Best exhaust
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10-22-2007, 09:08 PM
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10-22-2007, 11:10 PM
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RE: Best exhaust
there is no such thing as the "best exhaust" if there were an exhaust that was litterally the "best" exhaust in every way, there probably wouldn't be any others. In fact, being popular may in itself make an exhaust inelligible for the title of "best" in many peoples opinions.
There are so many things to consider, appearance, sound, quality, fit, price, materials, weight, durability and then there is the ever present quandry of performance. Within that one category is immeasurable other factors. Then there is the whole slip-on vs. full system. Slip-ons offer hardly noticeable power gains and for bikes that aren't tuned, usually those small gains are partially masked by the equally small but still present deficiency in the stock fuel map for the new exhaust. Full systems provide a good bit more performance but then they usually almost require a custom fuel map for the bike to run properly, and most importantly to actually see those semi-significant power gains. Then there is the consideration that full systems are generally designed for the race track so their power gains will be in the upper RPMs and many of them actually lose a bit of low and mid range power.
Then you have the problem with actually figuring out what kind of power each exhaust makes. Its easy to google dyno charts for your bike for different exhausts but the problem with that is that the exact same model bikes do not always make the same amount of power. Two bone stock, identically maintained and ridden/broken in, that rolled off the assembly line two minutes apart can differ in HP somewhere around 1-5 HP. Then you have to consider that two different dynos can vary as well. If you read threads about people who have had their bikes or cars dyno'ed you'll notice that its often mentioned whether the dyno used tends to run high or low. So the only way you have to test exhausts is to each exhaust on the same bike, on the same day, preferably within a pretty tight time range so factors like temperature and humidity don't play a significant factor. Even then your testing exhausts for one particular bike, so the information will probably not be all that relevant to other bikes. Even with that considered there is the possibily that some exhausts may simply just not work well with the particular bike. The same line of exhaust may make 5 HP on a GSX-R600 but may make 8 on a CBR just because it works better with the CBRs stock fuel map than it does with the GSX-Rs. Some exhaust companies favor certain manufacturers. Companies like Yosh & Suzuki, Erion & Honda, Graves & Yamaha, etc. Then there are companies like Akrapovic that don't focus so much on one particular company (I believe in recent history all the AMA teams except Suzuki have used Akra exhausts) but it may also not be the absolute best for any bike. Keep in mind, AMA teams use custom made exhausts and the Akra Honda used (labeled as a Jardine) was the HRC kit Akra not the one you can get at an Akra dealer.
Most of the factors are simply opinions, especially looks and sound. What looks good to one person may look like crap to someone else. Same goes with sound.
Most opinions you will get on exhausts will be from people that paid for certain exhausts and just want to say their happy with what they bought. I've heard guys swear they feel a massive power difference after installing a D&D slip-on. I'm not going to say thats impossible but I think that statement can be justifiably laughed off and that rider can probably be classified as a squid. The kind of rider that doesn't wear a helmet because they swear the weight savings helps with wheelies!
There are some general widelyaccepted opinions but most of them come out of biased opinions mixed withoutdated information that keeps getting passed
There are so many things to consider, appearance, sound, quality, fit, price, materials, weight, durability and then there is the ever present quandry of performance. Within that one category is immeasurable other factors. Then there is the whole slip-on vs. full system. Slip-ons offer hardly noticeable power gains and for bikes that aren't tuned, usually those small gains are partially masked by the equally small but still present deficiency in the stock fuel map for the new exhaust. Full systems provide a good bit more performance but then they usually almost require a custom fuel map for the bike to run properly, and most importantly to actually see those semi-significant power gains. Then there is the consideration that full systems are generally designed for the race track so their power gains will be in the upper RPMs and many of them actually lose a bit of low and mid range power.
Then you have the problem with actually figuring out what kind of power each exhaust makes. Its easy to google dyno charts for your bike for different exhausts but the problem with that is that the exact same model bikes do not always make the same amount of power. Two bone stock, identically maintained and ridden/broken in, that rolled off the assembly line two minutes apart can differ in HP somewhere around 1-5 HP. Then you have to consider that two different dynos can vary as well. If you read threads about people who have had their bikes or cars dyno'ed you'll notice that its often mentioned whether the dyno used tends to run high or low. So the only way you have to test exhausts is to each exhaust on the same bike, on the same day, preferably within a pretty tight time range so factors like temperature and humidity don't play a significant factor. Even then your testing exhausts for one particular bike, so the information will probably not be all that relevant to other bikes. Even with that considered there is the possibily that some exhausts may simply just not work well with the particular bike. The same line of exhaust may make 5 HP on a GSX-R600 but may make 8 on a CBR just because it works better with the CBRs stock fuel map than it does with the GSX-Rs. Some exhaust companies favor certain manufacturers. Companies like Yosh & Suzuki, Erion & Honda, Graves & Yamaha, etc. Then there are companies like Akrapovic that don't focus so much on one particular company (I believe in recent history all the AMA teams except Suzuki have used Akra exhausts) but it may also not be the absolute best for any bike. Keep in mind, AMA teams use custom made exhausts and the Akra Honda used (labeled as a Jardine) was the HRC kit Akra not the one you can get at an Akra dealer.
Most of the factors are simply opinions, especially looks and sound. What looks good to one person may look like crap to someone else. Same goes with sound.
Most opinions you will get on exhausts will be from people that paid for certain exhausts and just want to say their happy with what they bought. I've heard guys swear they feel a massive power difference after installing a D&D slip-on. I'm not going to say thats impossible but I think that statement can be justifiably laughed off and that rider can probably be classified as a squid. The kind of rider that doesn't wear a helmet because they swear the weight savings helps with wheelies!
There are some general widelyaccepted opinions but most of them come out of biased opinions mixed withoutdated information that keeps getting passed
#4
10-23-2007, 04:18 PM
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#5
11-27-2007, 01:31 PM
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