Aftermarket Exhaust Cans.

Some more info on this fitting came up on the ezboard across forum;

                            Hey Michael,

                            Roughly where did you hack off the exhaust piping? Was it an option to hack off just at the start of the
                            stock can and have your new can welded on without the intermediate piping?

                            Ivan.

                            Re: Ivan's question

                            Good question Ivan. Sorry I didn't respond to it straight away - I didn't know it was there  ! This
                            could be long...

                            I spent some time thinking about this before I decided to get the custom pipe made up by a (pretty
                            ordinary) car exhaust place. I think that the way I did it was a personal choice thing and there would be
                            a number of ways to do it.

                            The can came in two parts; one was the carbon can itself and the other was a nice stainless pipe about
                            35cm long with a bend in it, designed to attach to the can & to the cut off header section of the
                            exhaust. I didn't end up using this extension bit.

                            If you look at the exhaust, there is an obvious point for sawing, after the 4 into 1 point, and before the
                            standard exhaust baffle & it's tapering (that fits to this section of ( about 2") pipe). It's a clean section
                            directly under the foot peg, and it gives you about 15 cms or so to choose from. I chose to cut about
                            an inch away from the baffle/taper end weld point. My theory at the time was that this would be the
                            easiest point to get epoxy and a thick flat stainless clamp around to put it on again for some unforseen
                            reason like if there were any probs (eg bike runs like an incurable dog) or I wanted the carbon can off
                            for another bike.

                            Once the old exhaust was off, I found that the can couldn't fit straight onto the sawn point that I
                            chose. It would stick out at a quite weird angle from the bike because of the angle of the original pipe. If
                            you make up a second small pipe which comes off the original and then to the can fitted in the "factory"
                            position, then there is a quite severe bend. What you could perhaps do is cut the pipe further towards
                            the front of the bike & get a more progressive bend from a second custom pipe, and then fit the can in
                            factory position. The bend that was needed at the cut point I chose would still have been less restrictive
                           than stock exhaust, of course, but I personally didn't like it, and thought that it might interfere with
                            exhaust flow. You might be able to get around this by getting the 4-1 side bent a bit as well, but then
                            when you fit it in factory pos. you might run into other probs, such as ground clearance with the wider
                            can. You also need to get the mount to hold the can out enough for clearance from the swingarm. I
                            noticed some marks on my swingarm from the odd occasion when the stock exhaust hadn't cleared;
                            don't ask me why -part of the last owners capers no doubt.

                            My can only clears the swingarm by maybe less than a cm., but it does clear OK. The more it clears, the
                            more it sticks out, and I wanted it to look snug up against the bike & nicely inline. Where I chose to put
                            the pipe, if it was to hit, it would hit the swingarm much higher in its travel (swingarm has to move
                            heaps more to come near the exhaust). At the end of the day I preferred my position to stock mainly
                            cause I think it looks better in this position and shows off the can more. As you would know, heaps of
                            stock installations look this way and you can see a similar possy on many bikes with aftermarket cans
                            (check out the twin brothers site, for eg).

                            The extension stainless steel pipe was actually a good bend but it was too long, and put the exhaust
                            hanging about 3-4 inches past the rear of the bike. (Think it was on a ZZR previously.) I didn't want
                            that, though some bikes do have them hanging out at the back this much. I chose to get another piece
                            made up because I wanted to keep the stainless piece as it was (once again for future unknown reasons
                            such as fitting it to a different bike) and I wanted the pipe to stay black like the header side - it was a
                            colour choice that I thought just worked best with my bikes gun metal grey, black, & silver colours. Mind
                            you I'll spray the bike sometime & that will all be out the door. The stainless that comes on the twin
                            bros pipe is such a good quality grade that it would be a shame to throw matt black over it.

                            So at the end of the day that's how I came to the decision - a bit of concern for the practical, a bit for
                            looks.
                            Hope that this long rant  helps!
                            cheers
                            michael

Re: Micheal...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Got your email, didn't know whether to answer here or by email, but will answer your post here anyway.

The long & short of it is to just go to any car exhaust place and they can do you up a pipe. They have the standard 2" piping and all of the pipe bending and slotting gear should make it easy. A bit of matt black spray paint over the whole job and it's done. The best grade metal they can provide for the pipe wouldn't hurt the longevity of your system.

Of course you have to get someone who is competent at their job and can sus out the situation visually and make the bend right, so that your can sits where you want it to, doesn't extend too far at the rear, and doesn't hit the swingarm. Get a verbal guarantee and a clear quote before they start. It cost me 75 but I reckon I was stung a little and many places could do it a bit cheaper. (Didn't ask price first.)

The pipe they make up will need one bend in it at the appropriate angle, with a tab (or 2? mine only has 1) welded to it that will bolt to the frame where the old stock exhaust used to go. The end of the made up pipe will need to be flared slightly and then slotted to fit over the remainder of the standard exhaust where you cut the old exhaust off. Slotted so that U-bolts can clamp down on the two pipes and hold them together. Slots should not be so deep that they compromise the exhaust sealing, just enough length to get the made up pipe gripping the header and exhaust can. I had to slot the end of the can's slip on as well to grab the made up pipe.

My 2nd hand slip on 2 brothers pipe came with a neat stainless flat clamp (instead of a u-bolt) which was made in europe somewhere. I used it to bolt the can and the made up pipe together, so it looks neat. However I haven't been able to find a place that supplies these yet. Thus I have a conventional car exhaust U-bolt holding together the header pipe (where it is cut, after it comes together to one 2" pipe of course) and the made up pipe. The connection is at the bottom of the bike and so it isn't very noticeable there, and it clears everything, but I want it gone as soon as I can find another stainless clamp. Anyone know where to get them?

Sorry, it's not a very tech answer. It is a bit difficult to describe this in words -so if it is still unclear check out my picks on the website. Still a bit jet lagged & hung over so that doesn't help with being coherent, either. Enough excuses. If they are not clear enough I'll post another pic up there that is.