I needed to swap out the collector on my 97 bird (dont ask why...) so I purchased a nice used one off of eBay. It said it was for a 97, but upon inspection it was slightly different that my original one. The right two and left two pipes on my original were joined together in pairs before the pairs came together, and on this new header the outsides and the insides are paired. By virtue of this design the scavanging should be, and obviously is different. My bike sounds different now. It's got a deeper note, the throttle seems "crisper", it seems to have lost some if it's raspyness at WOT, and I'd swear it was overall quieter.

My guess is the collector I got was off of a Fuel Injected bike, but it bolted right on and sealed up with no problems.

Has anyone here tried different stock collectors? Results?

Yep, you are right. I think that is why Honda changed it, to give the bike more torque at a lower rpm while trading off the higher rpm charge of the older model. So, would you say that you like it better?

verrry interesting

I would say yes, I do like it. And, I cant say I've noticed that it's lacking on the top end either. It still pulls like a fucking freaky freight train all the way up! I blasted into the 140's a couple of weeks ago and it got there just as quick, if not quicker than ever. The sound of the my Micron slip-ons has changed too. The deep growl on the bottom is intense... I got a new set of rubber spooned on last week and was inside the stealer paying when the wrench brought my bike around. The entire shop started vibrating as he came around. It was making this huge major deep "BBBOOOOOWWWW" noise that was coming right thought the cinderblock walls and front glass, it sounded like a big block chevy was pulling up outside - and there was the 'bird. My kid said the same thing to me tonight when I got home. His comment was that the bike sounded like a jet airplane pulling into the garage. He said his fork was vibrating on his dinner plate. The good news is that it isnt loud at all to ride! Like I said, it almost seems quieter to me. More "turbine" like.

Might I have stumbled on something? I wish there was another bird in town for me compare it to. Ya'll are welcome to come on out and try it for yourself but my ass tells me that there is a definate difference.

Now, go put it on the dyno, then switch back to the old header and dyno it again. :lol:

Now this is freaky - I am on the board of directors for March of Dimes Ride for Babies. I went to our end of season meeting tonight and the sponser hands me a certificate for a free Dyno Run! We're gonna see what that new collector looks like!!! :D :D :D

Any advice on preparing for a Dyno run?

Thin oil and a light rear tire will give you more horsepower but.......

So I thin the oil with Goose Vodka and roll a joint with the rear tire?