R26 Exhaust Pipe

[Bob Harper]

Hi Mark - Could you please tell me if the Exhaust pipe you sell for the R26 is chromed or if it is stainless steel? Thanks

[Mark Huggett]

Hi Bob.

All our exhaust systems are chromium plated and not stainless steel unless otherwise indicated.

Best regards

Mark
Mark Huggett GmbH

[Dave Thomas]

Hello Mark,

A related question: I bought a German reproduction pipe from another source a few years ago, before
I knew of your company. It is of good quality (heavy gauge material, good chrome) but the bend is
not smooth. It has a distinct "edge" about half-way down from the head. I'd like to replace it with
a pipe that has a nice smooth bend like the original. My original pipe is too damaged to rechrome.
How do your pipes look?

Regards,

Dave

[Mark Huggett]

We have the same problem Dave! The exhaust pipe market has become extremely cut-throat in Europe. There is basically one manufaturer who makes to order for all dealers like our selves. He uses standard pipe bending cams that are readily available on the market, and therefore the exhaust bends are relatively cheap in price when compared to the last official BMW selling price of CHF 320.00. We have also spoken to the manufacturer on many occassions, visiting him in his factory and providing him with original samples. He is of the old tradesman class who can work wonders with his fingers, but can't read a technical drawing. He explained to us that if he had to make the exhaust bends with that 3rd dimensional sweep instead of the "kink" or "edge", he would have to have a special cam made for bending the exhaust pipe which would cost about CHF 60'000.-- per cam per exhaust pipe type or model. This would push up the price of an exhaust bend into the CHF 300.00 mark again which people are hardly prepared to pay any more. We also approached the original BMW manufacturer on this issue again, but, though the cams are still available, the market price is also over CHF 300.00.

If the bends are hand bent using heat instead of bending cams, the price would again be over CHF 300.00 per exhaust pipe due to the slow production and lesser productivity.

Hope that answers your questions.

Best regards,

Mark
Mark Huggett GmbH

[Dave Thomas]

Thanks for your response, Mark. I certainly understand your problem.
I suppose I'll try to find an original that's good enough to repair
and rechrome.

Regards,

Dave

[Allan Atherton]

Same here. I bought a repro R27 pipe from Bobs BMW and it has a cam mark. Looks like a muffler shop made it (just kidding). Also, the dimple for clearing the footpeg mount was an inch too far forward, so the pipe rattled and the dimple had to be extended with a vise.

By the way, be careful in re-chroming any old pipes. Before I bought the repro pipe, I re-chromed the original pipe. The chrome blistered as soon as the motor was started because the plater had used soft chrome instead of hard chrome.

[Dave Thomas]

Thanks for the tip, Allan. I think I'll try to straighten
my old pipe and get the pipe and muffler rechromed.

[Vanhove Geert]

I bought an aftermarket exhaust pipe from a German dealer for my R26 . ( before I found this incredable website ) But it will not fit on my bike unless I mount the silencer at the outside of my bike ( looks like shit ) . Something is wrong here ,,,, Is it possible there are two sorts of cylinderheads they used for the R26. I tried other exhaust pipes they deleaverd in Belgium but with the same result . Is there anyone who can help me ???

[Mark Huggett]

Hi Geert

In the mail that you sent directly to us, you mentioned that you had an R26 and R27 cylinderhead where the exhaust thread was angled differently. Your R26 head has therefore probably had the thread rewelded and recut and now the angle is incorrect. Try fitting the R27 head instead and see if this solves your problem. If it does, then you know that the problem lies with the R26 cylinderhead that you have. As mentioned in past correspondence, BMW did not have two different types of cylinderheads for the R26.

Best regards,

Mark
Mark Huggett GmbH