One can only wish. Day two, no power. More snow last night. The bikes are screaming at me from the shop. They're mocking me....I can hear it. Bastards......

:lmao: Damn SOB's

:lmao::lmao: I guess you’re a little farther north than Illinois!

I don't think i ever posted the picture of the exhaust I ordered. It will be this one except without the logo which is fine with me.
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H7615ef26...85898642aO.jpg

That’s nice Jerry!

You don't think "China pipe on that engine is embarrassing" ? Just saying .:lmao:

Nice looking pipe. I can see that the name was kinda close to Akrapovic. What's the purpose of the rubber bands?

On another note; I see that Amateur is now banned. I knew that was coming after reading a few of his posts. As you said, he could have added to discussions and been an asset rather than, well, just being an ass.

Thanks,
I think the rubber bands where just to hold the flange in place for the photo or possibly for shipping so they don't slide around and scratch up the pipe.

Yeah, he didn't take kindly to the warning. Once I read through his post, I think he may of had one useful comment. Every once in a while we have one of those kind.

Heck no, gonna make it sexy looking! And add another 10hp :lmao:

Like this thing needs another 10HP. I have enough butt puckering going on now when i roll on the throttle. :lmao:

Well my speedometer calibrator comes in today. I guess I'll be installing that tomorrow morning and testing it out. Only a 20% chance of rain so I should be able to get some ride time in before the rain and cold sets in. It should be an easy install. I just have to figure out what wire on the cluster is for the speedometer.

So many of the OEM parts in new motorcycles (and cars) are made in China now.
-because of that, I don't really see any problem with adding Chinese performance parts and accessories to a Japanese bike.

The springs on the new exhaust remind me of the old 2 stroke exhaust systems.

There's some truth to than. I received my speedometer calibrators right after lunch. It is identical to the SpeedoDRD That is advertised "Made In The USA" . Box and instruction are the same as the SpeedoDRD except it doesn't have the SpeedoDRD printed on them. What is really strange is that even though it came from China, it has a Kentucky return address. :lol:
As far as the exhaust, it got shipped out again this week without the Logo on it. It's getting shipped premium shipping instead of standard shipping. I'm waiting to see who will be delivering it once it hit the US. I sure Pitney Bowes doesn't touch it. Hopefully FedEx or UPS gets it.

Being a (self-proclaimed) expert on cheap, Chinese exhaust systems, that should never be disgracefully mounted on super-superior Japanese bikes, it's obvious what the rubber bands are there to do. After mounting to the bike, they are there to melt, fill in, and seal all of the garbage welds that normally would be blowing exhaust gas out all over your legs and bike. It sure is nice they decided to include these......

:lmao: Maybe i should double them up.

NO, NO, NO, you can't double them up! One included rubber band is for single cylinder and two rubber bands are for twin cylinders, sheesh, rookies! :p:p:lmao::lmao:

:lmao:
It's got two cylinders.

I got the speedometer calibrator installed yesterday. I had to add a resistor from the positive to the pink wire going into the cluster in order for it to display speed. Dead on accurate now.

I don't worry about it up here. The road I live on is a long, windy, country road that is considered a main artery in these parts. Just guessing, it's about 40 miles long, end to end....and if you search really hard, you can find one, single, speed limit sign. I think it says "40"? No one pays attention.
The best part is there's one of those suggestive, yellow signs in one corner that says "45". So we're supposed to speed up for that particular corner???

When I got into work this morning, look what i found on my desk? Must of came in right after i left the office for the weekend. I have to wait for the exhaust gaskets come in so I can install it. I got to say, the quality is excellent and well worth the wait for only $167. When the seller reshipped the exhaust, it only took 9 days.

I was disappointed it didn't come with the rubber bands. :lmao:

I am just sitting here eating my popcorn looking at pictures of shiny things. Life is good.

BTW that rad guard and fender extender are the best investment you have made so far. Modern bikes don't do a good job of protecting that thin radiator with the fenders. I put the same things on my bike after hearing a couple stories of people tossing rocks into the rad and poking a hole because of it.

Yeah, within the first few weeks i could see tiny rock dings in the radiator. That fender extender would of been all i needed.

No rubber band!? How are you supposed to seal those Chinese welds!?

No rubber bands needed. lol The welds look perfect. I know it's hard to believe but someone with real welding skills fabricated these up. The true test will be when I actually install them and see how they fit.

Agreed. The welds on my 2009 Qlink's all aluminum swing arm are some of the best welds I've ever seen, on anything. I keep telling the doubters, "The Chinese have computers too..."

Just a little update. Back in November when I first bought My Vulcan S the dealer had ordered the extended reach seat for me. When he ordered it the seat was on back order. I had no problems waiting for it. I would check with parts every few weeks. With the holidays I kind of forgot about it, so i called today. The parts guy tells me that should of been in by now but when he checked it was still on back order. So he tells he was going to call Kawasaki and find out what's going on and would call back. When called me back he tells me that it's the seat pan that is on back order from Japan. The actual seat is manufactured here in the USA but can't build the seat without the pan. :doh: Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait a little longer. The parts guy told me he was going to start checking with other dealers to see if he can locate and buy one from them.

Ya know, I had a similar experience with Honda when hunting for a proprietary output shaft seal for the Maggot. Local dealer said he didn't have one and that was it. I don't use him anymore and he's no longer local, either.

Called a dealer down this way. He didn't have it either but offered to check the dealer database. Found one in Milwaukee. Drove up and got it. That guy only charged me cost because I drove a hundred miles one way to get it. Probably just wanted it out of inventory.

Anyway, two guys that'll get my business and one that won't.

Yeah, the dealer I bought my bike from has been very helpful. When i was looking for bikes, there were quiet a few I know I would never go to. I felt like I was bothering them and wasting there time trying to buy a bike from them. I was more than happy to drive the extra miles to buy the bike I got.

Got the exhaust installed tonight. Took me about 30 minutes to remove the stock exhaust and install the new one. Everything fits perfect. It's a tad louder than I like but has a nice deep tone to it. The audio in the video does no justice to the way it really sounds. I took a short cold ride. I have another baffle coming to tone it down a little. Here's a quick video. Notice the blue flame around 1:55. :hehe:
https://youtu.be/r4-n7wAPyfI

Oh, trust me, keep the rad guard on. I put one on my Honda and just a couple weeks later there was a ding in it from what I can assume was a rock kicked up by a car that managed to squeeze between my fender and headlight, which is a pretty small gap that has a bunch of hoses and wires in it.

It is a bit loud, but with it being that low it shouldn't drone that bad while you are in motion. My VFR is loud with it's teeny tiny coffman's muffler on it, but since it's so low and exits to the side I barely hear it on the highway.

Keep an eye on those slip joints for small leaks. Something I have learned about cheaper slip fit style exhausts is that they don't always seal well. I keep a tube of tailpipe sealant on hand for that reason. My Goldwing's delkevic exhaust was a prime example of that.

As far as the abs wire. You could give this a try, although it being silver may make it stand out like a sore thumb. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/the-14005

Once I took the bike out the shed it wasn't so loud. I think the tin shed amplified the sound. While riding it was no where near being loud even at the higher rpm's. I'm still going to install the baffle though.

I fabricated up an aluminum heat shield and zip tied it on for now. It was black so not very noticeable. The link you gave looks like that will be the way to go. The swing arm of shield was barely warm after a short ride but would feel much better knowing it won't burn and melt the wire.

2LZ, no garbage welds here. Hell, the welds where better than what was on the stock exhaust. lol I'm happy the way it looks and sounds. :D

I still think a lot of these cheaper exhausts are just unbranded versions of the higher end systems made for other companies by the factories. Not all of the parts are of the same quality, but fit, finish, and weld quality are often on par with others I have seen.

I'm pretty sure that's true with most of these aftermarket exhaust. I got the baffle in late this afternoon and installed it. It really toned it down. Audio and being inside my shed makes it sound louder than it really is. It is way too cold to take it out for a test ride . The sound level is right were I like it.
https://youtu.be/XOmOOgR3_GY

I can tell by the audio on that video that it made a difference. It has that same kind of "poppy" sound of higher exit pressure, and it doesn't drown out the audio.

My parts guy called me up Friday afternoon and told me he found me an extended reach seat. The dealer he found it at said he didn't know he had one and told him he probably had it for a long time because the unopen box was covered in dust. It should be here this week. :yay:

I can't wait till it warms up so I can hear what it sounds like while on the road. Even before I installed the baffle it was that loud so it should be real quiet while cruising. It definitely sounds like a cruiser should now. Before, the exhaust sound didn't match the look of the bike. lol

Well Megadan's comment about high exit pressure made me conduct a little experiment when I got home. I removed the rear Baffle and all I can say is Wow! What a difference. The exhaust has a much deeper tone. It actually is much quieter. This is exactly what I wanted to sound like. :yay:
https://youtu.be/zhLt1TUmSfY

Now THAT sounds way better overall.

Yes, I agree it does sound better. I sure was surprised. I wasn't expecting it to be quieter with the baffle removed. Hummm, I might remove the front baffle just to see how it sounds. lol Nah, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. haha! I did lose one of my springs somewhere in my shed. That sucker went flying when my pliers slipped off. :lmao:

Well the weather here has not been cooperating so I never got a chance to make a sound clip while riding. The weather did warm up enough for me to go take a short ride but the batteries have crapped out on my camera. I have new one ordered. Here's a sound clip I shot with my phone just before I took a ride. I really like the sound of the new exhaust. It has a nice mellow rumble at highway speeds. No decel back fire or drone to them at all. I'm real happy with the choice and price.

https://youtu.be/snEUWCjHrok