Aftermarket Exhaust

[trek]

Is an after market exhaust worth it on the RT. I have an 06 R 1200 RT and am considering a Remus or Staintune system. Does anyone have any experience with these and is there a noticeable improvement in sound and performance.

[Firefight911]

Opinions vary but, I'll give my .02 worth.

 

First, this thread already is ongoing in Hexheads - LINKY

 

Is it worth it? Depends. To change the look? Subjectively, that is why I changed mine on my R1200ST when I had it.

 

Performance? No. Unless you have your own dyno runs performed, be leery of all the marketing hype. Will you really notice that 2 hp gain 700 rpm or so short of redline????? And, don't forget, to add up top will take away down low, typically. The down low part is where you ride every day.

 

Sound? Don't ask Ken! Otherwise, it is, again, subjective.

 

This is close to an oil thread when asking, just so you know!!

[smiller]

is there a noticeable improvement in sound and performance.

Performance? No.

Sound? If you consider more noise an improvement then yes, otherwise no. If you're looking for a soulful exhaust note the R-bike isn't a very good candidate.

[russell_bynum]

What Phil and Seth said.

 

Other stupid arguments in favor of aftermarket exhausts:

 

It saves weight! Yes, it saves a few lbs (on a 600lbs bike) but the weight is way down low where it doesn't make much difference in the way the bike handles and responds.

 

Heat from the catalytic converter is hard on the transmission oil! In 10 years of this forum we've probably seen every possible problem that you can have with a BMW motorcycle from the mundane to the catastrophic. I haven't seen a single case of transmission failure due to cooked oil.

 

All of our bikes except for one have aftermarket exhaust (no aftermarket exhaust is available for that one. ) so I'm not one of those "stock exhaust or DIE" folks (Hi Ken ) but I'm not going to BS myself about the reasons for doing it.

 

 

[Matts_12GS]

I have an aftermarket exhaust on my 96 RT and it sounds better than one of the phart cans on a ricer, but not a whole lot. It was there when I bought the bike and I like it at speed, but really it has done nothing for the bike that I can feel.

[upflying]

Go for it unless you live in California and have to re-install the stock exhaust to pass an emissions test.

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=456292#Post456292

Of course loony proposed laws like this have a way of spreading around the rest of he nation.

My take on it? The boxer does not have an engine sound worth amplifying. It just makes the sewing machine louder. A loud BMW is an oxymoron. Loud pipes should be reserved for the more politically incorrect Harley's. That leaves performance improvement. Is that imperceptible improvement worth $500?

[trek]

I think after hearing all these good remarks that I will use the money and get a new riding jacket by Rev-It

[Ken H.]

I think after hearing all these good remarks that I will use the money and get a new riding jacket by Rev-It

 

And not directed at you specifically - But people who put aftermarket exhaust on a bemmer to go faster would better off using their hard earned cash learning to ride it better.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Predictably, I agree.

 

For the price of a slip on, you could do a one day track school.

For the price of a full system, the entire weekend.

 

It will make EVERYTHING you ride faster.

[Mister Tee]

You can't really see the pipe on the RT that well anyway, so I say just slap a Yoshimura sticker on your side cases and call it a day.

[russell_bynum]

You can't really see the pipe on the RT that well anyway, so I say just slap a Yoshimura sticker on your side cases and call it a day.

 

[lopaca]

I think after hearing all these good remarks that I will use the money and get a new riding jacket by Rev-It

 

I researched this quite a bit a year or so ago and decided not to as well. If you really want more performance (how many of us technically out ride our RTs?) then money is better spent on chips, etc.

 

The best argument that I heard then and really took to heart was that you should consider how you ride. I chose an RT because these bikes are meant for long and multi day rides and that is the way I ride for the most part. Do you really want to have a higher decibel pipe to listen to for days on end? I can't speak for all of the Harley riders which along with the sport bikers seem to be the majority of loud bikes but I tend to think that they ride for a morning or afternoon and then park it in the garage. If you are just going out for a couple of hours then I suppose the extra noise would not be an issue.

 

Additionally, we riders really need to re-evaluate our responsibility to how the world views our sport/hobby. We have an incredibly poor reputation (deserved or not - that is another discussion) and I don't see how putting on louder pipes to get .00005 HP boost really helps in that regard.

 

A friend of mine has a Remus on his GT Adventure. He claims that he can feel the difference in power. Yes it sounds sweet, but that is alot of money that could be spent on other things. The best I saw on this thread was a day of riding instruction.

 

We live in a free country (except for those of us in California). and it is great that we have the choice. Not everyone in the world can say that.

[russell_bynum]

The best money you can spend is to upgrade the nut that connects the saddle to the handlebars.

 

Give Keith Code a ring. If performance gain is what you want, you'll get more out of a weekend with the Superbike School than if you did every single "performance" mod, and it'll cost WAY less, and the upgrade will transfer to any bike you ride.

 

If you've just got money burning a hole in your pocket and want to have UPS deliver your upgrade in a box, upgrade the suspension.

[Vicious_Cycler]

The track-day suggestions are right-on. But, I never really considered taking the RT to the track (500 Ninja for that job), I put on a Z-technik Eurosport slip-on w/ cat eliminator and have loved it! It was too loud w/ decibel killer out and too quiet w/ it in, so I drilled some holes in the dB killer until it sounded like I wanted. I believes it's throaty w/o being obnoxious. It doesn't sound quite like my pal's K1200Gt w/ a Two Brothers , but I like it.

[russell_bynum]

The track-day suggestions are right-on. But, I never really considered taking the RT to the track (500 Ninja for that job), I put on a Z-technik Eurosport slip-on w/ cat eliminator and have loved it! It was too loud w/ decibel killer out and too quiet w/ it in, so I drilled some holes in the dB killer until it sounded like I wanted. I believes it's throaty w/o being obnoxious. It doesn't sound quite like my pal's K1200Gt w/ a Two Brothers , but I like it.

 

FWIW, I did Level 1 of the Superbike School on my RT and it did just fine. There's also value in doing it on your own bike so you know what it is capable of.

[Vicious_Cycler]

Russell, I've no doubts about the bike. I'm probably kind of a wuss about riding this RT on the track, but I try to man-up enough to admit it!

[Paul Mihalka]

"FWIW, I did Level 1 of the Superbike School on my RT and it did just fine. There's also value in doing it on your own bike so you know what it is capable of."

 

That is why I did many-many riding schools with Reg Pridmore's CLASS. I wanted to ingrain in my conscience what the bike CAN do and that I am able to do it. I did CLASS on my '82 R100, on the '86 K75 and '92 K75RT, my '94 K1100LT (the WORST bike on a track), and last on my R1100RT, possibly the best of the bunch. I called it my yearly tune-up. I haven't done it for the last 8 years. I don't like to be a rolling chicane. I miss it.

[Vicious_Cycler]

Excellent points. I'm taking the ERC w/ the RT this summer, then maybe Lee Parks ARC or BMW Performance. If a Ride Smart came up close, I'd really like to do that. Do you agree one should do schools first before track days?

[russell_bynum]

Excellent points. I'm taking the ERC w/ the RT this summer, then maybe Lee Parks ARC or BMW Performance. If a Ride Smart came up close, I'd really like to do that. Do you agree one should do schools first before track days?

 

I feel VERY strongly that you should go to a real school before doing regular track days.

 

A note about what I mean by "real" school. Some track day orgs offer a school. Often, this is really just a few friends of the organizers who agreed to give some pointers and be track marshals in exchange for a free track day. That doesn't mean it's bad, but there is very little, if any quality control and usually no curriculum. At one track day that Lisa and I attended, we got some great advice from one of the "instructors" and some terrible advice from another. (Incidentally, the guy who gave the terrible advice crashed behind me in a braking zone and damn near took me out.) That's the benefit of a real school...structured curriculum and instructors that have gone through some level of "train the trainer" instruction so they know not only what to teach, but how to teach it.

 

If you just start doing track days, you'll very likely wind up just reinforcing bad habits at increasingly higher speeds.