Hey folks I have and 85 honda magna v45 and I was wondering if it is possible to run straight pipes or if the bike needs mufflers. I'm relative new to bike tuning so any input would be great.

I am new to bike tuning too but don't see why you could not run straight pipes. From what I understand you would have to re-jet after.

Running straight pipes is possible, however only recommended for Harley-Davison owners with masculinity issues. Straight pipes are obnoxious to say the least. If you are curious about how your bike would sound without mufflers, take them off and ride around the block, then decide if you and your neighbors could live with it.

While changing my rear tire a few months ago I decided to do just that and the engine was so loud that standing behind it required earplugs, and I'm not a squeemish type of guy.

Anyway, the proper jetting combined with performance exhaust will provide similar if not better results than a straight pipe/jetting combination. Paul Dunstall researched this phenomenon in the 60s and determined that a certain amount of back-pressure is required for optimum performance, and therefore running a performance muffler is the way to go.

I would have to agree with Atlas. Vance and Hines makes some really nice exhaust systems and they are plenty loud - but a nice kind of loud if you know what I mean.

If it's the look of straight pipes you want, I would imagine if you dug around, you would find a system that has the look of straight pipes but would still have mufflers built in.

Check out www.oldbikebarn.com and some of the other sites to see what's available for your ride.

thanks for the info it was very helpful I was kinda looking at an alternative to buying stock pipes from honda which are a little pricy. Thank for the website kevin a site i've been looking for for a long time.

No problem man...let us know how it goes!

If you want the straight pipe look you could build baffles into the chopped ends of the headers.The restriction(or lack of same)that you design into them would determine the extent of jetting change needed.

Hi there. Are you looking to just make your bike louder or are you looking for performance? running straight pipes on a Honda V4 is not recommended as you will have a very hard time getting it jetted properly throughout the entire RPM range. If you are looking for something a little different there is a company called Laser who make headers for the V4 hondas. As well you can look to either Mac for replacement mufflers or Kerker for a 4 into 1 exhaust system. There are not a lot of options for the V4 hondas, and I think for the V45 you are pretty limited. Best bet is to keep an eye out on ebay. Another great source to checkout is www.v4hondabbs.com. Lots of knowledge on the V4s as well as a section classified section. Running a 4 into 1 system is your best performance option.

And always good to meet another local V4 owner. I ride a '84 V65.