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...

[LOTO]

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!

[Scott S]

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?

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.