one thing that irks me is that the welds are absolutely horrible. Very messy with spackle everywhere. I dont know if he has an apprentice or what but nothing of that low quality should ever leave a shop.
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Hawk performance exhaust
- Thread starter Chetjay
- Start date
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Theycallmecrash
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- Aug 4, 2012
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Ive no experience with the pipe itself, and its cool somebody out there does the work. I just see it as a cheap, lazy, poor way to gain nothing more than noise. I tore my stock one apart to do the mod, decided what a piece of junk and tossed it.
I recently got mine back and experienced something similar. The welds aren't bad but the splatter was excessive. The splatter comes off easily with a chisel. I suggest you take a chisel and carve it off, then sand. I'd also suggest you sand the whole thing down and apply gloss engine enamel. The Muff shows below the chin faring so it looks a lot better shiny, plus it's easier to clean..
On the note of "gaining nothing more than noise" I disagree entirely. Rand Bypasses the exhaust valve, this dropped the back pressure and made it rev WAAAY faster. After tuning and putting on a K&N it defiantly helped the performance.
On the note of "gaining nothing more than noise" I disagree entirely. Rand Bypasses the exhaust valve, this dropped the back pressure and made it rev WAAAY faster. After tuning and putting on a K&N it defiantly helped the performance.
konarider94
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Yea its just a gutted pipe. If you dont have access to a welder and want a cheap loud pipe this is the way to go. If you can get anyone willing to split open the can, gut it out, and weld it shut for you for less than his price go for it. He is very misleading when he says he has baffles specifically tuned for the race map. I think its an outright lie after looking inside it. He is a nice guy but am still wondering how everyone likes him so much after he can mislead everyone that much. I dont say much about it because people usually get upset with me.
I want to like the guy because he will spend time and chat with you on the phone about buells and help you out in that regard. He is usually willing to chop the cheese grater off from what Ive heard. But the facts are that he lied about the baffles/ tuned aspect of it, I had pieces break off the inside from poor welds that he just told me to remove (which i had to do by cutting it apart), and i had to repaint it right after pulling it out of the box because he packaged it too soon and the peanuts stuck to the paint. I usually encourage people to choose a different option if they can afford it.
x2 on engine enamel paint
I want to like the guy because he will spend time and chat with you on the phone about buells and help you out in that regard. He is usually willing to chop the cheese grater off from what Ive heard. But the facts are that he lied about the baffles/ tuned aspect of it, I had pieces break off the inside from poor welds that he just told me to remove (which i had to do by cutting it apart), and i had to repaint it right after pulling it out of the box because he packaged it too soon and the peanuts stuck to the paint. I usually encourage people to choose a different option if they can afford it.
x2 on engine enamel paint
tommyl8586
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- Mar 23, 2013
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Mine is coming tomorrow, and I am really hoping not to be disappointed. I saw so many great reviews on his work, and he really sounds like a good guy on the phone. Have you all tried to talk to him about your issues with his work?
konarider94
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Tommy - Yes I called him when the pieces broke inside. He said they dont do anything except make it a little quieter and proceeded to tell me to get them out the tail pipes with pliers. I knew his pipe wasnt tuned with baffles and this was further confirmation. I tried to tell him they dont fit and he was trying to assure me they did, so I said eff it and cut it apart myself and welded it back together. He said its because I live in michigan and the inside of mine was too rusty too weld. 1 its covered in carbon on the inside with minimal surface rust, 2 you are supposed to brush/grind to bare metal before welding anyway. I was able to weld it just fine. At the time i sent the pipe i didnt have access to a welder. If you are curious you can google inside of hawk exhaust to see what he does. I posted the pics when I had it cut apart to fix it.
Im curious what he has told other people regarding the baffles and if the pipe was specifically tuned for the race map or not.
Im curious what he has told other people regarding the baffles and if the pipe was specifically tuned for the race map or not.
rchuff
Well-known member
That's why I did my own ,i'm lucky I have a welder
All I know is I've had my Hawk for 2 years and 8,000 miles now and while the welds and splatter aren't too impressive i've been very happy with it. Constantly getting compliments about how it sounds. Was going to go with a D&D since they're local to me but said F that when they wouldn't let me come pick it up and wanted to charge me $45 to ship it 4 miles to my house.
50dro
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I'm kinda' with WALLSXB on this one. Can't go wrong for the price.
With regards to baffling...There's a certain amount of baffling/tuning effect that is a result of the internal volume of a muffler, the length of an open pipe etc. Yes, the approach may be on the crude side of things but Randy has put in the time to get the recipe "right enough" to have hundreds of happy customers around the world. It does the job for a Bueller on a budget.
PS - Kona: I'm not mad at ya'!
With regards to baffling...There's a certain amount of baffling/tuning effect that is a result of the internal volume of a muffler, the length of an open pipe etc. Yes, the approach may be on the crude side of things but Randy has put in the time to get the recipe "right enough" to have hundreds of happy customers around the world. It does the job for a Bueller on a budget.
PS - Kona: I'm not mad at ya'!
rchuff
Well-known member
lunaticfringe the tips are from auto parts store they were longer I had to cut them down, there is a baffle in mine up near the front of the muffler. Sounds deep and rumbles pretty good , was trying to put vid up having a hard time. By the way thanks lunatic
Route0766
Well-known member
rchuff: Put just the YouTube link...
50dro: What do you think about D&D?
50dro: What do you think about D&D?
50dro
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I don't have any personal experience other than hearing a few of them in person. IMO, my Hawk had a deeper tone than the D&D and similar loudness. You'd be getting "serial production quality" (ie good welds & paint finish etc). For my money though, if I was comparing new to new I'd be looking at Deans pipes or the Twin Motorcycle Torque Hammer (which we can get for you <<<shameless plug
) for just a bit more than the new D&D. A used D&D would obviously be less expensive than the above options listed.***Disclaimer - I'm no exhaust specialist by any stretch of the imagination. I obviously went for the Hawk pipe and don't regret doing so. At the time it's what my wallet would allow and I have been pleased with it especially considering the cost. It demands attention, Randy will customize within reason and (via butt dyno) it has given me some performance gains. Would other systems out perform it? There's a good possibility that they might but I can't drop $600+ to test that theory right now!
konarider94
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doubt it, i bought mine over 2 years ago and apparently its still an issue. had to sand it to get all the stuck foam off of it. you would think he would have learned how to weld just from experience by now.
Hahaha right? Well what's done is done. Next time I have my bike apart I'm gonna cut it apart and redo all the welds. As of now I'm just trying to get everything back together. The Michigan winter is breaking. You're from the mitten, right?
konarider94
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yea i was out riding around the kalamazoo and grand rapids area on friday and saturday
rchuff
Well-known member
Exhaust is leaking threw the welds in the one pic top left , man i'm glad I did my own I could of did better with my eyes close . if you can't weld good you should not offer a service weather it's $10.00 or & 200.00 take pride and offer a quality job if not don't do it or let people see the workmanship in a pic and let them deside for them selves. Sould have used antispater.
