ince way back in the ‘70s Hooker has been a major player in the bike market. Hooker Headers tore it up everywhere, street and track, and by the mid-‘90s there was a full lineup of Hooker street pipes for Harleys all setting the performance standard. It’s only gotten better since then.
     In the past couple of years Hooker Headers has made big news in the V-twin market. The new ‘07 catalog lists it all and you’ll definitely want to get your hands on one of these. Everything’s in there, all the new Hooker pipes, all the new cores and baffles for tuning and sound control and all that is just a start. There’s more coming and everything, as always, is serious equipment for serious riders.
     Hooker pipes look great, sound great and every one is pure performance, coming from the company that’s all about performance. Every Hooker pipe features stepped-headers, a power-pumping exhaust technology Hooker has employed since ‘92, years before the “stepped pipe” craze took hold. Every Hooker Harley exhaust has a Metallic Ceramic Coating, too, inside and out. That ceramic coating does more than just protect the heat shields from bluing, too. That ceramic is also there to keep the exhaust heat where it’ll do the most good to increase flow and velocity to maximize performance. That’s Hooker, and the kind of attention to detail you can expect. And all these step-header pipes–drag-style and dresser–are offered in two sizes, two different diameters because Hooker is that serious about performance. One set has its pipes and steps sized and tuned for engines up to 95-inches, another is sized and tuned for engines pumping out 96-plus cubic inches. It’s what’s required for maximum performance in every application.
     Speaking of applications you’ll want to check out a couple new ones just out. Hooker’s Rebel Series WideTails, the newest addition to the extensive Rebel Series, is especially configured to fit RSD applications with giant rear tires. Bikes like the Big Dog Mastiff, Ridgeback or Pitbull. The WideTails are also great on customized Harley Softails that have been converted with one of the wide-tire kits. The Rebel WideTails should fit lots of other customs, too. There are smooth, one-piece heat shields, that Hooker step-header design, the all-over ceramic coating and of course all the mounting hardware is included. The Rebel WideTail will solve a lot of problems for a lot of riders.
     WideTail aside, you’d do well to check out the whole Rebel Series. This is probably the broadest lineup of Hooker drag-style pipes and every one is available in chrome finish or Hooker’s new “Dark Side,” a black ceramic. There is an almost infinite variety of configurations for just about any Harley in the lineup. There are Longs, Shorts, Mids, Evens, Staggereds, Slashes, Turn-Downs, Turn-Outs–you name it. There’s a whole assortment of tips that can be mixed and matched, too, probably 40 or more part numbers to pick through. For a no-nonsense, all-power, straightforward set of pipes you’ll have to search far and wide to match what Hooker has in the Rebel Series. And yeah, those Rebels do perform. Independent dyno testing netted a 16-horsepower jump on an otherwise stock 88-incher, re-jetted and fit with a free-flow air filter, of course.
     Hooker Headers are the real deal. They always have been, and Drag Specialties stocks them all.