Hitcher
26th March 2007, 11:59
Recently, thanks to the inimitable Kerry at TSS, I acquired a pair of Two Brothers Racing carbon mufflers for the FJR.
Why, you may ask?
Well, I thought that the standard cans on the FJR were like way too quiet for a sports tourer. They also looked clunky in that sort of industrial-stainless-steel-machine-welded-unnecessary-tonnes-of-bulk kind of way that most manufacturers insist on installing to their bikes.
Why Two Brothers Racing?
After a lot of browsing around on the Interweb, I really liked the design, particularly of the can exit end. Most aftermarket muffler manufacturers insist on completing their products with a sort of nipple-like extention -- usually a bit of stainless pipe with a flange on the end that protrudes from the can's arse. This can look OK on mufflers that slope upwards at angles of 30 degrees or more. But for bikes where the can is more or less just off the horizontal, I think that this form of conclusion looks a bit, well, limp. No flaccid cans for this lad. I also liked the way they looked and sounded on Dafe's V-twin Suzuki thing.
Why carbon?
It's light and strong. And it looks wicked.
Do they make any difference to the bike's noise?
I'm sorry, what did you say? Um, yes, they do. They have liberated the FJR's beast within. It now growls like a werewolf, howls like a banshee and burbles like the rhythm section of a metal band. I suspect that there are dogs in towns through which I passed this last weekend that are still chasing their tails. Once again, in the process of overtaking vehicles, drivers have wound down their windows to hear a bike overtake them. They're still probably suffering from tinnitus.
Any other benefits?
Well, apart from looking way cool and reducing the bike's sprung weight by at least 8kg, I reckon the throttle response is better.
I shall post some photos as soon as I have taken them.
So on balance, are you satisfied with your purchase?
Yes.
Why, you may ask?
Well, I thought that the standard cans on the FJR were like way too quiet for a sports tourer. They also looked clunky in that sort of industrial-stainless-steel-machine-welded-unnecessary-tonnes-of-bulk kind of way that most manufacturers insist on installing to their bikes.
Why Two Brothers Racing?
After a lot of browsing around on the Interweb, I really liked the design, particularly of the can exit end. Most aftermarket muffler manufacturers insist on completing their products with a sort of nipple-like extention -- usually a bit of stainless pipe with a flange on the end that protrudes from the can's arse. This can look OK on mufflers that slope upwards at angles of 30 degrees or more. But for bikes where the can is more or less just off the horizontal, I think that this form of conclusion looks a bit, well, limp. No flaccid cans for this lad. I also liked the way they looked and sounded on Dafe's V-twin Suzuki thing.
Why carbon?
It's light and strong. And it looks wicked.
Do they make any difference to the bike's noise?
I'm sorry, what did you say? Um, yes, they do. They have liberated the FJR's beast within. It now growls like a werewolf, howls like a banshee and burbles like the rhythm section of a metal band. I suspect that there are dogs in towns through which I passed this last weekend that are still chasing their tails. Once again, in the process of overtaking vehicles, drivers have wound down their windows to hear a bike overtake them. They're still probably suffering from tinnitus.
Any other benefits?
Well, apart from looking way cool and reducing the bike's sprung weight by at least 8kg, I reckon the throttle response is better.
I shall post some photos as soon as I have taken them.
So on balance, are you satisfied with your purchase?
Yes.