Samson Exhausts: ahead of the curve (and determined to stay there)

Despite the difficulties imposed by the EPA regulations and noise issues, Samson Exhaust is still confident about its prospects for the future. Here the company’s owner, Kenny Price, talks to AMD.

“I’ve talked to others in the [exhaust] industry and they agree if we don’t do something about sound suppression then the government will start implementing laws we can’t comply with.” At first it may seem that this comment from Samson Exhaust owner Kenny Price indicates the exhaust industry is on the back foot. However, it soon becomes clear that that’s not the case, at least not for Samson. Kenny says: “Baffling is something we in the exhaust industry feel needs to be addressed. Sound suppression is an area where we need to be forward-thinking and pro-active. We’re working towards moderate sound levels so that riders can still express themselves when they’re on their bikes.”

For the 2007 product range all Samson Exhaust aftermarket pipes will either have baffles fitted or have a set of baffles with them in the box. The later option gives the rider the choice of whether they reduce the sound level of the exhaust or not. The reason for this says Kenny is: “To leave the choice to the rider. We don’t want to regulate them, just the same as we don’t want to be regulated by the government.”

The problem for exhaust manufacturers is one of clarity with regard to legislation. There is seemingly no agreement yet on the way in which exhaust volume levels are measured. People like Kenny are concerned that there are too many variables. Is the level measured at drive-by or stand still? What gear you’re riding in and engine revs can will also affect the noise level.

It is rumored that in Massachusetts there is pressure to pass a law making it illegal to alter a motorcycle muffler. What concerns Kenny about this is that it is only motorcycles being targeted. “I know we’re being targeted. Samson and loud pipes have been synonymous since I started the company. But I know today we need to have the option to have some sound suppression available to the individual.”

Kenny Price is not going to let the inclusion of baffles in his company’s pipes overly worry him in the long-term. His answer is to use the baffle not only as a method of lowering the noise level of his pipes but also to gain a performance benefit. By using a perforated cone in the baffle of the muffler the exhaust gases are accelerated, which results in high torque figures for the engine. There are two other performance benefits gained from using the conical ‘Varitech’ baffles. One is the creation of velocity, which scavenges the exhaust gases from the exhaust port more efficiently. This assists in evacuating gases from the engine. The other benefit is that the Varitech baffles help create an anti-revision effect.

This eliminates the tendency for spent gases to be sucked back into the combustion chamber during the engine’s intake stroke. The value of anti-revision is a cleaner air fuel burn during combustion and a cooler running engine.
Along side noise suppressing baffles, Samson is fitting another extra to its exhaust pipes. Kenny takes up the story: “We’re going to add a ‘Power Bar’ to every baffle we’re making for this next year. What we call a Power Bar is just a small bar that goes across the baffle; it helps break up the harmonic waves. It actually gives 3-5lbft more torque.

“About 10 years ago I was talking to Frank Kiesler, then editor of Hot Rod Harley, and I said to him 'put a screwdriver across the end of each pipe and then do dyno runs with them in place and without them and compare the results.' It was just like I said, he saw an improvement in the torque figures.”

It wasn’t performance that first set Kenny Price on the road to success with Samson. His first concern was the lack of choice of styles and designs when it came to aftermarket pipes for Harley-Davidsons. “As a motorcyclist I was tired of the limited choices,” says Kenny. He continues: “I just came up with these styles and the company took on a life of its own.”

When Kenny started the company the whole pipe manufacturing process was done by hand. Now as the company has grown the process is gradually becoming more and more automated. Kenny used to bend the very first Samson pipes himself using a manually operated pipe bender. Each pipe would take him three to four minutes to bend. Now the work force he employs operates hydraulic benders that can do the same job in less than 25 seconds. The demands of running a business also mean he doesn’t get to spend as much time on the shop floor as he’d like to.

The Samson facility has 23 welding booths, each one equipped with a complex closed loop gas supply to ensure that each welder has constant gas pressure to ensure the best welds.

The jigs used in the construction of the pipes are all made in-house and include ones for guiding the plasma cutters which are used to cut the heat shields for the pipes.

As Samson has grown as a company it has expanded its product ranges. Alongside the Samson line there is now ‘Shogun’, which was started to cater for the growing metric market, and ‘Caliber’, a performance orientated range of pipes. Kenny says of the Caliber pipes that he has affidavits from dealers stating that the 2 into 1 pipe is the best they have used when it comes to increased torque output.

“ It’s all about ridability,” is how Kenny describes the Caliber pipes. “We could make drag pipes that perform at high revs but we’d lose the bottom end power and thus that ridability.”

The development of the Caliber pipes came about with input from Ray Price, who campaigns a nitro-fuelled, Harley drag race bike. Price’s claims to fame include inventing the wheelie bar for drag bikes and the two-speed drag racing bike transmission. Samson are the title sponsor of Ray’s racing team, whose bike holds the 1/4 mile speed record for a V-twin engined bike with a terminal speed of 222mph, covering the strip in just 6.26 seconds.

Samson Exhaust is perhaps better known for the look of its pipes than as a maker of performance upgrades, and is particularly famous for its fishtail designs. This year a new version has been released which Kenny describes as: “Looking like it’s moving, even when it’s stood still.” The ideas for new designs come to Kenny either when he’s riding or sleeping. “I’ve thought of more pipes riding home from Sturgis than I can name today.” While Kenny comes up with the original ideas, the finished design is a team effort. Once an idea is put forward everyone is encouraged to give their input. As Kenny points out: “This means the pipe looks good, has easy installation, good quality and good performance. We take time to ensure the pipe fits the look of the bike. We’ll use a pipe to hide some of the ugly parts of the bike.”

A pipe that the team is currently working on is for use with bikes running right side drive transmissions. They are using a Jims RSD as it is the widest transmission on the market, due to its outboard bearings. They know if the pipes will fit around that trans they’ll fit around any other transmission currently available.

Bikes have been a life long passion for Kenny. He got his first Harley-Davidson when he was 18 years old, paying $1,000 for a ’65 Panhead. It was a full dresser with 40,000 miles on the clock. He still owns the bike but now regrets throwing the original dress-up items on the local garbage tip when he first got the bike.
Motorbikes are not his only interest though, he has a collection of old fire engines too. It all got started when he saw one on eBay and decided to bid on it just for fun. The collection has just kept growing from that first purchase and now lives inside the Samson factory. Kenny regularly takes the engines out to visit local hospitals so that the sick kids in the hospitals have something to cheer them up. Kenny lets them play on the engines and ring the bells. As he says: “There’s more to life that just work and motorbikes.”

back to written word

top