Every one's favorite....Exhaust!!!

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07xb12rblack

Well-known member
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Feb 11, 2007
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OK, I know there is several aftermarket exhaust for Buells and some mods to oem's but has anyone ever gutted out the oem exhaust? I ran across an 06 zb12r today that said he did but he had fouled his plug so I couldn't hear how it sounded. He also stated that he did feel like he lost a lil performance on the low end. Not sure if he replaced the cdi? Anyone else have any knowledge or experience with this?
 
Dont do it Jay, you will lose low end performance. The guy probably fouled plugs from starting and stopping it, Not from running it. If you interested, we can put my pipe one day on your bike and ill let you go ride down the road and see how Low end performance lost sucks. Depending on how much you want to spend? Go to www.americansportbike.com and look at the exhaust shoot-out. Shows what pipes work good for where you want the power. People can suggest a muffler but its a muffler they like for their riding style, not your style. Understand what Im saying
 
Gotcha well I think I'm down to d and d or drummer. Alot of good coments for drummer. But I need to pull some dyno sheets and compare. I want it loud but not crappy!
 
Where is your source of info about Drummer? I have heard BAD things about them...apparently they are made in some guy's garage.
 
I think they are made in someone's garage. I've never seen or heard a drummer in person. It's up in the air weather or not the posts on this forum are promotional posts for drummer by drummer or not??? Can we get more real, authentic, avid members to give feedback based on personal experience?
 
Apparently JSW has no idea what he's talking about, Drummers are awesome pipes, I wanted one but didn't have the $700 or so to get it. Kevin @ KD fab knows Buells, he designs, fabricates and promotes his own products. I have heard nothing but good about them.
 
i have a drummer with stock ecm , and i love the way it sounds and runs . its made in a shop not a garage , once u see one , wow the finish is awsome!!
go to kdfab.com , theres pics there
 
Ok mrdozer2you, you are right, I have NO CLUE what I am talking about. I was just stating that I haven't heard good things about them. This comes mostly form my parts guy at my Buell dealer, he seems to know Buells pretty well as well, but then again, what do I know right? LOL
And buellxb, I think your right, more authentic personal experience would be good, as far as avid members go...consider me one, I may be new but I love by Buell!:)
 
Ok, so I'm going to go ahead and humble myself a little here. I went to the kdfab.com website and read some tests, looks like the Drummer is a pretty good pipe!
My only concern is that the parts guy at my dealership says one of their racers runs a Drummer and he is slow...what with that?
I am thinking about canceling my order on the Jardine and getting a Drummer SS...thats IF they ship to Canada; I want to go factory direct if possible!

A little change of tune huh mrdozer2you? (no pun intended)
 
i have a drummer with stock ecm , and i love the way it sounds and runs . its made in a shop not a garage , once u see one , wow the finish is awsome!!
go to kdfab.com , theres pics there

How is the low end torque?
 
I think the Drummer performs better as a mid-range pipe. As far as the racer being slow...well, could just be the rider.
 
I think for a 12 if you want more sound but keep the same low torque the special op pipes are pretty good since they keep the valve inside the pipe. But thats just from what I read.
 
Each of the Buell mufflers are described briefly below. All of the mufflers except the Micron are slip-on mufflers which use the stock Buell XB9 or XB12 headers. All except the Jardine use the rear crescent mount with perimeter straps for the rear mount.

Buell Race muffler

The Buell Race XB9/XB12 muffler is a silver ceramic coated mild steel muffler. The race muffler is similar in design to the stock muffler, but with dual exhaust tips and a modified internal tube routing design. It has been officially discontinued by Buell as of this writing, though many may still available through Buell and aftermarket parts dealers. It is (was) available in a matte and polished ceramic coated finish. The mufflers do not use packing, so no re-packing is required. Standard OEM mounting methods are used, and the bike can be lifted by the muffler. Integrated brackets are welded in place to support the chin cowl in all of the OEM locations.


D&D

The D&D XB9/XB12 muffler is a black coated mild steel glass pack muffler. It is a unique design that splits the single pipe on the collector into two independent, non-cross-over small mufflers with straight cut out-turned tips. The mufflers are not re-packable, but appear to be designed so that it won’t be necessary. A section reinforced carrier plate provides the structure. The front shoe mount is replaced by a single bolted mount through the engine hard point. It appears that the muffler is sturdy enough to pick up the bike from below, but I have not tested that. Integrated brackets are welded in place to support the chin cowl in all of the OEM locations.


Drummer

The Drummer mufflers from KD Fab are modified stock XB9 and XB12 mufflers. Kevin cuts each muffler open to remove the labyrinth core, and lines the resultant chamber with sound absorbing material. The rear of the mufflers is machined plate with a single exhaust tip that is bolted to the shell. The mufflers use the same mounting methods as the stock muffler, and the standard lift points may be used. The mufflers are not re-packable, but appear to be designed so that it won’t be necessary. The XB12 version of the muffler removes the internal valve used in the stock pipe. The OEM brackets are retained to support the chin cowl in all of the OEM locations.


SS Drummer

The SS Drummer mufflers from KD Fab are custom built stainless steel shell with aluminum end cap XB9 and XB12 mufflers. The XB12 and XB9 mufflers have different internal volumes that are tuned to the pulse size of each engine. The end caps are beautiful billet aluminum with very nice machined details. Mike Norris of Norris Performance builds these parts for KD Fab. As in the regular Drummers, Kevin lines the chamber with sound absorbing material. The rear of the mufflers is machined plate with a single exhaust tip that is bolted to the shell. The front of the muffler is a flat plate with a nice billet front hanger that picks up the engine hard point directly. The mufflers are not repackable, but appear to be designed so that it won’t be necessary. Brackets that support the OEM chin cowl side mounting points are optional. The left side bracket uses existing engine bolts to support the chin cowl, and the right side bracket uses the two idler pulley studs and one engine bolt in the front. No supports are provided for the two holes in the front of the chin cowl. The muffler can be run without the chin cowl and looks very nice when run “naked”.


Jardine

The Jardine XB9/XB12 mufflers are oval can glass pack style mufflers similar to those found on many metric sportbikes. The muffler is available with a titanium, polished aluminum, or carbon fiber outer shell. The mufflers use a wrap around mounting bracket in the rear that does not use the stock Buell crescent support. The front has a bracket that attaches to the engine hard point The mufflers are re-packable, and repacking is likely required every 5000 miles, or less if the bike is ridden aggressively with a lot of hard decel popping. Brackets that support the OEM chin cowl side mounting points are included with the mufflers. The left side bracket uses existing engine bolts to support the chin cowl, and the right side bracket uses the two idler pulley studs and one engine bolt in the front. No supports are provided for the two holes in the front of the chin cowl. As with the SS Drummer, the muffler can be run without the chin cowl and looks nice when run naked.


Latus

The Latus XB9/XB12 muffler is based upon a stainless steel Edelbrock car muffler, and was the first domestic pipe released for the XB9, even before the Buell Race muffler. The inlet stub pipe, chin cowl support brackets, and twin chrome plated slash cut exhaust tips are welded to the muffler to convert it to XB use. The mufflers use the same mounting methods as the stock muffler. I would not recommend lifting the bike by this muffler, though it may be possible. The muffler is not re-packable, but appears to be designed so that it won’t be necessary. In its automotive form, it is guaranteed for life. The brackets welded to the muffler support the chin cowl in all of the OEM locations.


Micron

The Micron Serpent exhaust system was the only full system (i.e., headers and muffler) tested. A single design is used for both the XB9 and the XB12. The stainless steel headers are hydro-formed, which uses high pressure water to expand the tubing into dies. This allows the header pipes to have any cross sectional shape desired instead of just being round. The headers have wider than thick cross sections at the bends to control flow velocity gradient across the bend. No collector is used, an both header pipes connect directly to the front of the muffler. The stainless steel muffler has an internal cross-over collector and features dual hydroformed tips. It is available in either standard or a Ulysses variant that has the tips turned down a little for belt guard clearance. The same mounting methods as the stock muffler are used at the rear, and the front has a bracket that attaches to the engine hard point. Lifting the engine by the pipe is not recommended. The muffler is not re-packable, but appears to be designed so that it won’t be necessary. The muffler has welded on hat-section attachment points for included brackets that support the chin cowl in the side OEM locations only. Usage of the chin cowl is optional, but the hat section brackets are visible if not used.
 
Thanks for that write up ThunderSteve!

How loud is the Jardine vs the Drummer?...thing is, I want more "get out of my way" volume, but, not so much that I get an annoying drowning on the highway.
 
You forgot the part with the special ops I don't know how good it is but all the buell I tried that had a after market pipe did loose a bit of bottom end so I figured that if you keep the interactive valve it should stay about the same for the bottom. I know there is probably better performance to get out of some other pipes but I think when I'll be there it will be between special ops and drummer.
 
So I am wondering two things:

1: If you read the science of Buell on the Buell website (the one entitled muffler bearings, funnily enough) it sounds like the bike and can were engineered specifically to work together. The stock can has a butterfly valve that has two paths, one for low end, one for high-end performance. From the sounds of this document, purely from a performance perspective, it doesn't sound optimal to use a 3rd part pipe. Opinions on this?

Also...


I want a pipe loud enough to make people in traffic look at me (in other words so they know that I am there) not to wake my neighbors in my condo complex. I need something aggressive but not obnoxious... for that reason alone I would move from the stock can to something different. Any input there?
 
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