putting T4 mufflers on a T3 -- advice?

[moto]

I need to replace my rusty old Valtec mufflers. I hope to move away from glass-packs mostly because of the irritation of monitoring when they have gotten loud enough to merit repacking, and the bother of repacking them.

I now have a relocated kickstand whose tang sits parallel to the one for the centerstand, which apparently precludes the use of mufflers with the notch on the bottom for the centerstand alone. Like La Franconis.

I think what would work best is a long megaphone shape like the Emgo Dunstall Replica that Gliderjohn has on his T3. The shape would be narrow enough toward the front that my two tangs wouldn't be pushed down too far., But, again, I don't want a glass-pack, so the Emgo is out.

I'm getting to think that the best bet for a quality long megaphone muffler might be the T4 one, probably made in stainless by Keihan or Armour, in England. I see that the T4 used the same exhaust pipes as the T3,  but with a different cross-over that had slightly canted-up exit pipes.

Since I don't want my pipes to angle up as much as on the T4 (or the SP, which shared them), I think I might use the T3-type cross-over, but without the long extensions at the rear. I figure I could fabricate a couple of longer-than-stock stainless mounting tabs to bolt onto the mufflers to make up for the reduced angle. Since part of the upswept angle of the T4 system is in the shape of the muffler itself, I would have a remaining but lesser degree of upsweep. My saddlebags are Wixoms and far enough up so the remaining upsweep wouldn't be a problem.

Questions for the group:

1) Has anyone done this? How did it work out?

2) Does this combination of a T3 crossover with T4 mufflers present some problem I'm not seeing?

3) Armour and Keihan both offer this design. Money aside, which should I get?

4) Armour says it has stainless steel wool packing that won't rust. Does it sound really nice because of this? (Like the Valtecs?)

5) Are Keihans packed with anything? How do they sound, compared to Armours?

6) Does anyone know of another long megaphone (over 30 inches) that is high quality, with a 38mm inlet, and not packed with glass fiber?

Maybe I'm asking too many questions! Any advice would be appreciated, as always.

Moto

[Groover]

We need to find some good mufflers for Moto here 

Seriously though, looks like you've done some in depth research on this one. I actually never noticed the T4 pipes to be a little upswept, thought they were the same as all the others (T3, Convert, Etc)

[TOMB]

1976 convert with Millie GT mufflers.

Mounted to stock head pipes and stock h pipe.

Hope this is in line with what your trying to accomplish.

TIMB

[Frenchfrog]

I'm firmly in the keihan camp. Armours quality certainly is not up to their standard ...and many years ago they supplied me with downpipes for my Panther 100 which were impossible to fit without serious work on the flanges ruining the chrome. They were totally rude and dismissive so i will never give them my coin again. keihan on the other hand were most helpful, polite and professional.
I recently got some Mistral silencers for my Guzzi and even though they are not cheap the quality and noise levels are outstanding.I 'd very much recommend them.

[moto]

Glad I asked my questions instead of just proceeding.

TOMB: A picture is worth a thousand words. While I think your setup looks good on a full-bore touring rig, I don't think I'd like it with my sportier layout. The mufflers look bigger than I thought they would. (By the way, I see you avoided the upswept mounting entirely, apparently by rotating the mufflers about 90 degrees. Excellent.)

Frenchfrog: I've seen similar comments on the web, but coming from you, a valued Wildguzzi contributor with direct experience of both companies, I'm now convinced to avoid Armour.


Update on my plans: I'm now pursuing the Keihan T3 system in stainless steel. It's hard to tell from the single tiny photo on their site, but I suspect this is the same model that Feked sells with chrome plating: https://www.feked.com/moto-guzzi-850-t3-and-california-silencers-mufflers-chrome-made-in-england.html. I've sent an email to Keihan asking about that and other details.





Some web reviews about Feked's chrome plating are alarming, so I won't go that direction. However, Feked's site provides a bunch of photos of the possibly Keihan-made mufflers, which seem very attractive to me. They are somewhat like my Valtecs, with an added dimple on top for the rear axle but no dimple on the bottom for the center stand (which I can't use anyway). In stainless, they would be my choice.

As usual, Wildguzzi comes through. Thanks all. I may update this again as I make progress, since everyone deserves good mufflers.

Moto

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

The Emgo long reverse-cone mufflers like radguzzi has on his Convert have no fiberglass or other packing, just mechanical baffling.
https://tinyurl.com/6fcc8fr5

[moto]

The Emgo long reverse-cone mufflers like radguzzi has on his Convert have no fiberglass or other packing, just mechanical baffling.
https://tinyurl.com/6fcc8fr5

I assumed [insert the usual joke here] that they were glass-packed like the open-cone version. Thanks. Now I have the option of cheaping-out and satisfying my stated requirements at least approximately. (They are 5 inches shorter, and have a bigger inlet ID, though step-down collars are provided.)

Moto