No worries there Rowebote, I know that, but I didn't want others to misconstrue your post so it's all good.
And evilive69, you're snippy tone could use some manners, plus some education. You obviously have an attitude, but I'll try and refrain from giving you the same in return and make believe you asked this nicely. If you asked and said what you did you obviously don't have much first hand knowledge on the subject of making pipes, or power, so let's go to school now.
Now given your attitude I should probably just not even bother, but for the sake of others here seeing your rant I will go into it more for them.
First of all, pipes made as described with less than 1" in deviation pipeto pipe (same length sections front/rear pipes)are called tuned pipes. Equal lengths of each pipe diameter along with somoth flowing bends creates an equal back pressure for each cylinder, thereby letting the cylinders work in harmony thereby creating all the power available. If you have two equal horses pulling a carriage then it goes the best. If one horse isn't feeling as well as the other he holds the other horse back. V Twin engines do the same thing. It's simple physics. Now to go a step further, our pipes don't appear to have equaL length sections on the 1-3/4 pipe and the intermediate 2" pipe, but they are.Iwanted the steps to sit on a similar level front and rear for a balanced look, so to get both the look and the tune, the front 1-3/4 headpipe is set deeply into the 2" section, thereby making it as long internally as the longer exposed rear pipe headpipe, which by doing so also effectively shortens the center 2" section to that of the same section on the rear. Then both 2-1/2" dump pipes are equal. This is what is meant by tuned pipes. Another note as to intentional design... the smaller diameter headpipes are left much longer than most others out there (most stop only inches from the head) for a reason... to keep up the torque by holding the gasses tight until they cool enough to expand into the second section. And the third sections are 2-1/2" which require the use of a custom made collar that gets welded in between the two last sections to make the larger than normal 1/2" diameter jump. This gives an expansion chamber effect and let's the exhaust expand and evacuate freely. The large diameter final also gives a deeper tone than smaller diameter pipes.
Llooyd, as well as Kevin Cross both commented on the improvement in the mid/upper 2K RPM flat spot our bikes tend to have. Lloyd also ran the Talons on a 116 build he did and after trying several sets of pipes, mine showed a close to 15% gain in HP and a few points in TQ.
As for price, you're right, they're not cheap, but as you're trying to assert it's profit, get off your high horse as it is not. It is time that goes into making them by hand, one by one, fit on a motor, not a jig, making them fit perfectly, with no pulling, prying, or spacing as found one the average production pipes out there. I've owned others, and let's just say without naming names that the fit was a struggle. If you haven't seen this, then you obviulsly haven't changed to many sets out.
The hand cleaning/sanding down of all the welds takes time and skill, so it obviously adds to the costs.The heatshields are also made by hand, so they too cost moretoo.
Bottom line, and I've said it before, my pipes are not something I make for everyone. They are for the guy who doesn't settle for 2nd rate, nor the guy who thinks cheaper is better. Like all my parts I am not price concious from inception to completion, I am quality, performance for the intended use, and fit concious first, and the prices fall where they do once those parameters are met. Hell, I even put too much into the Talons, so much sothat my margins aren't even close to what the other manufacturers are making on theirs.
I hope this helps members understand this all, and as for evilive69, next time you want to give meyour ****tyattutude don't do it from behind a keyboard like a computer cowboy, call me and do it like a man instead of like you did here like a child, so that I can give you my true thoughts in return in private.