until now I've had a slip on system (v&H) but i found a vance and hines header on ebay a while back.  I took it to a muffler shop and told them to weld it up to the old slip on i had... they were going to but said the bolts for the stock header weren't long enough to fit the v&h header. They have a history of being dumb... are they correct....?  If so does anyone have a set of bolts?

[5

The stock Suzuki bolts are too short. Head down to the hardware store to pick up some longer ones!

cool guys... thanx... that helps a bunch.  I guess i owe them an apology for my thinking... lol

Stainless steel bolts

Pro: Wont rust and looks good!
Con: are more prone to being affected by heat cycles. Can become weak. Are more expensive.

Quote from: galahs on May 04, 2006, 09:16:36 AM
Con: are more prone to being affected by heat cycles.

This is very true, you want to make sure they don't losen up on you so check that they are staying tight every so often for the first few weeks.  You'll probably be fine, but if you have trouble keeping them tight, your best bet would be to safety wire them.  I don't know if mild steel bolts would be any better, but IMO losening bolts are better then rusting bolts.

h76

It's true that the bolts may come loose from time to time, but I've actually had very little trouble with that. If you do have a problem with loose bolts though, don't be tempted to use thread locker on them!! I actually put a little grease on my threads to prevent them from getting stuck.

Also remember that you'll be unbolting the header every time you do an oil change because the V&H header blocks the filter and drain (you can do it with the header on, but it's more of a pain than just removing the header) - so if the bolts are rusting, etc. you can replace them at the next oil change. And for what it's worth, I find the allen heads easier to tighten and loosen.