[JJKnight]

I have an 01 fatboy with stage 1 and a jet kit on a cv carb.I use to have long shots on there but bought the v&h staggerd bs with the power chamber from dp.Ever sense i put them on i been getting pops and backfireing when i let off in high rpm's.I put it on the dyno and i'm at 77 hp,they told me i need to go up a jet size and that will stop the poping,i had a 180 jet and went to a 190 jet and there seems to be no difference in response or the poping.I am about to buy the mik42 mm,is there a huge difference with the mik42 or should i keep trying to mess with the cv jetting,also the power chamber only after 1 month has turned goldish color and is visable cause u can see it between the pipes on the outside,is this normal ?did this happen to anyone else,not the pipes just the power chamber and i can say i am not happy with these pipes,i even took out the baffles other day,it sounds better now but i can feel the mid range loss,i just cant seem to get the bike running the way i want.At top end in 3rd and 4th it seems like it's not getting the gas it needs.Can i please get some positive feedback here on what to do...ty in advance.

[CD]

Stop! Before you further ruin the pipes STOP! Gold indicates a lean condition and if you are turning gold all the way back past the chamber you are lean, lean and more lean.

You might have an intake leak so check for one before doing any changes. With the bike hot and idling, spray WD40 on the intake flanges from the left side. Any RPM change indicates a leak. Fix any leaks first before jetting.

Popping on decell and gold color is telling you that you need to get the jetting corrected ASAP.

Find a good tuner and get it jetted correctly. Throwing main jets at it is like using a shotgun to set a nail.

A 190 is generally pretty close so I tend to lean toward an intake leak.

[JJKnight]

Only the power chamber itself has a thin gold line that you can see in between the pipes or should i say heat shields.The heat sheilds are fine but if ya look at the bike from the side the pipes are on, you can see the power chamber is gold.I will try the wd40 thing tomorrow cause my bike is at my girls house right now,thank you for the quick reply admin.

[JJKnight]

Well i did the wd40 test and i have no leaks,i took out the plugs and they were tannish and blackish around the bottom,looks fine to me i have a 190 main and a 45 slow with the stage 1 and the jet kit and my mix screw is 2 1/2 turns out,my conclusion is these pipes suck,i checked a few other chat boards and saw alot of post saying there power chamber also turned gold,it's not cause it's running lean it's cause of the ****ty finish they put on these ****ty pipes,if i could get my $$ back i would be thrilled,but i no that aint gonna happen.Never had any problems with the long shots....

[CD]

Originally Posted by JJKnight

Well i did the wd40 test and i have no leaks,i took out the plugs and they were tannish and blackish around the bottom,looks fine to me i have a 190 main and a 45 slow with the stage 1 and the jet kit and my mix screw is 2 1/2 turns out,my conclusion is these pipes suck,i checked a few other chat boards and saw alot of post saying there power chamber also turned gold,it's not cause it's running lean it's cause of the ****ty finish they put on these ****ty pipes,if i could get my $$ back i would be thrilled,but i no that aint gonna happen.Never had any problems with the long shots....

For every complaint about V&H quality there are probably 1999 kudos. They are the industry leader because of their quality, customer service and support. Another consideration is that you are looking at the chamber and not realizing it receives the bulk of the heat down stream from the ports. Both headers combine there so the heat is extremely high there. Also, any chrome directly exposed to heat will change color. The color change is dictated by the temperature and length of the exposure. Look at any stock head pipe or any Thunderheader, Drag pipe etc they all will show some form of bluing depending on how long they have been run. I would fully expect the chamber to turn color. Properly jetted the change will not be extreme or fast. As far as performance goes, the Big Shot Power Chamber will outperform the Longshots any day of the week. They have more top end and more mid range over any conventional drag style pipe.

If you think V&H finish sucks you don't want to look at Samson, Hard Krome ot Thunderheader. Their finishes are second rate compared to V&H and, for the most part they cannot even spell customer support.

You may want to refresh your plug reading skills because they may be outdated. There is no lead in the fuel so the 'tan' we used to look for isn't possible. The coloring you are seeing indicates rich at some range in your jetting. In most cases I try to get some color on the plug. What I call not scary white but not starting to show a lot of color on the insulator. In tuning you change plugs for every run in every RPM range if you are reading the plugs. If you are on the Dyno, you use the gas analyzer or look for flat, choppy spots in the run.