1960 99 Exhaust System Supplier Recommendations Request

Hi Alan,  My Siamese was bought  many years ago from RGM  ,  It features a commando type collet on  the offside  that worked but would look better with  3mm turned off the nut  so all looks the same. the pipes were a tight fit , not perfectly aligned and a bit too close to the frame but did at least  give a kick up to the silencer to eliminate the "droopy drawers" effect that  we often see with some systems , Sounds very different to the bikes with seperate pipes (  very snarly-rorty !) ,and was reputed to improve mid range power. It also allowed me to avoid buying any new silencers for decades ( I got  2 sets of cheroots that are reversable!) . It also allows unfettered access to the clutch area  and reduces weight.The system requires  a rear footrest spacer  washer and dent in the back of the  silencer to clear frame and center stand, The chrome has long since gone on the front , but  its a rider. Don't know whats on offer now but I would  not go back to 2 systems.. Let me know if you find a good one, might join you  .

Armours do them. Don't forget to tell them if you have the earlier or later exhaust angles at the head.  They make both types but last time I looked their web site wasn't clear, so check by phone before to make sure you order the right type.  The set I have has a captive nut above the branch on one side, and the other arm is separate so the nut slips on from below before they are joined. Both are swaged as usual.

Check the inside connection to make sure gas flow is smooth. Mine needed some attention.

I will be interested to see yours David . Is it going now ?. Carbs all sorted. 

This is the bike with siamesed pipes, and the pipes detached.  It has the downdraft head. 

There is always a technical problem when chrome plating parts with deep internal corners, and it's lost most of the plating between the pipes. It's not very noticeable on the bike, but you won't have much chance of a win at Stafford unless they are new!

20 years and about 20,000 miles.

Bike seems to be going OK, though not had much use recently.

  I wonder how they handled the plating with the captive nut ?, perhaps they did the swaging  last.   Your footrests are very low  ,  nickname Daddy long legs?.

I picked it up at the works.  When I arrived, the pipe for the captive nut was not swaged.  They asked me which type of exhaust nut I wanted - a question I wasn't expecting.  I think there was a bronze option - which in more recent years I see has become fashionable, especially on shiny Commandos.  They swaged it in no time at all while I waited, so the chrome nuts I already had couldn't be used.

As for footrests - I hate cramp...

I prefer going to Armours.  Plating on the ones I have has been superb, and I like to support a firm that supports old bikes by supplying such a huge range back to early vintage years.  Prices are much the same as far as I can see.

I went off Armours  when I think they were outsourcing  the pipes.  Must have learnt a valuable lesson  and got back into doing it at home.

I bought an exhaust off Armours once, according to them my B44 frame is 1" longer than all the others made by BSA and their pipe is not 1" too short. Never used them again.

Lets hope they have learnt from  the past and have  moved on .  If I were in the market I would ride down there and  ask for a trial fit !!.

I bought a siamese set for my 99SS from Armours about 3 years ago. They are excellent.

The silencers I bought from Armours for my 99 are ineffectual compared with the originals. Beware.I am open to suggestions about what can be done other than replacing them, such as a perforated tube up their tail ends?

Many thanks, Robert. I will look into that suggestion.

Armours state on their web site that the baffle systems are standard (not sure if that always means original) but they don't include internal wadding (when was glass fibre first used?) because it encourages condensation and corrosion, especially when machines are not in regular use or do low mileages. Norton changed their design on average every 4 peacetime years from 1930 to 1970, so they never got it right it seems.

My  orriginal 1960 cheroot  silencers on the 88  were lined with glassfibre , as the bikes were then in daily use  they did not rust out too quick  , eventually  the fibreglass blew out  and followed you in streamers  till you stopped and cut them off.