| Author | Message | ||
     Shortie |
This has probably been done to death before but I have some specific questions sorry... My warranty runs out in a month or two on my '05 XB9SX (built in '04) and I've been pondering some minor improvements. All I have done so far is wire up the headlights to come on at the same time and ditch the pillion gear. I would like a smoother torque curve without the low/mid dip you seem to get which I guess is there to meet noise level requirements. Also it's a bit quiet, unless giving it some beans and I'd like it to rumble with a bit more bass. I live in the UK so I need an E marked exhaust and I'd rather not have to declare lots of modifications to insurance company at the moment. The bike gets used for mixed riding including town work so low to mid range power and torque is important to me rather than top end, although something that revs freely is nice. I have seen that several people seem to have success cutting open the existing inner airbox covers to expose the filter but I have a few questions about trying things without much (any) outlay. 1. Cut inner airbox and removing through frame snorkel sounds like a good idea but can anything be done in a similar DIY manner to make the exhaust slightly louder? Does the original equipment exhaust restrict flow at higher revs too? 2. Would modification like that be within the standard ECM capacity or would it need modification? Direct link software or race ECM etc. 3. Would the running at 3500rpm for a few minutes sort the AFV within safe parameters without getting a new ECM/software? 4. Would a K+N filter make much difference other than being reuseable? Or will I see benefits from other mods with the standard filter unit? 5. Should I bite the bullet and get a f.a.s.t intake kit and an aftermarket exhaust with DL software and fessup to the insurance company? I'd find this route hard to justify having only recently bought it... Any advice gratefully received and examples would be nice if you have time. | ||
| Blake |
If it were me, I'd choose #5.  There is no easy way to mod a Buell muffler to achieve good results, unless all you want is more noise. What is an E-marked muffler? Regulatory compliance issue? | ||
| Reepicheep |
A cut open airbox will give quite a bit more noise, and I love the tone and tenor of it. I dyno'd my 9sx with the open airbox and stock ECM, and did not see anything scary on the fuel air plot. | ||
| Shortie |
Thanks Reepicheep. Yes, E-Marked is european compliance and all road exhausts should have one in the UK Blake. I'm sure many get away using "race" versions but I would rather not increase any problems if ever pulled over by the police. Some models come with a removable baffle for "track" use. Which would be naughty but then how is the average policeman going to know if it should have a baffle or not just by looking at it? It would be E-marked after all. Not sure the penalty for running a race exhaust on the highway is particularly high but I would rather not run the risk of insurers getting funny either. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The performance gain for the race exhaust is not high enough to bother with (IMHO) given the strict enforcement likely in Europe and the UK. The stock modifiers (Drummer and Special Ops) will probabably leave all the "compliance stampings" intact, though no inspector could hear the thing and have any illusions. I really like the sound of mine with the stock exhaust and open airbox. Lots of snorting and honking (and valve noise), but still reasonably quiet overall. | ||
| Bébèrt |
Look at the dyno charts of this german based firm.(goetz-motorsport.de) They sell the F.A.S.T. Air system. I'am planning to fit this system with a Jardine or Micron exhaust but without them you would already gain some 4 HP. |
