Hello everyone:
As some of you know, I put a stock Nomad dual exhaust recently on my 1500 Drifter. Each muffler hangs by a short piece of powder coated steel attached to my saddlebag mounts. Works great, however, I can't remove the bag mounts or the pipes won't have any supports. So, I have have come up with a design that attaches at the rear footpeg mounts instead so you don't have to cover the rear fender with bags if you don't want to. I tried to make the hanger design as unobtrusive as possible. I am having the prototypes done at the fabricator I use for all of my designs. They should work with ANY dual exhaust for Nomads 1500/1600. As soon as I have them in my hands and tested, I will post photos. You should be able to mount the rear pegs right over the hangers but you will most likely need 5mm longer bolts to compensate for the thickness. Let me know if anyone is interested in getting a price on a set (if they work out the way I hope).
Thanks and best to all
OR Seedman
I'd love to see those pics. I think (if I remember) I also have a set of Nomad duals in the shed....
As soon as I get them back and test the installation, I'll take some good pics and post here. Right now, they hang from my saddlebag mounts.
mounts should be ready by next Monday. I ordered them in plain unpainted steel so that I can see how they work before spending the extra money on powder coating. right now, it looks like a set will probably be about $50 unpainted or $80 with powder coat. that would not include shipping. I'm hoping the prototypes don't need any changes or mods, but we'll see how it goes....if they fit the right way, maybe I'll have the first set chromed....
so...I got the prototype mounts late yesterday and did some test fittings today....need to make a couple of modifications. So I went back to my fabricator with the changes...the new ones should be ready in a couple of weeks. Overall, I think they are going to work nicely...the only visible parts are where they come straight down from the rear footrest mounts (they attach to the same frame mounting points and are well hidden behind the rear footrests) and where the steel is folded over to attach to the muffler on each side. the rest of the mount is hidden behind the tailpipe on each side. They are laser cut from 3/16" cold rolled steel and formed to angle out from the frame (they follow the angle on the footrest mount). Since they are cut and not bent, the straight part that runs down the length of the pipe to the mounting holes hardly flexes...should keep the pipes fairly stable with little movement side to side. I will mount them up and take close up pics as soon as I get the new ones...
Thanks for the update. I may need to get a set of these when completed.
I am looking forward to seeing the final result too.
So...I got the second set of prototype mounts back. They look and work really good. I am going to keep this pair and have them chromed after a make a couple of really minor adjustments. The lower mounting hole that attaches to the frame behind the footrest mount needs to be enlarged just a little bit to give it some adjusting room. Have to do that on both sides. I will make sure that is done on the production brackets. Other than that, they are really sturdy and pretty well hidden behind the pipes and rear foot rests. The don't flex back and forth and even if you don't have the rear footrests, they don't stand out. I have attached some pictures of the right side......it is a little hard to spot because is runs along the backside of the tailpipe and does a 90 degree bend up just under the footrest. the only thing that really is visible without the saddlebags on is the part that attaches to the top of the muffler at the mounting points that would attach to a Nomad saddlebag bracket. let me know all of your thoughts and opinions.....pricing would be $50 unpainted per set or $90 with black powder coat, not including shipping. Shipping would probably be flat rate for large box ( I would use the same box that I ship my saddlebag brackets in)
Is there any rubber mounting associated with these? As you know, our engines are rubber mounted. Hard mounting pipes results in a lot of stress to the pipes and heads and causes a lot of vibration to be transmitted to the frame. This is why the original pipe system was rubber mounted and why we have mods to modify the oem footpeg or replace it when we mount aftermarket pipes.
If you remember the original Cobra "indian pipes"... the hard mounting is why many of them failed.
seems to me the resonator has a bit of movement in it to compensate for the engine movement these brackets flex a little from side to side, so I'm not sure if there is a need for the rubber mounting. I didn't have rubber mounts on my V&H Longshots and that never seemed to be a problem. I'll run these brackets for the summer and provide a long-term update in the fall.....
Quote from: OR Seedman on April 16, 2021, 18:06:08 PM
seems to me the resonator has a bit of movement in it to compensate for the engine movement these brackets flex a little from side to side, so I'm not sure if there is a need for the rubber mounting. I didn't have rubber mounts on my V&H Longshots and that never seemed to be a problem. I'll run these brackets for the summer and provide a long-term update in the fall.....
Thanks for all your hard work on this. Cheers.
So, summer is done and gone. Any update?
yeah.....as a matter of fact...
the mounts worked quite well...no issues at all once I got them positioned correctly. My only issue was with the Nomad exhaust itself. It was way too quiet...even after I removed the baffles from the mufflers. It helped, but I was really used to the sound of my Longshots. So, I decided to try and split the longshots into duals...I was able to find the head-pipe for the left side on ebay...got it for under $60 brand new. the chrome shield, however, cost me over $200.... and didn't even come with clamps...what a racket by V&H! Anyway, since the Longshots mount differently, I cut down the original prototype mounts I had made and drilled through them to mount the pipes on each side. Worked like a charm. Now I have the Longshot duals with fishtail tips...and it sounds better. Not knocking the Nomad exhaust, but I like the Longshots better....so now I'm going to put the Nomad exhaust up for sale this spring...and the mounts for a Drifter 1500 if they are wanted...
I put about 2,000 miles on the Nomad setup this summer.....no issues at all. At low idle, they wiggle just a fraction back and forth, but stop once the rpms climb. I've attached a couple of pics of the Longshots on the bike
I might be interested in the Nomad pipes and mounts, depending on the price. I like a little sound, but not a lot of noise. Mine had longshots on it when I bought it, and it was embarrassing to ride. Having dual exhaust with an expansion chamber should actually improve fuel mileage. My stock collector gets me better mileage and torque than the "Peace Pipe" I also have.
I did a clean baffle removal and it improved the low end rumble over stock....but they are not nearly as loud as the Longshots (I even have baffles in those). I'll let you know on the price including the mounts. I can email you some pics as well. The set is complete (pipes, shields, goat bladder, clamps....) The chromes is pretty good, too, however the left pip has a small ding in the top right past where the rear floorboards sits above it..it is visible without saddlebags. Came that way when I bought it online.
I apologize. I thought you were considering making and selling just the mount sets for those who were interested in running duals.
I can still do that, but no one has really inquired about them. I would have to check again on the cost due to big increases in the price of steel...
I also would be interested in how you installed this. Im in the process of getting all the parts I need to perform this upgrade. Thanks
I had some mounting brackets made that attach at the rear passenger peg mounting points. They go straight down and angle outward to clear the driveshaft and the swingarm. They then make a right angle and run along the back side of each Nomad muffler to the mounting point on top of the muffler. they wound up being pretty well hidden. I removed the baffles from both mufflers as they were really quiet when stock. The removal helped but they were still way more quiet than my V&H longshots. I decided to remove them and did a Nomad split on the longshots instead. That required a different mounting bracket, which I made by cutting down my original prototypes for the Nomad pipes. So I now run dual Longshots with fish tips....and I like the sound a lot better. I was planning on putting the whole Nomad exhaust system and mounting brackets up for sale here soon. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.