Conti silencers on an SF1

All SF1s in Oz came with long cone Contis. From SF2 on short cone Contis and nothing else. Find it very odd that SF1s in the UK would have had a muffler that was superseded everywhere else in the world.

My SF1s long cones had been replaced by the first owner with short cones (which I reckon look better - opinions vary). I replaced them with Ducati Contis which I loved and which lasted really well until I gave them to a friend when i went 2/1 with the 5C SFC cam.

Staintune in Oz make excellent quality stainless Conti reps. i've seen short cone but I also bought a 2nd hand pair of Conti reps made for a big Suzuki or Kwaka twin system (with the spiralled dimples inside a la genuine Contis. Someone did an awful job adding an extra piece of plumbing to them. Pic attached hopefully.

Is Malcolm Cox no making Conti reps in high quality chromes steel?

 

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Genuine Conti mufflers look and sound great, but I don't think the quality was very good. Aftermarket copies are typically stronger, more durable and better finished than the originals.

My 1985 Ducati MHR came with Contis. By some time in the early 1990s they had rusted through near the header pipe and the baffles had also come loose and were rattling around. So I ordered a new set of Contis for the bike. Franco Conti had just died so I thought I'd better grab a pair before the supply dried up. Had I known then that production would not only continue but quality would improve, I probably wouldn't have bought them. They were $600 when I bought them. They're around $1600 now.

Rather than fit the new mufflers straight away and have them rust out in another few years, I thought I'd try to patch up the old rusted ones to make them last a bit longer. I cut the rotten bits out, re-welded the baffles, welded in new steel to replace the rusty bits that were cut out, ground back the welds, got them polished and re-chromed. They turned out looking as good as new. They're still on the bike more than 20 years later and the new ones are still in the box they came in  ::)

I suspect part of the problem with the originals may have been poor chrome plating, as my repaired and re-plated ones have lasted so much longer.

 
The banana curved long Contis on my Pantah have a nice additional bit of machining.The inner collector that runs under the engine has been gutted,looks like a shark bit it out in chunks,its unseen at least.Some time in the past they were mounted too close to the rear wheel axle and that cut matching vertical grooves right through the inner skin.The bike is a heavily modified TL.Been pricing 2 into 1s for it,Staintune are happy to make a one off for $1500 but they need the bike for a week. Lotto ticket time.A mate once bought a new set of Conti's for eye watering money and crashed the bike a week later, they were what took most of the damage
 
I agree, the photo on Armours site would not make you want to put your money down.
However, none of the 3 sets we have looked anything like that.
One muffler required a light tickle with a TIG and a fine grind and polish, but that was it.  Cost of a 6 pack.

They fit onto the 74 SF2 no problems, but needed a bit of a tweak to get on the 77 SF3 - taken care of by tweaking/resetting the mounting tab on the frame.  The 75 SF2 required a lot more surgery - cut and reweld the mounting brackets as they seemed way off - pays to remain friendly with the craftsman that fabricate Pharma gear.  That cost a box of Coopers Sparkling Ale long necks.  All three retain the big bore collector.

All of our mufflers rusted out on the bottom seam around two thirds along the length.  One rusted out on the reverse cone seam, but that was many, many years ago.
AW was showing reverse cone mufflers earlier this year on his site, but they were expensive from memory.

I would be interested to see Malcolms SF mufflers.  Anybody in AUS purchased any ?
 
The old wives tail re stopping Contis from rusting 5 minutes after fitting involved soaking them in fish oil,anyone tried it.I know everyone says the Chrome ones sound better but I always went Stainless to avoid the sudden rusting especially at the replacement costs.
 
I found a pic on MalCox FB site (Laverda Riders Worldwide) of an SF system he had made, not sure if it was a prototype, long cone styled doesn?t seem like an exact replica, and had headers that excluded the junction box. He is also doing junction boxes as well I believe.
 
I don't know if Malcolm comes on here much / at all. 
Sounds like he could do with a website.
I'm buying mine from him as I'm of the opinion they are pretty much identical to the original only with better quality materials/chrome.

What did you see about the SF silencers in his pictures that was non-original looking please?
 
when I bought my SF2 it came with some after market mufflers that were of decent quality,they came from a company here in the US called dimecitycycles.com they are 26" reverse cone and are only $79 US if your on a budget they are very nice, they also have a lot of other exhaust components
 
olly said:
I don't know if Malcolm comes on here much / at all. 
Sounds like he could do with a website.
I'm buying mine from him as I'm of the opinion they are pretty much identical to the original only with better quality materials/chrome.

What did you see about the SF silencers in his pictures that was non-original looking please?
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I searched the group for "SF" and the post was "22 July". They look like a pretty good copy but in the pics appear a bit different at the outlet and the mounting. If someone wants "exact" copies they might want more exact than what these pics seem to show. They do look great quality besides that.
If you send him an email (coxeng@gmx.com) he will surely send you pics of the latest ones.
 
Dellortoman said:
Genuine Conti mufflers look and sound great, but I don't think the quality was very good. Aftermarket copies are typically stronger, more durable and better finished than the originals.
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Have to disagree Cam.  I've found genuine Contis to be of exceptional high quality

The genuine long-cone Conti silencers on my GTL were sourced from Wolfgang late 1993, he was the only person that carried NOS at the time.  Apart from some battery acid damage, the chrome is still more than acceptable, no rust to be detected trying to break out from the undersides either.  The bike has covered around 65000km since I finished the restoration and road registered it in April 1994.  It has not been pampered and has its scars.

I haven't come across any aftermarket items that even come close to genuine Conti silencers.  The last ones I inspected looked OK at first glance, but showed crappy welds and were extremely lightweight (possibly less than half of my originals).  The mounting bracket was very much simplified, nothing like the originals.  Looking inside, the baffle was of an extremely basic design, and I suspect no damping material at all was used in the manufacture.  They made the impression they'd sound tinny and fall apart after 2-3 seasons... ::)

piet
 
If you're in Oz and want very high quality stainless I would definitely recommend Staintune. I've seen their SF2 copies and they are top notch. The one I pictured is heavy stainless and the internal baffle replicates a Conti exactly. If i use them I'll polish them and redo the inlets to suit SF headers (minus junction box). I'm sure they'll come up a million bucks.

Can't go past Malcolm's offerings if you want chromed steel.
 
Does anyone know if Malcolm makes both the long and short cone versions of the SF silencers (i.e. to specifically suit the SF1 long cone Conti version), or only the short cone - SF2 version.

I may be confused, but I have the feeling that he may not make the long cone version, given a previous post I read.

Thanks

Yogi
 
sfcpiet said:
Have to disagree Cam.
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That's OK. I've just had a different experience. The only aftermarket Conti replicas I've had anything to do with are Aussie Staintunes . They were solidly built and the welds looked nice. Whereas my old Contis had nasty lumpy welds on the seams, the baffles broke loose inside the cans, they developed lots of pinhole rust spots all over the chrome, gaping rust holes appeared near the header spigot, and one of the mounting brackets fell off where the spot welds had failed. All of that in the first 5 years of the bike's life. Perhaps the Conti factory was having quality control problems when mine came through the production line. Once I'd repaired and re-chromed them they were a lot better.

I dunno if the newer Contis I bought are any better. So far they haven't given any trouble while wrapped in plastic and tucked away in a box. Maybe I'd better have a look. They might be a pile of rust by now  :D
 
Yogi said:
Does anyone know if Malcolm makes both the long and short cone versions of the SF silencers (i.e. to specifically suit the SF1 long cone Conti version), or only the short cone - SF2 version.

I may be confused, but I have the feeling that he may not make the long cone version, given a previous post I read.

Thanks

Yogi
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yes both versions - I'm going for long cone on my SF1
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
All SF1s in Oz came with long cone Contis. From SF2 on short cone Contis and nothing else. Find it very odd that SF1s in the UK would have had a muffler that was superseded everywhere else in the world.
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I bought my new,  Stanco supplied SF2 in July 1974 and it came with 38mm forks, twin discs and long cone Contis?
 
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