ID this 4 into 1 pipe for me?

[Chuck78]

We just picked up a pretty darn clean 9,600mi 2nd owner '78 GS550C to refurbish for a new rider buddy of mine.

It has an old 4 into 1 pipe on it, and I'm trying to identify the manufacturer:

t doesn't quite look like a Vance and Hines or Kerker pipe. The head pipes all sweeping at an angle to the lower right side made me think RC Engineering / RC Performance, but most vintage RC mufflers I see have a recessed stamped area inset for the RC Performance logo decal/badge, although I think I saw one on the Redline Cycle Service webpage that had a muffler shell identical to this.

the only thing I cannot get past on me being convinced that it's likely an RC pipe is that the head pipes all look like they are seperate and are a slip-fit into a 4-pipe collector, and then the short 4-pipe collector piece is welded to the mid-pipe. The Kerker, V&H, & RC pipes for bigger bikes that I've seen don't have the slip fit looking head pipes, the head pipes are just welded straight into the collector...

this is very likely a very old pipe from 1979/1980 or shortly thereafter...

 

[Chuck78]

Not a Supertrapp, not likely a Kerker. it has a straight-thru performance type baffle, no cone or anything on the end of the baffle.
RC or early V&H? Or other make?

 

[Chuck78]

I don't know if RC ever even made Suzuki parts. I know they were huge into big Hondas, and got into KZ1000/Z1 parts as well.

here is a pic of the baffle outlet

 

[GregT]

I cut up a battered RC kawasaki pipe that had the same sweep to the right and the same collector setup.

But there were a lot of pipes made and sold back then...

 

[Guest]

I have a 1980 GS 1100 and stuck a set of Jardine headers on it for a brief period in 1981..I've long since sold the headers but they looked very similar to your photos.

 

[chuck hahn]

Sometimes there will be etched part or manufacturer info on the back side of the muffler hangers.

 

[Chuck78]

I completely forgot about Jardine making exhaust for our bikes back in the day. I looked up a few that I had remembered seeing for 750s on eBay, and they very much do look the same, but the baffle looks like a kerker, with a cone protruding at the end of the baffle, this one is flat like a Vance & Hines but smooth around the perimeter without the extra holes. So I'm still torn between RC and Jardine, but at least I know I have it likely narrow down to two manufacturers. Just was curious about it, there is no need to know in order to get parts, they are not available!

 

[Guest]

I once had a Jardine for a CB550 that had the slip in collector like that. The muffler looked different though, with a slash cut end and a bit of an upward sweep.

 

[Chuck78]

Pretty good $900 buy, all original 9,600mi aside from pipe & Daytona style handlebars & cheap old replacement tires.

 

[steve murdoch]

The 4 individual pipes into a collector remind me of Jardine but i don't remember them making a side-winder style.
The baffle looks like a Mac set-up.
Maybe it is a Bitsa?

 

[Chuck78]

It's not really a Sidewinder style at all, the pipe exit is just like a Vance & Hines basically, or RC street pipe, but the pipes do veer drastically downward from the number 1 cylinder toward the number 4 cylinder side of the crankcase. The mid pipe and silencer still are upswept.
When you say Sidewinder, I think of the drag race pipes that I would not ever even think about running due to the poor ground clearance since they hang out basically straight down the side of the bike.

 

[Chuck78]

Bitsa????
I googled this without much success, so I assume you mean some sort of slang for "bits of this and pieces of that???"

 

[Steve]

May I tag along on this one? :-k

I have also been trying to find the manufacturer of the header on my bike. Due to construction details, it's going to be different than yours, though. All header pipes are welded to the connector, which is a bit to the right of center. Arrangement of pipes at the collector is different, too. On yours, #1 and #2 go to the two top positions, on mine, #1 and #4 go to the top. In fact, on mine, #2 and #3 are pretty much parallel all the way down, which gives access to the oil filter.

The baffle is the strange part on mine. Where most baffles go straight through, mine has a solid disk in the center, which forces all the exhaust through the perforated tube, through the packing (very coarse stainless steel wool), then back through the back half of the perforated tube so it can get out. Not exactly "free-flowing", but definitely quiet. There is a mild reverse cone on the end. I can find no markings anywhere that would give any clues.

The collars are about 3/16" steel, there are small bits of welding that keep them from sliding down the tubes when not on the bike.

This is the only shot I have of the reverse cone at the end. Sorry it's not any better, but I was showing how to change the stator without draining the oil, not intentionally highlighting the end of the muffler.

Some of the people that have looked at it have guessed many different manufacturers, but the two that come up most often are Vance and Hines (due to the weld retainers on the collars) and Jardine (due to the reverse cone), but NOBODY recognizes the baffle that does not go straight through.

.

 

[GregT]

Steve - one of the UK pipe manufacturers whose name escapes me, used that style of baffle. One of the Brits on here may recognise it.

 

[Carter Turk]

I was going to throw out Jardine as well, though, I've never seen a collector arrangement like that.
Hindle apparently started making pipes in 82, but made on-offs many years before.
Kiwi helped me with a package and has a beautiful Bassani in chrome, something I'd never seen before, only the black RR style arrangement.
I had a chrome RC on my first 80 1100, but don't recall the baffle looking like that, but vaguely remember an indent in the can for the badge like Chuck mentions.
Don't think Dale Walker was making pipes back then.
The can does look like a Mac, wonder if the old part suppliers like JC Whitney etc sold generic headers.
Steve your pipe could be series I Yosh, the can kind of looks like the chrome one they used to make.
The baffle end looks similar (not exact) to a series I I recently acquired.

 

[Chuck78]

Steve, that is definitely not a Yoshimura Series 1 exhaust, those are very distinct looking, and the only thing that could be confused with them would either be replicas of the original Yoshimura, or Bassani pipes. The Bassani still look slightly different and I think are slightly larger diameter.

That is a really great looking pipe, however! I really like that style. Yoshimura Series 1 is the ultimate pipe in my opinion, or replicas of it ( I have a GS1000 Yoshimura series one, and I have been trying to get my buddy to sell or trade me a beat up Yoshimura series 1 4 GS550. It is slightly different, shorter and more upswept, but still keeping with the same style.
Marving upswept road race pipes with the flat collector are probably my number two favorite.
Number three favorite would be delkevic stainless pipes, although the road race type muffler can for them only comes with a very small diameter baffle, they don't have any large inside diameter high performance baffles available like they do for their megaphone style mufflers. The workmanship and quality is outstanding on those however, and they are all stainless steel. And a great price at that.

 

[Steve]

All of the Yosh and Bassani pipes that I have seen (admittedly, not very many) have had smooth curves from the collector to the can. The two curves on mine are a bit too angular, not the smooth, sweeping curves I expect from them.

This pipe came with my son's 850, when we got it many, many years ago. He then also got a 1000G and had both for a while. Decided he liked the 1000 better, so we sold the 850. Before letting it go, I asked his permission to swap exhaust systems with the stock setup I had on my bike, he agreed. I also kept the main jets from the carbs, knowing that they should work. I have since jetted the bike leaner, might do it again, getting back to almost stock. Most 4-into1 systems don't flow a bunch more than the stock setup, and I am still using the stock airbox (with a K&N insert), so overall airflow has not changed much.

I have no plans on getting rid of this pipe. I like the sound and the look, especially the fact that it stays below the saddlebags.
It's not too many touring bikes that have a 4-into-1 installed, and this one is definitely quiet enough for all-day touring.

.

 

[Chuck78]

Another pic of the whole thing:

I looked at a 750 Jardine pipe that I have been interested in in the past, and it does not have the aggressive downward slant to the number one and number two cylinders head pipes to end up down at the bottom right side of the crankcase, like this one does. But the collector looks just like a Jardine. The muffler looks very similar. It has elements of Vance and Hines, RC, and Jardine! Could be an old design version of any of those I suppose, or something different...

I think it looks the most like a Vance & Hines aside from the slip fit individual for head pipes at collector, but the header itself in the front looks like an RC. Russ Collins' earliest employees of notoriety were the founders of Vance & Hines, Terry Vance and Byron Hines! Perhaps they had used the original RC style head pipe configuration on their earliest pipes? The pipes were put on by the original owner. The guy we got it from bought it from his widow and hadn't changed anything aside from finding an air box lid and a new air filter

 

[Chuck78]

Aha!!! I forgot about a Marshall (Jama) deep tone exhaust that I was looking at on eBay a few years ago for a GS550, they wanted $400 for it New Old Stock which I thought was a bit much.
Then after scrolling through 50 videos of GS550 on YouTube, I find this! If that badge is riveted on, that is the only discrepancy I saw. After scrolling through 50 videos of GS 550 on YouTube, I find it this! If that badge is riveted on, that is the only discrepancy I can see between the two exhausts! Baffle looks the same, head pipes look the same, slip fit collector looks the same...

https://youtu.be/NCgEh6ZX5qU


EDIT- although that is the closest I have yet to see direct evidence of, another few photos that I found clearly show an indent in the Marshall Muffler with the plaque riveted on, and it looks like the collector pipe that is welded to the muffler has a greater offset in it. Also, the baffle Outlet looks slightly different, wish I was trying to discern from the grainy video footage, but thought that I noticed something different.

Marshall GS650/550:

 

[kochic]

Maybe an alphabet exhaust, early baffle look like the one you have, later model was a reverse cone.They dont have name plate, only a decal.The muffler just slip on the headers with no clamps.I have one here but its for a 2 cylinders motorcycle.Its not the same but you can see a muffler here:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-NEW-ALPHABET-EXHAUST-FOR-VINTAGE-MOTORCYCLES-/331868606151
Marc