There are also some good instructions at the www.ventures.org site under the tech section so if you are going to do this procedure it would probably pay to check out those instructions also. I picked my Road King Classic mufflers up on E-Bay, one word of caution, the Classic style RKpipes have the slanted rear which I wanted but there are some RK pipes that do not have this style and have the bullet style rear end similar to the Venture factory pipes, make sure you get the style of RK pipes you are looking for, especially if E-Bay is your source.
I also purchased an adapter from our member, SofaPilot who made a mount for mounting a RK pipe to the rear exhaust mount of the Venture, this eliminated the need to cut off and re-mount the stock rear bracket from the Venture pipes.
First step is to remove your rear side saddle bags and then remove the stock exhaust, loosen the muffler clamp underneath the front of the pipe and remove the bolt from the rear of the pipe and pull the stock pipes off the bike, since I had a new bike this was a breeze, but this could be harder for those who have older bikes.
After removal of the stock muffler I took my Dremel tool and cut the three
rivets holding the stock heat shield to the Venture pipe.
Looking at the heat shield next to the RK pipe in the following picture you
can see the square opening for the muffler clamp, just below this square
opening cut the heat shield in the center, DO NOT cut the top section above
the opening, just the bottom section, this will allow the heat shield to
expand around the RK pipes. Next drill three 1/8 inch holes in the heat
shield, I drilled them near the spot welds. Now put the HD muffler clamps over
the muffler end and position the heat shield so that opening is to the inside,
hint, the factory dimple in the HD classic pipes goes to the inside, I
aligned my opening on the same side as the dimple in the pipes with a slightly
downward angle so that I could easily get to the muffler clamp once the
muffler is on the bike. Be sure and put the HD clamp on BEFORE putting
the heat shield on the RK pipe. Now drill through one of the 1/8 inch holes in
the shield and into the RK pipe and put ONE rivet in.
I then installed the RK rear bracket I got from Sofa Pilot onto the RK pipe.
Next thing to do is put the muffler on the bike, I used a rubber hammer and
with some gentle pings to the bracket area, (NOT THE REAR OF THE MUFFLER) Mine
went on fairly smooth and I temporarily attached them using the RK rear
bracket. Now carefully align the heat shield so that it is even all around and
not touching the muffler, you can then mark the remaining two holes with a
pencil or felt tip and take the RK muffler back off the bike, drill the two
holes where marked and place rivets in the remaining holes and remount the RK
muffler. When I remounted the RK's for the final time I went down to the local
auto supply and got some anti-seaze compound in a tube and made sure the
exhaust pipe coming out of the Venture was clean and coated it with anti-seaze
before the final install.
Instead of marking both holes I ended up being able to drill one of the holes
while the RK muffler was mounted and the heat shield was aligned, I then took
the RK muffler back off and drilled out the third hole and riveted.
I then used a standard drill with a bit extension and then drilled out the RK
mufflers after installation from the rear of the bike. I used a magnet to
retrieve any metal filings left. inside the muffler.
RK's installed, you can see the rear mount attached to the RK pipe.
Finished product.
Hope this helps anyone interested in doing this modification, I love the sound
that I achieved with the Road King pipes.