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After Market Exhaust Solutions

24K views 47 replies 22 participants last post by  spike55_bmw 
#1 ·
Hello
I have a new 2015 650 V-Strom XT which is great but I'd like a bit more exhaust note. I believe the OEM exhaust is one piece which means replacing the entire system which I don't really want to do. It seems that to just fit a slip-on muffler, the existing muffler would have to be cut off (which is a bit drastic) and even then would a slip-on fit over the cut pipe and would the mounting brackets fit? Can anyone advise on this? I am at a loss as to why Suzuki would make it this way.

Maggiejeb
 
#2 ·
Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and pay the extra.
There is plenty of options for the 650, Yoshi, Akra, Arrow, Scorpion, Staintune.
Just be aware that the Yoshi won't work with a centerstand, I do believe the others mentioned do but I would confirm before purchase, along with bash plate compatibility if that is your intention.
I'm happy with my Yoshi, looks and sound but I don't run a centerstand or bash plate:grin2:
 
#6 ·
AFAIK there are no options currently for just the tail section, as per above there are a lot of options out there, I run an Akra, but its not a cheap option regardless of how you go.

I cant see a location where you are, but you could always buy your choice of tail pipe and have a specialist pipe shop retrofit it for you.

We have a place here in Tamworth that does purely pipes, and they will fit or design a pipe for anything, and their rates are surprisingly reasonable, wont mention name incase I breach some advertising rule, but I'm sure there would be somewhere in your locale or within travelling distance who could do similar.

Remember... pictures :)
 
#7 · (Edited)
Maggiejeb, Also check out BARRETT EXHAUSTS. I am probably a bit biased having them on my bikes, but are a quality Aussie product. But note like some others, they may not be compatible to some/any centre stands (not that I know).

That OEM is a heavy bugger but has good length engine pipes extending a fair bit rearward which clamp to the mid section/muffler. Many aftermarkets will just bolt up to to the OEM engine pipes with a new mid section and separate tailpipe....Barrett does.
 
#8 ·
Stumps, it appears that the 2015 OEM is different to previous years as there is no join that I can see from the engine pipes all the way to the muffler. I think that all the aftermarket options including Barrett require the removal and replacement of the entire system from the headers back and the rear header is particularly difficult to access. The pipe then seems to flare towards the muffler which I think would also make cutting off the muffler and installing a slip-on quite tricky. If I went down that path I think I would get it done professionally.
I am located in Canberra.
 
#16 ·
On closer examination I can see the clamp behind the rear header and also a clamp right underneath the bike which I assume is for the front header. I'm beginning to understand how the 3/4 systems are fitted. Has anyone tried a GPR system which I believe are fairly new on the market?
 
#21 · (Edited)
I too have a 2105 650XT and I see that the vendor's / manufacturer's websites note a "fitment alert" with OEM racks. I have called / emailed several and have been assured that the fitment issue is real but then their representative can not tell me the nature of the problem.

Has anyone changed their exhaust system while maintaining the OEM rack system? If so, what make / model exhaust system did you use? Again, I want to keep the OEM rack / side cases without modification, so I'm most interested in those successful solutions for a 650XT with the OEM rack system.

Thanks,
Don
 
#23 ·
UKPhil:
Sounds a little dirty but do you have any other pictures like a side profile? How about the internals that you removed?

Does the OEM exhaust have a cat converter inside? If so, where is it so it isn't harmed in the process?

Thanks for providing another (low cost) option,
Don
 
#24 ·
One end of the cat is shown in the top pic. It's located in the oval section just rearwards lf the o2 sensor. On the first exhaust, I cut just to the forward end of the cat to remove it, as shown in the bottom pic.

Heres the welded up exhaust, the weld is barely noticeable with a coat of black vht.



Removing just the cat makes the bike feel slightly free'er reving (very subjective) and slightly louder & deeper but still very quiet.

On others I've subsequently modded, I cut at the weld behind the cat at the round part of the silencer. This allows the cat and baffles to be accessed.
I always leave the exhaust outlet pipe untouched so the system looks completely stock.

With cat removed & slight baffle work, the bike will be slightly free'er revving, with noise similar to a 'friendly' road legal system.
I find fuel economy to be slightly improved after mods.

I hate overly loud exhausts btw.

Phil
 
#25 ·
FWIW I've had 'surgery' performed on my 2016 DL650XT by a sports exhaust specialist on the OEM silencer at the rear... achieving a very nice note indeed... not too loud but effective enough to be heard in multi-lane traffic and a pleasure to listen to whatever the circumstances. It cost me $350AU and rivals any aftermarket system for good sound IMHO.

The standard muffler has 3 chambers. Gasses pass from the forward chamber 1 through a pipe to the rearward chamber 3 before being recirculated back through another pipe to chamber 2 in the middle. From there gasses pass from chamber 2 through a sealed pipe that passes through the centre of chamber 3 to the outside atmosphere. So the trick was to remove that last bit of pipe that passes through chamber 3 to the exterior whereby chambers 2 and 3 communicated more freely, and both feed the rear exit.

That's called stage 1 and is as far as I want to go at this point. It sounds really nice and behaves under throttle and on slowing up without much at all in the way of cackles and pops.

As of now, the bike's perfect for me. Some would go further to Stage 2 - involving the drilling of another hole through the wall between chambers 2 and 3 to open things up even more. The 'surgeon' suggests doing that in stages, started with a small test drill-hole and increasing in diameter until gettng to the point of loudness that is desired.

At that point a dyno-tune would be in order to smooth things out and to give an increase of sorts (suggested at around 5%) in output. There would also be an incremental increase in noise output and potential power output. There is a local guy here who can access the CPU and change all sorts of settings so that an external aftermarket power-commander type unit is not needed. The Dyno-tune complete with all of the electronic trickery would set me back another $700AU.

To perform the stage 1 surgery the muffler assembly pipe was cut forward of the catalytic converter so that said system could be taken off the bike to be operated on. A simple sleeve arrangement with secure fittings enabled easy refitting and also allows simple further removal if I eventually choose to go ahead with stage 2.

To look at everything appears entirely stock. To listen to, the bike no longer sounds like a glorified sewing machine. Any V-twin is there to be heard folks. :)

Cheers

OMV
 
#27 ·
As omvanders says, the sikencer has 3 chambers and two interconnecting pipes taking the gasses back and forward before reaching the final outlet pipe, all this aswell as the cat which itself has a silencing effect.

Interestingly, the final outlet is a smaller diameter than the other internal baffle tubes, so with all other internals removed (a tad vocal for my liking but not race can loud) the bike still runs perfectly.

Phil
 
#29 ·
I had the Two Brothers M2 Black Series Exhaust System (carbon muffler) installed about 3 weeks ago. The only thing I had to modify was the bar my after market skid plate attaches to. I didn't mod the OEM side racks. FWIW, I had my exhaust professionally installed because I knew it wasn't going to be plug-n-play. I bought it on revzilla.
 
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