Motorcycle Repair: Drag pipes, happy holidays, sportster

Question
I have a 1986 sportster 883/1200 conversion with 2" drag pipes and was wondering if the performance of the engine is effected if the pipes are different lengths. One shorter than the other.

Answer
Not if there is a couple of inches difference. The one thing that does hurt performance is the drag pipes themselves. You need a little back pressure on your exhaust for the motor to run efficent. Drag pipes work really well at high RPMs, but hurt performance at midrange and low end. Midrange is where must of us ride.
Happy holidays
Mike