[Sickalar]

2002 Honda shadow spirit 1100....factory exhaust as of right now. Just bought the bike about a week ago. It's a little on the quiet side so I was thinking about doing the hole saw mod. Watched a few videos but they don't do justice for the sound. Opinions? Thoughts? Concerns?
And would rejetting be required if I did this?

 

[Harryc]

You probably wouldn't have to rejet, but the consensus around here seems to be forget about aftermarket exhausts or mods on the dual pin 1100 Shadows (of which yours is one). You will not get a sound you like out of them. I don't have any personal experience with dual pin Shadows, so I am just passing along what I've read. If you were really looking for loud sound you should have looked at Shadow 1100's about 3 to 6 years older. The exhaust sound on my ACE is insane. My neighbor has a straight pipe chopper and he commented my bike was loud. .

 

[Stranger]

my advice...
research a bit and educate yourself on how insanely expensive and new stock exhaust is. Just shy of 2 grand for my ride!
If you want rumble, buy an aftermarket exhaust for a quarter the price of a new stock unit.
If you don't like the sound, then you can put the stock ones back on and sell the aftermarkets.
You could also keep an eye out for a used set (stock or aftermarket) on craigslist or similar.
I bought and installed Vance & Hines Cruzers and have been very happy with them and I still have my stock exhaust intact just in case.

 

[BlazingShadows]

My 1100 Spirit has the hole saw mod and is loud. It was done before I bought it. I have gotten good comments from everyone except my next door neighbors. It is a bit loud for my wife for 2 up riding, so I have made some new baffles to insert back into the mufflers. I can control the sound by how much muffler wrap I use with the inserts. Waiting for spring to play with the sound of the inserts some more. I have read where some on this site start by drilling holes around the discharge end of the mufflers. That way you can kind of contol amount of sound you want.

 

[TenDollarBill]

^^^^ Stranger. A lot of people buying a sed bike like it better if its stock. So save the stock system and buy a V&H system.

 

[jwinker]

Rejetting shouldn't be necessary until you modify the intake + exhaust, so you're ok there.

Modding the stock exhaust is, as mentioned, not reversible. So if you even *think* you're going to sell the bike in the next 3 years, aftermarket is your better option.

Have you heard a hole-saw bike that you liked, in person? If so, absolutely the route I would recommend. If not, I'd look for & listen to some bikes before cutting anything.

That said, my 750 came with Cobra Street Rods & they are LOUD. They're part of the reason I bought my bike, after riding an equivalent bike with stock exhaust for the same $$$. Installing aftermarket exhaust won't increase your resale value, but may change your customer base.

Replacing & saving your stock exhaust may also allow you to resell your stock exhaust to recoup some of the expense. You won't get $2000 for the stock exhaust, like Honda does, but maybe 1/2 the cost of the V&H or Cobra exhaust.

Food for thought. ...


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[Sickalar]

All good advice, thank you.
To answer an earlier question, no i have not heard one with the mod in person. Just bought the bike recently and around here theres not many of us who ride much in this weather so theres not alot of bikes out on the roads ride now. Dont get me wrong TN weather is nothing compared to what im sure some of you guys and gals get but riding in the low 40's, upper 30's is still a bit chilly..

 

[h13man]

I wouldn't do either the hole saw or aftermarket pipes. The twin pin motor doesn't sound very pleasing louder and louder it gets the the more annoying it sounds. If you like the sound of a loud giant bumble bee, go for it or save your $$$ and enjoy it as is and spend money for comfort features, etc.

 

[Furball Zen]

^^^^^^ said it a few times myself. A friend used to have one and it sounded like butt.

 

[DavidFinch]

Out of curiosity, what are you all meaning by twin pin? I'm not familiar with this term and I'm looking at getting cobra pipes here soon for my 09 vt750c2, so just want to check if this term applies to my bike also...

 

[Harryc]

Some Shadow v-twin models had/have a single pin crankshaft. It was thought Honda did this to emulate Harley Davidson engine design which was single pin for years. It gives the engine a distinctive sound, but it's not the smoothest running engine design so it has disadvantages. As far as I know the single pin Shadows were the ACE 1100, Aero 1100 '98-'00, ACE 750, the '01-'03 750 Shadow Spirit, and the '04 and up 750 Spirit (including your '09 VT750C2), and 750 Aero.

 

[Furball Zen]

Single pin means both pistons run on the same journal. Twin pin means they have their own separate journal and therefore a 180º firing order. So instead of pop-pop (potato potato) you get POP----POP----POP----POP in even spacing. Sounds like ass to me.

 

[BuckeyeShadow]

I think the single pin design gives the engine something like a 50 degree timing difference between the 2 cylinders giving then this sound. Twin pins tend to run smoother and have more power but not enough to really matter imho. I have a twin pin with vance and hines Longshots and I love they way they sound. They are loud but not too loud and to me it doesn't sound like a Harley and that wasn't the sound I wanted anyway. If it was I would have bought a Harley to begin with. I never cared for the hole saw mod from what I heard online and a guy I work with had straight shots that sounded pretty good on his spirit so I went with the Longshots and I don't regret it. It really depends on what YOU think sounds good. Some people love the hole saw mod and some people (like me) don't. If you can't get a chance to buy some super cheap stock pipes or don't get to hear the hole saw mod in person then I would wait until either one of those happens before you drill the pipes just my $0.02.

 

[h13man]

Twin pins tend to run smoother and have more power but not enough to really matter imho. [QOUTE]

20% more hp. and thats the 06' 1100's @ 62 hp. Single pin 50 hp. with a couple of ft. lbs. more of torque. Older TP had as much as 74 hp. These are at the crank spec's.

 

[h13man]

Twin pins tend to run smoother and have more power but not enough to really matter imho.

20% more hp. and thats the 06' 1100's @ 62 hp. Single pin 50 hp. with a couple of ft. lbs. more of torque. Older TP had as much as 74 hp. These are at the crank spec's. Subtract 20% off the crank = the amount to rear wheel as a general rule of thumb.

 

[BuckeyeShadow]

20% more hp. and thats the 06' 1100's @ 62 hp. Single pin 50 hp. with a couple of ft. lbs. more of torque. Older TP had as much as 74 hp. These are at the crank spec's. Subtract 20% off the crank = the amount to rear wheel as a general rule of thumb.

Wow didn't realize it was that large of a difference. Either way, the exhaust note of the twin pins, in my opinion, sounds good. Some people think that no mister what you do it sounds like crap but that just depends what sound you as the rider of the bike like to hear.

 

[ringtail]

Here in California it may be unwise to do the hole saw mod. I'm not completely sure about this, but I lean toward thinking the cops will get you for one of 2 possible violations:

1) the Motorcycle Anti-Tampering Act (SB 435) means the exhaust has to be “EPA Approved” and after the hole saw mod maybe your pipes won't be "EPA Approved" anymore.

2) the other thing is, sound is limited to around 82 dBa max (varies by what year your bike is), and after the hole saw mod you may be too loud (link)

Again, I'm no expert on this, but I wonder if you're here in California it might be better to not do the hole saw mod. I don't plan to do it.

 

[h13man]

If you do the hole saw correctly you can reverse it to stock if you are not happy with the results.