Been doing a 40km commute the last few months (40km in the car, 38km on the R65 speedo....39 on google maps). I've got my quiet, gutted and homemade baffle stock system on, a bit quieter for morning starts. It's not that I'm worried about annoying my neighbours by waking them up in the morning, it's just down here I don't want them waking up and saying ''That sounds pretty good, I think I might steal that tonight.'' I come from the '70's mindset, when Highway 61 stole every British bike they could find, you had to make sure they didn't know there was a bike in your street. The arse dyno is not a reliable means of comparing power - a quick fang on your favourite road doesn't prove much, and the stock system seemed to make good top end and didn't lose much on the bottom....and how much of that fat midrange is just because a noisy system sounds so bloody good? But going back and forth to work everyday for months, and then swapping systems gives a better comparison. The stock system seemed pretty much what anyone would expect from a BMW - quiet and good power everywhere it's needed. But now with the 2 into 1 and the Supertrapp it's a whole new bike. Within 500 metres from work I'm into half a dozen 80km or so bends, so do them nice and steady in 4th at 4,000rpm, not labouring and then thrashing the engine - with the 2 into 1 I'm in 5th and doing 3,500rpm, it's just so much smoother and stronger down low. Much more power over the whole rev range. Much more noise too, instead of a nice sedate BMW I have an angry black insect. But more impressive is the fuel economy - this bike is very dependent on on how you ride, but my commute is the same everyday. Best I've done in the past is 395km and a litre left in the tank, and going onto reserve at 367. With the stock system I go onto reserve around 310 - worst 303, best 317. With spare fuel on board I ran it dry at 367km - so I can't do my week commute on one tank, I have to refuel every 4 days. In my first week with the 2 into 1, it went onto reserve at 335km, filled up at 381km with nearly 20 litres, 2 litres left in the tank. This is a huge difference, and can now do a weeks commute on a tank of gas as I expected. 19 km/L. I guess it's the better midrange - been battling heavy head winds all spring on the way home, with the 2 into 1 it must need less throttle to maintain speed. So, guess I'm staying noisy.
So I fitted my 39mm reducer to the Supertrapp, and economy dropped to 315 to 320km to reserve. Put 12 plates in and the 50 endcap, and back to 338km. Looks like it likes an open exhaust....now with 10 plates...maybe I'll compromise at 9.
when i was a noobie... i had loud pipes on my xs750... and eventually blew the exhaust valve on the center cylinder nope... knew nothing about the need to adjust the carbs...
As a noobie, I took the pipes off my T350 and spent the evening blasting around town. Didn't save any fuel, but the flames were entertaining.
The Skorpion has a noisy Holeshot muffler but came with the receipts for tuning the bike for it. The noise peels the paint from the pavements and according to the noise/economy blog should give me more fuel than I actually use.
