One Side Lower...

[mrgeoff]

Well, the other day I attended a Funeral for an aged Vet... Being with the Patriot Guard Riders, about 14 bikers showed up as an Escort and Flag Line during the burial service...Having several bikes there, there was my bike(99 Valkyrie Tourer) and another Valkyrie(97 Standard)...Most of the others were Harleys(2 and 3 wheelers) and a couple Goldwing Trikes...Well I noticed that the 97 Valkyrie had the left side exhaust (looking at the rear of the bike) about an inch to two inches higher then the right side...I myself have mine about an 1/8 inch higher on the right side then the left, but it isn't really that noticeable due to my hard bags...
  I was wondering if the exhaust on the 97 could be adjusted or is there some kind of check that can be done to see what the problem is?...I know sooner or later, the rider of the 97 Standard might be calling me about how to fix his exhausts...I looked and saw the right was pretty well butted up as it should be and the left had a small gap where the three pipes come together. Thought he could maybe butt it up closer, but don't think it would make that much of a difference on his 1-2" tail pipe difference...Any kind of adjustment he might look into...??? Just seems kind of weird to me...!!!
Thanks...!!! Oh, by the way, his bike is in great condition with 38000 miles on it...!!!

[Hook#3287]

My experience with Valkyrie OEM exhaust is, as long as installed correctly and not damaged, they line up perfect and are very close to the same distance from the ground when the bike is upright.

When I picked up my I/S, the PO 's painter didn't reinstall the exhaust correctly, leaving one side w/o the hanger bolts in the bracket.  Didn't even use any cap nuts on either side

Don't know why he removed the exhaust, but he did a lot of stupid s~~t ???

That made one side lower than the other.

The tail piece might be off if a bolt is missing, there should be 3 in each.

[mrgeoff]

Yep...I think it would be some thing like that...didn't get too close a look at it...it just seemed odd for such a great looking bike to have the exhaust tips off by that much...!!!

[Red Diamond]

Should you get a chance, remove the acorn nuts from both rear hangers, move the studs out of the hangers and notice where the exhausts settle after the studs are out of the hangers. If they settle at the same heights I'd look at the hangers for damage, if not then look at the exhaust headers for possible damage. Seldom is there much difference in height, especially that much, check everything associated with the hangers, something is either holding one up or pushing down, vice/versa.

[MarkT]

The crack between the covers is a first indicator to me that the pipe is bent.  I have been collecting the measurement for years of a laser level laid on the header ends and shot back to the back edge of the muffler cover - the measurement dropped there to the top of the muffler (with or w/o the cover installed - always indicate which it is). I measure before and after my mods so they are close to each other and close to the avg of my measurements. Always using the same laser level so the offset of the tool does not change. This measurement confirms if the pipe is bent.  Always at the collector weld point. BTW as these bikes age it is more frequent for those welds to be broken.  I have rewelded them, positioned correctly using my jigs quite a few times - particularly on pipes that lived in rust-prone places like Florida or the SE coast.  I have many many times used my custom pipe bender to return bent pipes to spec.  They are often bent by the owners jacking up the bike lifting on the pipes.  The other common reason is the bike was dropped on the pipes.  They can be bent up or down - bent up is more common.  Often the angled crack indicates it's bent but the measurements are close to spec and/or close to each other.  If the pipe does not need to be unbent but the crack is angled enough to look bad I may sand the edge of it on my large disc sander to return the crack to being even.

In this case it may be the bike was dropped on the left side and the pipe is bent up on the left side. Should be some damage on the bottom at the tip unless they were replaced.  I have only seen once a drop that was enough to damage the hanger and that pipe was ruined.  The hangers are stronger than the pipes - in a crash the pipes will be bent first.  Also the tips might be out of line some to add to the difference but that won't be the only problem as given by the fwd covers crack. Also the rear crack tip-muffler cover will indicate un-aligned.

Also some correction can be had using the play in the rear mount hardware at the hanger.  

Extreme correction can be had by heating the headers close to the collector with an acetylene torch to red hot, then moving the headers to drop the rear studs into the bracket holes on a jig.  This assumes the existence of jigs that define where the headers and rear mounts on the exhaust are supposed to be.  I may have the only such jigs in the world. Honda's are no doubt gone and I don't know of anyone else who does enough Valkyrie exhaust work to need them, anymore.