Well I have a bit of an update for everyone. I still don't have my bike but the exhaust, Intake, and PCV are all installed and the bike is back together. I'm just waiting on the shop to dyno it and I can pick it up.
But I am not at all pleased with the RPW pipes. I will start from the beginning. All this info is coming from the shop owner. He does great work and turns out top quality custom bikes and parts. He knows what he's doing and an exhaust install should be a piece of cake for him.
First, the exhaust did not want to go together. Apparently whoever designed these things doesn't really know what they are doing. It is impossible to put the heat shield on or off without completely removing the entire exhaust pipe first.
Second, the right heat shield they initially sent me was short about an inch and a half and did not come all the way out to meet the muffler.
This is the left side exhaust. Note the heat shield comes all the way to the muffler...
This is the right side...
Seriously how do you miss that when you're sending it out?
Well this just wouldn't do. So I called RPW to see if we can resolve this issue. I talked to a woman named Cindy. Told her about the trouble we were having and emailed her these exact pictures. Plus a few others. They then called up my mechanic to talk to him. He was on the phone with them for about an hour trying to tell them that he followed the instructions correctly, and exactly how short the heat shield is from the muffler. Anyways they eventually decide to send a new heatshield. But they opt for 5 day ground shipping so that's a whole week my bike is on his lift not being able to be worked on and just taking up space.
Well last Saturday the new heat shield finally came in. AND IT'S STILL SHORT!
Now granted it's not as short as before, but it is still short nonetheless. And it is still an ugly eyesore. I have to really question RPWs quality control if they let TWO heat shields go out to the same customer and both aren't the right size. My mechanic gave them specific measurements. And it is unacceptable that the second time around they couldn't get it right. I'm willing to forgive the first time, because no company is perfect. But they should have been paying extra close attention to what they were doing when they sent out a part to fix their mistake.
Third issue. The left and right exhaust are different lengths away from the fender.
Seriously RPW, what the hell? How hard is it to get the pipes the same distance from the fender so everything is symmetrical?!? I understand the belt drive makes the right one come out a bit farther. But how about compensating for that by having the left pipe come out farther?!? Every time I see this bike, I will see that difference in space. Again, this is just bad design and I'm half tempted to throw these in the trash because of this issue alone.
Fourth issue... The chrome is sub par. This wouldn't be such a terrible problem, as I could always rechrome it when the time comes. And I would be willing to do that, if the pipes were worth the effort in the first place. Not to mention that to even get the heat shield and muffler rechromed would involve me taking the ENTIRE exhaust system off since you can't take them off without removing the entire system. Stupid design...
Fifth issue. This is minor, but it adds insult to injury. The kickstand will not go all the way up. The rubber piece contacts the left exhaust mount. I need to either remove the entire rubber piece or cut an area off it so it slides past. Stupid design.
I am not happy with this outcome. Hell I'm not even neutral about it. I have half a mind to throw these away and put the stock exhaust back on even though I can't stand those either. I wish I could say screw it and go and buy the hacker tru duals, but the RPW pipes have taken up any available funds. I've spent as much on the pipes as I have on the installation of these pipes because they were so problematic.
I didn't buy these pipes for their performance, as I was happy with the stock performance. Any power gains I would get would be an added benefit. And I didn't buy them for the sound. Anything other than those stock pipes would be an improvement. Hell a lawnmower sounds better. I bought these pipes for how they would look. I wanted something that would complement the design of the boardwalk and be something I could show off. These pipes, and RPW, failed to deliver. And now I'm stuck with these things for the foreseeable future.
For the record, I still think the true dual design looks great on the BW, I would just steer very clear of RPW and their true duals. Go with Hacker. It would be pretty hard for them to be worse. The pipes I got certainly aren't worth the $900 I paid.
I'll still post more pictures and video when I get the bike from the shop. From far away, the bike will look good. But when people come to check it out, these problems will be starring them in their face.