Good News First Gen Owners Lookin To Upgrade To A Better Exhaust!!!!!!

hey guys its been a LONG while since i have posted and here i am again! so heres the deal i have been looking for an exhuast for a while for my 1985 VF500 Interceptor! things are NOT EASY at all for find for this baby but i love her and refuse to give up looking. lucky me!!! ok so sometimes stock isn't bad that is for OTHER bikes. and sometimes using stock parts from other bikes is like using aftermarket for my bike or our bikes. confused??? well stay with me. i stumbled upon some stock honda pipes from a newer bike not quite sure the model or year but its the mid 90's and as soon as i find the year make and model of the bike these pipes belonged to i will post again!!!! but heres what i did. basically i got an adapter from auto zone to fit my outlet from the exhaust collector and i put the pipes on and bam AMAZING. the sound is AWESOME slight rumble at idle and a sexy racing hum at acceleration. absolutely great on sound and perfromance wise??!?!?! you wont believe me. i gained A LOT of acceleration at low and top end. torque and hp definately gained and only from adding stock pipes but if you look at it the stock pipes i put on are so much bigger and high performance than the stock 85' vf500 ones i had to begin with. but basically what i am getting to is i only paid 20 bucks for them. i will post pictures up ASAP and some sound clips and more info on where and how to find them! i hope this will help all you guys in the same situation as i was in trying to find aftermarket pipes for these bikes. like i said sometimes stock is good. but anyways i hope you are all as excited as i am about this discover. oh and no welding or fabricating if you dont want to however i am going to cut and weld the bolt brackets for extra support even though its not needed!!!! again i will post pictures REALLY SOON. till then enjoy.

 

hey 2000ex, thanks for the tip. I would like to upgrade my exhaust as I have asked on this forum in the past for advice and got a lot of tips and tricks. What I decided to do is go with a couple of slip-ons, although they may not be for my '83 VF750. I have to get from the collector below the bike to the slip-on and have been wondering just how to do that. I'll check auto zone for this "adapter" to fit in between and see how that goes. I was also thinking of locating some sort of flex piping to get from the collector to the slip on. Can you tell me what you ended up with from Auto zone? How about a pic as well? Thanks!

 

yeah i will get some pics for you and as far as the adapters they come in a VARIETY of sizes from end to end. including straight pipes and flex tubing.... anything you want for a custom exhaust on any vehicle. but the adapters i got i will have to check on the sizes when i take some pictures... also i could not find and EXACT fit adapter for my pipes so basically and its really simple and cheap.......... i went to a little exhaust shop near my house and had them spot weld the adapters to my pip so there is no exhaust leak and they are snug and tight.... it cost me 35 bucks to have 2 adapters added to 2 pipes not too bad. anyways i'll get some pics for ya.

 

Mr 2000ex, I just returned from my local Auto Zone and didn't really find what you had described. Can you tell me more about the adapter you were talking about? I located some flex pipe, but was suprised at how little it flexed. Hmmm. Might have to really rack the old brain for a solution to this one. I'll scour the internet and see if there's anything out there. Do you know the size diameter of the stock system?

 

ok. the adapters i used were 2"-1/4" and also 1/4"-1/8"..... they are just small adapters that connect different pipe sizes to eachother..... as for the pipes i used. i just recently found out they came from a Honda Blackbird. They fit almost perfectly with some tweaking... and the adapters and if you wish some spot welding. now that i have figured this all out i am now looking into the aftermarket Blackbird exhausts!!! because they are slip ons and the stock fit so the slip ons will fit. i am still in the process of getting a new camera but i will see if i can borrow my buddys to get some pics. if you have any more questions on the adapters i can help..... if you go into auto zone go to the exhaust section and they are just short pipes with different sized inlets and outlets.

 

A little off topic, But has anyone ever tried to make a custom "Collector" for the 500 to turn it into more of a 4-1 exhaust?

 

2000ex, Sounds like you have a good find. I had no plans to change from my stock exhaust but if it is as easy as you say to rig something up I just might try it. I'm looking forward to some pictures!

 

i am not saying it is easy because you have to play with the pipes to get them where you want them however its not hard either. lol if that makes sense. just with the use of the blackbird pipes which are stock is amazing the difference in power from my stock pipes and the sound is nice too but i still want aftermarket cans so i'm looking into a blackbird slip on and there is a really nice carbon fiber set for cheap on eaby i thought about. i am going to best buy to buy a new camera this weekend so i will have pics up within a few days.

 

and yes i am still looking into the collector. they make them for pro stock and drag cars but would still work for bikes the only thing that got me steering away from that is the fact of i dont have the tools or the money to take measurments and have the pipes bent for me and next to that fact the collectors are quite pricey for a good one. 200 or better. and then if you dont get the pipes bent right you could have a major air flow issue causing you to lose power. i should quote that because i got that information from a Harley Buff that builds custom harleys down the street from my house and sells them. even if i had him build my exhaust and bending the pipes etc... its still going to cost a good amount of money but either way i guess its all gonna cost money because aftermarket blackbird pipes are $$$ unless you find used.

These are the 3 top websites that have been recommended to me by exhaust builders. They can even build it for you and send it to you if you know precisely what size, diameters, etc... you need. Also they have the adapters i was talking about earlier when i first posted! the same ones you can get from auto zone but these from the websites are much better quality and precisely measured as where auto zones are just quick cut adapters which are fine and work.

:typing:

http://heartthrobexhaust.com/
http://spdexhaust.com/HomeB.html
http://cppexhaust.com/home/main.asp

 

I'm curious about how the Blackbird exhaust turned out. Any pics? Sound clips?

 

Blackbird exhaust???

With all due respect 2000EX, this thread is USELESS without any part #'s, photos, sound bytes, or even a scanned copy of a restaurant napkins you drew out with a crayon.
When you run into someone with a digital camera (BTW: that is more common than an auto-zone part), please do us all the favor of putting your art on canvas. About every reply you got asked for an image; it is much easier to understand what direction you took with this exhaust proj:frown: ect!

 

my good sir, i extremely understand however things have been very hectic recently......... i have my new digital camera and i will have pictures of the pipes, which are pretty self explanitory they are just stock honda blackbird pipes... so there are no part numbers however i will also have pictures of the collector reducers which i purchased from auto zone... i apologize to everyone for posting with no helpful pictures or info so i will update it to make it a useful thread... check in tomorrow and i will have it updated... Thanx guys

 

$1.98 a piece for the collector reducers... available at any auto zone, advance auto parts, O'Rielys... ETC...



The collector reducer you need to make this work.



If you can't read it the size is 2-1/4" ID and 1-7/8" OD this is so the 1-7/8" will fit onto the collector and the 2-1/4" fits on the Blackbird pipes. You will need a new collector gasket if yours are bad so you don't have an exhaust leak and it is not NECESSARY but very nice if you weld the collector reducer onto the blackbird pipe as seen in the pictures below. A simple tac welding technique will work just fine.



This is the collector reducer welded to the blackbird pipe on my bike. i tried to pull it off a little so you can see it better.



I just have a simple clamp attached to the back of the footpeg bracket thing which holds the pipe in place completely so there is no movement and there is plenty of room for a second rider.



Side shot of the bike in pieces as I tried to figure out my other problem... Read the thread of "1985 Ticking Time Bomb??????" to understand more. But you can see the pipe here too.



There are the pipes. Now these are the stock ones but if you get aftermarket ones they would work the same and probably a lot better.



I kinda like they way they sit once mounted.... They mount high like the RC51's.



Other side.



Back side.



The pipe's exit.



Stock pipes.



Straight pipes I used at the track.... MANY WILL SAY THESE MAKE YOU LOSE POWER WHICH IS TRUE HOWEVER ONLY AT LOW RPM'S AT THE TRACK YOU ARE WELL ABOVE 6,000 RPM'S SO YOU ACTUALLY GAIN POWER. BUT AGAIN THEY ARE BAD ASS IF YOU WANT A SEXY SOUND LIKE NO OTHER OR IF YOU WANT TO DRAG AT THE TRACK BUT NOT GOOD FOR EVERYDAY DRIVING AROUND. UNLESS YOU JUST WANT THE SOUND W/ LESS POWER. and they are cheap.



I took the snorkel off a long time ago when I first got the bike. In my opinion it really does help... But thats me.




Again these pipes are off of a HONDA BLACKBIRD CBR1100XX I picked up a stock pair for 20 bucks. They do increase acceleration and mid-range. There is more flow and it gives you a sweeter sound with a nice rumble at idle. The only set back which probably takes you back down to stock is they weigh a little more than the stock pipes to the power you gained is subtracted by the weight. I am guessing. So if you got aftermarket pipes for the blackbird they would be LIGHTER AND EVEN MORE POWER. but with the aftermarket pipes you will probably have to rejet the carbs. With the stock ones it does not need to be rejetted. Just slap em' on and go. they look better sound better and give you a little more kick. so why not give it a try???

But I do apologize for it taking me so long to get pics up and sorry some of the pics aren't that great because I took them with my cell phone. But here ya go and enjoy!!!

 

Pretty neat, but having a passenger looks like its out.

And arn't you having engine problems 2000?

BZ

 

no you can have a passenger just fine i carry my girl all the time. its a tight fit but no problems......

and yes i am having engine problems now! grrrr. but that has nothing to do with the pipes... i have had these pipes on for QUITE a while. also i found a mechanic that is local around here and he is only charging $30 an hour and was highly recommended to me by my local shop who does not work on motors... he listened to it and doesnt think its the valves or the pistons he is not sure the noise and has to crack it open to find out but he tells me supposedly its doesnt sound too serious. he is gonna check it out though and i will find out soon what is wrong.

 

blackbird pipes on vf500f

Great images! Thanks for finally putting your work up to appreciate. I am not convinced that I am in-love with the look, but power and ease are obvious; thank you again for getting the photos...that helps.

 

no problem. i am sry it took me like...... forever. and as for the look IMO i like it however it would look MUCH better with aftermarket pipes for the blackbird. also i ran into another cool little option. if you look at my pictures you will see the straight pipes i used........ well if you go to your local Harley Shop and go to the Buells...... the buell blast (the 500cc version) has kerker mufflers that would fit PERFECTLY onto the interceptor so if you got the straight pipes you could very easily put the slip on kerker onto the pipe! only problem is they are sold in singles (one muffler) and well they are $213 a piece. so it might actually be a really nice setup also! i will grab some pics from the Harley Shop of the pipe if you want. just lemme know. but it would be a great setup