2012 Connie, 2006/07 ZX14 Headers, Two Brothers Dual Slipons - HELP

[Cuda]

I was out of town for Christmass when this post was going on, I had the same problems, I went to muffler shops to have them bend the pipes but no one wanted to because the type of pipe and thickness, so I did as above , making a lowering bracket out of Alumium for the right side , I used the Muzzys bracket for the left, VERY happy .
I bought everything used , header and mufflers, I don't think the year maters. Good luck jj

[CADMAN97]

Maybe if you loosin up the header some, so everything can kinda come together. It may help a bit to have some "slack" in the whole assy, and then tighten it all up once its together...just a thought??

This is a separate issue, but when i bought my 2 Bros from another member here, the mid pipe absolutely would not fit onto the header. I pushed, pulled, and wiggled, and even heated it up with a torch, and still wouldn't go on. I took it to a muffler shop here in town, and they flared the end just a bit for me, and it slipped right on. The newer 2Bro's pipes have a slightly larger flare, so that min ID fits max OD. The owner I bought if from had it on his 2008.

[Glennn]

I'm debating about what I'm going to do with my exhaust.  Just wondering which two bros pipes were ordered.  I'm assuming they were the zx14 duals, but which year bike?

You need to match the year of the mufflers to the year manufacturer of the header - there are two sets:

2006-2007 ZX14
2008-2012 ZX14

The reason is the diameter where the mid pipe connects to the header is different between those sets

For the record, my headers are the 2006-2007 ZX14 headers and Two Bros duals for an 2006-2007 ZX14

p.s. still haven't bent my mid-pipes yet 

[Glennn]

Just as a final follow up to this thread. 

I finally manned up and bent the pipes.  Pulled the muffler, got my bike lift up under the midpipe where it connects to the header, slipped a think block of wood between the header and engine and upped the jack a bit.  Got a mattock (pick) handle and slid into the mid pipe and bent, bent, bent in little bits till I got the mufflers to be able to mount without have to force them down. 

Fabbed a bracket out of some 3mm flat metal (aluminium I think), holes on the right side 1.5" apart, holes on the left slightly less than an 1", both pipes are reasonably aligned and the tips have the same distance from the bags with decent clearance - so yes my panniers are back on and I'm happy. 

Will run the for a little bit and if remain happy with paint the brackets black as they stand out a bit as is.

Edit: also replaced the sidestand with a XZ14 version I got off eBay.  Much happier with that than the spaced out stock side stand.

[Cuda]

Did you install reducers in the mufflers ? Do you feel extra HP at high RPMs . 

[Glennn]

Did you install reducers in the mufflers ? Do you feel extra HP at high RPMs . 

I did a run without the reducers initially and just too loud.  I installed the normal reducers which dropped the tone enough that it isn't overly annoying (to me), yet still sounds awesome when on the howl.  Couldn't really pick a significant power change, suspect it is more in the exciteable wrist. Am contemplating the bigger reducers if I go on a long trip.