hey’re brand-new for 2004, they’re coming from Samson so you already know about the look, sound, fit and quality—but these pipes bring something else to the table. Horsepower- and torque-building performance, the kind of performance only available from stepped-header pipes. Underneath its full-coverage heatshield the Samson Caliber features a power-packed stepped-header design. More than just looking good and sounding good, the Caliber can boost horsepower by as much as 25 percent. Got your interest?
     This will interest you, too. The new Caliber will be available for fitment on just about every Harley-Davidson on the road. Sportsters, Softtails, Dynas, even the Road King and big Harley-Davidson dressers—there’s a Caliber stepped-header exhaust for all of them. And the pipes for the dressers are true-dual crossovers, the first stepped-header system ever offered in that style.
     Dimensions? The Caliber starts off with a power-proven 1 3/4-inch diameter at the port, stepping up to 1 7/8-inch, then 2 inches, finishing off into big 2 1/4-inch pipes. It’s the industry’s first four-step header, and all this gets covered with beautifully chromed full coverage 2 1/2-inch heatshields. The Sportster, Softail and Dyna pipes come with chromed billet-aluminum end caps, with removable baffles. There are a couple of baffles available, too, a high-flow version for pure power, another to quiet things down just a little. The true-dual Caliber empties into a pair of very special mufflers designed just for this stepped-header pipe.
     Performance specifics? According to Samson, on a stock Fat Boy the Caliber—along with a free-flowing air filter and a little recalibration for the EFI—bumped the horsepower from less than 60 clear up to the mid-70s, with a torque increase to match. Open up the displacement to 95 inches or more and the gains get truly huge. “We designed these pipes for breathing,” say the guys at Samson, “and the bigger the engine, the bigger the gains.”
     It’s going to be nice to have this kind of power pipe available for a Road King and a dresser, too, and the true-dual Caliber gets power-boosted even more with Samson’s Varitech baffle in the mufflers. Significantly increasing the velocity of exhaust-gas flow, the Varitech literally sucks the exhaust out of the engine. Coupled with those four-stepped-header pipes, the results can be impressive.
     All of this is totally new from Samson. A longtime leader in the custom-pipe field—this issue’s cover bike runs a set of Samson “Extremes”—now there’s added performance to go along with the look. That performance comes with plenty of Samson style and attention to detail, too. The Caliber heatshield, for example, fits so well it's hard to tell it’s even a heatshield. The mounting hardware and brackets are all top-notch, too.
     To kick-off this latest addition to the line, all Samson packaging is also brand-new for 2004. Every set of Samson pipes now comes carefully packed in distinctive bright white boxes, with bold red and black lettering. They’ll look good on the shelf, even before the boxes are opened up. And while Samsons have always looked good on the bike, now they’re bringing something else with them, too—added performance, the kind of performance only four-step headers can deliver. Call your rep for Caliber delivery dates.

The Caliber can boost horsepower by as much as 25 percent.