The 1953 and earlier mufflers were flat black. The flat black finish is clearly shown in the Jan. 1953 "Cycle" magazine road test of a 165. Based on the factory archives photos of Harley two-strokes, it appears that a semi-gloss finish was initiated around 1954. The 1962 Pacer photo shows evidence of the semi-glossy mufflere finish. There's a spot on the muffler that is dull (not semi-gloss) because of exhaust leakage. My semi-glossy repro muffler looks the same because of exhaust leakage. So if you want a correct muffler finish on a 1953 or earlier model, and you're using a new repro muffler, you may have to repaint the muffler flat black.
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