Aftermarket pipes - advice please

[bibes]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry PH... oop...Kayla ...doh!

Hear what you say Stormy but I came to fall for this bike because I go on an annual tour to Europe with a bunch of mates and we used to swap bikes. One of them was a TRX and although I would have never normally looked at these, on riding it I started to really enjoy it and rather oddly, days later, find myself wistfully hankering after it . Wonderful, soft, unthreatening characterful etc. And of course, i loved the noise. Unfortunately, my mate seized up the thing and wrote it off on our last tour (ran it dry of oil... oh dear) but he says that with standard pipes its awful to ride (when he took it for its annual MOT) - strangled, no noise etc. So although the commute's quite long (hour each way), it is mostly through fast B roads (with no cameras) and i do want to enjoy it as well - hence buying the TRX rather than a super scoot. Funnily enough, on the old TRXI used to borrow, i don't recall the noise being a nuisance. Perhaps he had pipes on that weren't too loud. Did sound good though.

[Kayla]

No probs Bibes

I don't find the noise that bad (to be honest I love the sound and the snarl through the airbox as you whack the throttle open is gorgeous) and anything over about 60 is mostly wind* noise anyway.

* atmospheric wind, not baked bean wind

[phuk72]

i don't recall the noise being a nuisance. Perhaps he had pipes on that weren't too loud. Did sound good though.

You have to remember that there is a huge difference between riding it (when the noise is all behind you) and idling a bike at 6am.

[bibes]

Good point phuk!

[G Beale]

If I'm totally honest I don't notice any difference in performance with exhaust & filter fitted, (just sounds faster ) so I wouldn't fuss about that too much. I thought it sounded ok with the standard system fitted just very very quiet/boring.

[slow codger]

The weight of both my carbon cans are less than one of shiny ones, so got to be quicker due to less restrictions of the spent gasses and less weight!!

Re the noise, fire it up and go, it doesn't need to tick over for hours on end before you ride it.

Dave E

[stormy]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry PH... oop...Kayla ...doh!

Hear what you say Stormy .... snipped ..... So although the commute's quite long (hour each way), it is mostly through fast B roads (with no cameras) ... snipped .....

Well that will be different, my commute of 45 miles each way was mostly Dual carriage way and motorway, and the pipes just droned, bit like a wife, problem was, you can always divorce a wife!

mike

[G Beale]

The weight of both my carbon cans are less than one of shiny ones, so got to be quicker due to less restrictions of the spent gasses and less weight!!

Re the noise, fire it up and go, it doesn't need to tick over for hours on end before you ride it.

Dave E

Agree on both counts. i think my entire system including both carbon cans is roughly the same weight as 1 standard silencer !
I roll off my drive backwards before starting the bike then sod off as soon as it's running.

[Kayla]

The weight of both my carbon cans are less than one of shiny ones, so got to be quicker due to less restrictions of the spent gasses and less weight!!

Re the noise, fire it up and go, it doesn't need to tick over for hours on end before you ride it.

Dave E

Agree on both counts. i think my entire system including both carbon cans is roughly the same weight as 1 standard silencer !
I roll off my drive backwards before starting the bike then sod off as soon as it's running.

That's what I do too. It warms up on the ride out of town Every chav knows that if it sounds faster then it must be faster, right?

[Corners R Us]

First commandment of twin ownership is 'thou shalt install straight through cans'. IMHO TRX sounds like an irate sewing machine on stock pipes!

There's plenty of manufacturers out there knocking out pipes with removeable baffles for reasonable £££££.

Try Bewoulf, MTC, Performance Racing Parts for something less 'trendy' at reasonable cost.

Corners

PS. Second commandment is 'confuse thy mates by using engine braking and not the brakes'. One kept telling me my Firestorms (sorry for swrearing!) rear brake light was broken whilst playing in the Pyrenees - tee hee!!

[idl1975]

I wouldn't describe it as awful with standard pipes, it just sounds like a Singer at full chat.

Race pipes aren't as loud as, say, a Harley, but they're loud enough and it's low frequency :. goes through everything and sets off car alarms. Your neighbours wouldn't like that, I expect.

Standard pipes are an offset design IIRC, like a standard car silencer, so in addition to very heavy construction on the outside, they're heavy on the inside (lots of plumbing). So there is a lot of weight to be saved, esp. by ditching 2x heavy steel cans for a 2-1 carbon Akra system, but even if you switch to lightweight perforated baffle type cans.

Stock RWHP for a TRX is usually quoted at 72-3. With DJ kit, K&N and micron race slip ons, mine dyno'd at 79bhp, which is a figure I've seen from other similar TRXs as well. So you're looking at nearly 10% peak power gain with more area under curve above about 3,500rpm. Weight saving of a few % is meaningful as well. So the difference in power to weight ratio (and throttle response, if you get a proper dyno setup done) is meaningful, although it won't have you drag racing R1s. I would suggest a set of cans with removable baffles. I believe the Motad ones I mentioned come with inserts.

BTW, carbon cans look very nice with the black bike, and mine have survived 11 or 12 years of abuse without any failures, other than the usual thing of the rubber sealing strip on the end cap flaking and having to araldite sections of it back on.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry PH... oop...Kayla ...doh!

Hear what you say Stormy but I came to fall for this bike because I go on an annual tour to Europe with a bunch of mates and we used to swap bikes. One of them was a TRX and although I would have never normally looked at these, on riding it I started to really enjoy it and rather oddly, days later, find myself wistfully hankering after it . Wonderful, soft, unthreatening characterful etc. And of course, i loved the noise. Unfortunately, my mate seized up the thing and wrote it off on our last tour (ran it dry of oil... oh dear) but he says that with standard pipes its awful to ride (when he took it for its annual MOT) - strangled, no noise etc. So although the commute's quite long (hour each way), it is mostly through fast B roads (with no cameras) and i do want to enjoy it as well - hence buying the TRX rather than a super scoot. Funnily enough, on the old TRXI used to borrow, i don't recall the noise being a nuisance. Perhaps he had pipes on that weren't too loud. Did sound good though.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

Great safety factor having a set of pipes that breathe well n make a little noise..
I've learnt over the years that if car/truck drivers hear you coming they are going to start lookin for you in their mirrors!!!!

[alexbuckland83]

Get a Beowulf exhaust-sounds and looks the nuts-got one on my trixie and sounds better than anything else ive seen!not a bad price either-also its british firm-check them out!