Help - exhaust advice needed

[Buckslip]

Hi all. I am a newbie Buell owner, in fact new to roadbikes, i've always ridden BMW Adv's and KTM's.
I bought a secondhand XB12STT last year and am loving the ride and weird cornering habits! My conundrum is the exhaust. I've done all the research I can via the internet, the problem being that here in South Africa Buells are pretty thin on the ground and we don't have a dedicated Buell dealership only Harley representation. The only third-party exhaust system available here is the Jardine and that is overpriced after all the import duties, freight etc. The local Harley store says they can take my pipe and open it up, remove the packing and put it back for roughly the same price as what a Jardine costs in the US. Another Harley dealer (1000 miles away) says 'don't, you'll never get the idle right, it'll run lumpy, blah, blah, blah'. There seems to be such conflicting views on this forum about the whole race ECM thing.
Can anyone shed some light on these concerns:
1. I really want a louder, deeper beat but not at the cost of having to worry about erratic performance.
2. Race ECM's are not available here and Harley says the can't fiddle with the stock one. I guess I could get ECM spy from the US but then I think i'd be punching above my wight class!
3. I'm loathed to give them (HD) my pipe to gut as if it all goes pear-shaped I can't just put my 'old' pipe back on.
4. I could take the plunge with the Jardine (after a successful bank robbery!) but from what i've read that pipe needs a race ECM or tweaking of the std ECM at the least.
5. I don't know any other Buellers here.
6. I would hate to damage my baby by doing the one alteration i've seen here (cutting an 'inspection hole' in the top and then drilling a hole in the pipe with the box).

Any advice would be appreciated,
Buckslip[confused]

 

[dave_xb12r]

I think you should do the "airbox delete" mod first. It adds a great sound when you're on the throttle, but it still sounds stock when sitting. $50 for the K&N.

Tuning is much easier than all that race ECM bs. Xoptiinside.com can custom tune your Buell in a few days over the internet! All you do is email him your EEPROM taken out of your ECM using ECMspy, and he tweaks it and sends it back tuned better than the RACE ecm. That is $100.

There are companies that will gut your stock muffler. Special ops and Voodoo both are very reasonable. Drummer is the best IMO, but is a bit more $. I think Voodoo has cleaner welds and generally look better than Special ops. They all sound great! Drummer is $400, Voodoo and Special Ops are $250-300 not including shipping

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Buell_Cru]

Here is some useful information for the new Bueller.

New Bueller Info by LeFox

 

[Stevenc150]

It'd be best, if you're going to do an exhuast mod AND do an intake mod - to tell Xopti before-hand so he can send you a map and have it ready to load on your bike. That way, right after the mods, you can load the new map, and ride. Otherwise, the bike may not even be rideable, and you'll be waiting for a new map. Email him, he's cool and will know the best route.

That's all my opinion so take it for what it's worth. Either way, Welcome to the Forum Buckslip. [up]