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Full Exhaust - Is it really worth it??

43K views 124 replies 24 participants last post by  P7f tango  
#1 ·
I watch Motorcycle Garage on YouTube because they are really informative.
They covered about aftermarket exhaust.

I always thought that slip-ons are kind of junk since it's not really for performance and make the bike louder.

But after watching this video, I don't know if extra 5hp is worth a few thousand dollars. (full system + ECU)

I know if you're racing on track, every little bit of hp counts, but for street use? I don't know..

 
#2 ·
You'll get basically the same loudness and street performance by buying a slip on muffler and gutting the catalytic converter from your OEM pipe. Full system is more about weight savings for racing
 
#4 ·
The simple version:

Street bikes get slipons
Track bikes get full systems

Anything else is just wasting money



Going to have to disagree here. Tuned full exhausts flow a lot better than a gutted OEM exhaust. Weight savings is substantial but there is also a significant performance increase but unless you are competitively racing, its a giant waste of money.
 
#6 ·
A full system will net you a couple more ponies with appropriate fuelling and shed a few more pounds, but it will also move a significant chunk of thrust further up the rev range. If it's not for the track (and racing, in particular), not only is it a waste of money, but it'll actually make it more work to ride.

There are better ways to spend the $1.k-2k if it's not for racing.
 
#77 ·
This was bad advice I'm sorry, I seriously just put on a full exhaust and did a bike night last night at the local dunkin donuts and a smokin hot chick goes "Hey, is that a full Ti exhaust"?

To which I replied, "Yeah, of course, what else would it be? STOCK?"

She literally sucked my dick on the spot. Right there at DD. Unreal.
 
#12 ·
If you have the money to burn get a full exhaust.. Just remember any money put into the bike is usually a loss to you since it won't sell for the same price even used. If you happen to go down, praise be the great biking gods to not let it happen, and ding anything up then that is also a loss of money. Again if you have an extra $1-2k that would otherwise be spent on a pool table or summin then go for it.
 
#13 ·
If we all lived life by numbers then we probably wouldn't have sportbikes anyway. Let's not pretend otherwise.

The biggest gain in having a full system is in smiles. Sound, bragging rights, self-congratulation, salivation… whatever you get out of it personally is worth something. What that is remains entirely up to you.

For me it's worth it for the sound (assuming you pick the right system for the right engine for your ears). Now I just need the cash.


Matt
2016 ZX-6R 30th Anniversary
Akrapovic slip-on, ASV Shorty Levers, Radiator Grille, Bobbins, Micro LED Indicators, R&G Tail Tidy, Silver Indicator Bulbs
 
#14 · (Edited)
i DONT SEE HOW PUTTING MONEY INTO YOUR BIKE COULD BE A "WASTE" OF MONEY ? I BUY ALL THE BEST SHIT POSSIBLE FOR MY BIKE....ITS MY BABY...MY PRIDE AND JOY....MY FRICKIN BIKE !!!!!!!!....SAVE MONEY ON GROCERIES OR A VACUUM CLEANER OR EAT OUT LESS ETC.... BUT "SAVE MONEY" ON YOUR BIKE ??? NO SUCH ANIMAL. MAYBE I AM THE ONLY ONE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH MY BIKE ?
 
#15 ·
i DONT SEE HOW PUTTING MONEY INTO YOUR BIKE COULD BE A "WASTE" OF MONEY ? I BUY ALL THE BEST SHIT POSSIBLE FOR MY BIKE....ITS MY BABY...MY PRIDE AND JOY....MY FRICTION BIKE !!!!!!!!....SAVE MONEY ON GROCERIES OR A VACUUM CLEANER OR EAT OUT LESS ETC.... BUT "SAVE MONEY" ON YOUR BIKE ??? NO SUCH ANIMAL. MAYBE I AM THE ONLY ONE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH MY BIKE ?
Agreed....happiness is priceless :smile
 
#19 · (Edited)
On the street, selling what you have and adding 2 grand to get a liter bike will get you 40-60 more hp instead of 10. Especially once you consider you'll need a tuner and dyno time to make the most of the system. Really not worth it to spend money on a 600s engine if you aren't racing in a cc limited class. Enjoy it for what it is or move on. Trying to make more of a small engine when a bigger one is readily available is almost always a waste of money. I'm as guilty of stupid as anyone though. I have an autotune, quick shifter, mid pipe, gutted cat, slip on, etc... Lol.


Also hilarious how after you ride a bike that will run in the 10s for a while it starts to feel slow.
 
#22 ·
He's just saying that if you sell your 600, add a couple of grand, buy a used liter bike, you're essentially going from a 110 hp bike to a 150-160 hp bike easily. Which is the same amount of money you'd spend on a fancy exhaust and tune to get your 110 hp 600 to 115-120 hp.
 
#27 ·
My exhaust all second hand sits at about 600 including pcv, autotune, micron serpent headers and mid pipe, yoshi slip on and a few dollars in the swear jar.

Still need to get a good tune, but I'm not sure the tune would be that much of an improvement over the autotune. Most of the values dont change by much anymore when I check so i leave them alone.

Definitely makes me smile a lot. And I can hear my bike when idling at a stop light. No more checking rpms to be sure its actually on.
 
#30 ·
This would be the overall result. Changing the fueling would get rid of the jiggerypokery (technical term) in the midrange that manufacturers employ to skirt emissions regulations. Why go to the daft expense of a full exhaust - that will only really improve the top end by any noticeable margin - when you could just do a -1/+2 to the final drive gearing to achieve that goal? :O
 
#31 ·
Yes Sir. I am all about utility. Give me something that works. Gearing. Suspension. Then Motor. Sounding cool and bragging rights don't come close to the afformetioned necessities. I am amazed at the guys that I meet riding liter bikes and they can only use about half of that power. My 636 works them over and then they are standing there rethinking that BMW1000rr purchase. Funny shit.
 
#32 ·
The S1000RR will walk a 636 easily... the built ones are making 210-217 HP. Lol. A fully built 636 maybe 150 HP?

Anyways, instead of getting a full exhaust, take the 1-1.5k in savings and buy a years worth of track days!!!
 
#34 ·
im going to be that guy.

I dont buy slip ons for power or performance gains, or how it sounds. its not a track bike.

I buy them purely because 90% of stock mufflers are ugly as can be. A two bros slip on is 100% better looking than a stocker. Power and sound are irrelevent to me, i just cant stand that huge clucker of a pipe hanging off a bike.
 
#38 ·
Big bikes are not faster in corners. They've analyzed this plenty of times in the past in GP. They had a tech video of that where they compared data from Moto 3, Moto 2, and MotoGP bikes through a few turns at Phillip Island, and when looking at the mid-corner speed (slowest point), the Moto 3 bikes were the fastest and the MotoGP bikes the slowest. In one particular case they said the Moto 3 bikes were as much as 18 km/hr faster at that point than the GP bikes!

I noticed the same at one of the tracks I went to when I compared data from my XT data logger between the ZX6R and the CBR500. In pretty much every turn on the track the 500 was either just as fast or faster than the ZX6R. But overall the lap times were of course faster on the zx6r.

Difference in lap times on big bikes comes solely from straights and corner exits. That's the only reason they're faster, which makes perfect sense.
 
#39 · (Edited)
Well, yeah. That's why you can sail past big bikes on my race 250. Much less mass on the tires. Even on tight technically tracks like Sonoma, the bigger bikes are faster overall, by quite a big margin. That was all I'm saying. No track or road is just 100% turns
 
#45 · (Edited)
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#50 ·
My preference is for round ones, but opinions vary.
 
#55 ·
Oh man, I missed this whole detailed debate. Sorry, but I was just making the point that it isn't necessarily the most power wins. I ride with a lot of guys and all of them ride liter bikes, they all think they are MAS MACHO. It is just that the tight roads are hard to muscle that much power around. It's fun to see their reactions to being schooled by a smaller bike.
 
#57 ·
Now imagine doing it on a 300 to those same guys! That's really fun too :devilish

Last year at the track I dropped down a group below while I was on my 42-hp CBR500, and I remember passing about 5 people in 3 corners that stretched over probably 200-250 yards. Taking the long way round the outside too since the rules for that group don't allow inside passes :D