Good looks and good sound, possible to have both?

[arcticxs]

Hi all!
On my-77, I have tried 1 1/2" single wall headers, with 1 1/2" Norton Commando peashooters. This setup looks great, the mufflers are lightweight (approx. 5lbs each) BUT the sound is anything byt great, just too raspy/revvy sounding above 3 to 4 k.

I really would like to have long, slender chrome mufflers, with a deep, throaty but still somewhat mellow, sound, like my Ducati
M 600, which sounds great with a pair of carbon slip-ons with a 2" perforated core, all the way up to 9000rpm.

Any suggestions for good looking, lightweight, good sounding mufflers for 1 1/2" headers?
(Perhaps T120 mufflers, Contis from old Duc 900 SS, feel free to add to the list...)

[tomterrific]

I've got replica Norton Peashooters on my '77 with the stock head pipes. The sound is the same as your description. A friend bought the same mufflers from the same company at the same time and put them on his Norton and they sound completely different. Why the great difference? I don't really know. My Peashooters sound good but it isn't the lazy sound I was going for.

One thing I thought of is trying to pull the short tube out of the end and see if there is enough gap to force bits of fiber glass or SS wool into the muffler case to make sure it's packed well. This doesn't seem to be easy.

You might want to try the 27" long Dunstall's. These are reasonable in price and should have a deep tone. I've heard them on an XS at Mid-Ohio and they were nice but this wasn't out on the road where they may sound very different (if our experience with the Peashooters is any warning). Make sure you get the glass packed Dunstall's. I have these on my Triumph and on a Norton I had.

Tom Graham

[Chuckwagon]

Are you guys talking about the commando mufflers as sold by MikesXS or something else? I was thinking that was going to be the setup for my bike, but not sure about that now.

I don't know how the british style mufflers from Mikes sound by comparison to Norman Hyde Togas (similar look). A friend of mine has NH Togas on a new bonneville, and it sounds really mellow, but not too quiet. Definitely wouldn't describe the sound as raspy.

[tomterrific]

We are talking about the stock mufflers on a Norton Commando. I would describe the sound as more of a revvy snarl. This has absolutely nothing to do with the "Commando" mufflers mikesxs sells.

Here's what the real Peashooters look like:
www.coloradonortonworks.com/about/gallery.asp

I don't think you can go wrong with the mikesxs Commandos because they fit (big plus) and everyone reports a good sound.

[Chuckwagon]

Gotcha, thanks.
I have very similar pea shooters on my Thruxton made by epco stainless. the sound is a little raspy at WOT, but otherwise sound good. after about 15,000 miles of use, they're louder, and unfortunately can't be taken apart to repack the baffles.

I think my wife's main concern with the project I'm building for her is that the exhaust is not too loud. My main concern at this point is price and fitment, so between the two I'm probably going to go with Mike's commando setup.

I like the burgess style mufflers best, but not knowing much about how they'll sound and that I'd have to modify the centerstand steers me away from them.

Coctail shakers look cool, but damn, they made eardrums bleed when I had them on my Thruxton. They didn't last long before I put them on ebay. They seem like they are becoming more popular these days. 6 years ago when I was looking for a set for the the Thruxton, they were difficult to find.

[5twins]

The Commandos from Mike's have a bolt you can install in the baffle to tone them down a bit. I recommend using it. They are a bit raspy without that bolt "plug" in place. I mounted mine without the bolt "plug" in them but put it in after a few days.