After Market Pipes Are A Waste Of Money?

[standup rider]

I was looking at a recent issue of Dirt Rider Magazine where they test most the major brands of aftermarket pipes on a CRF250 Honda and a KXF450 Kawasaki. In testing each pipe they ran them on the Dyno and then show the H.P. and Torque curve next to the stock pipes performance. Some of these pipes didn't produce as much H.P. or torque threw most of the RPM range as did the stock pipe and the ones that did, did not show much of any increase. For instance, the stock KXF450 has 47 peak H.P. and the best a aftermarket system could do was around 50.

I am looking for input as far as anyone's experience in what a aftermarket pipe did for them. Did it mostly just make your bike sound better/louder and gave you the illusion that it ran better/quicker or did it give you very noticeable seat of the pants performance that you were able to compare next to your buddies bike by how much better it pulled or not. I would spend the extra bucks to buy a pipe if I thought it would be worth it.

Sorry about the lengthy question but if anyone has some good experience on this subject that they could share I would appreciate it.

[Yamaster]

Aftermarket pipes are usually quiter, broader, and make more power where the stock ones dont. I dont think they are a waste of money at all. In my opinion they are the first items to get upgraded on everything I own, well that and the air filter.

[Yamaster]

By the way the are not always quieter, I just said that because some pipes that are quieter can make more power, but the louder ones usually make more power, up top especially.

[WGP]

I hesitated and hesitated to get a aftermarket pipe...the stock one seemed fine on the WR450....

Ti Powercore....280$, slips right on, and instantly made the bike way more fun to ride. Big power increases and I don't need a dyno to tell me that.

Now, the full systems for 800$....seems a bit a waste of money, but I'm sure they perform...

[byggd]

I was looking at a recent issue of Dirt Rider Magazine where they test most the major brands of aftermarket pipes on a CRF250 Honda and a KXF450 Kawasaki. In testing each pipe they ran them on the Dyno and then show the H.P. and Torque curve next to the stock pipes performance. Some of these pipes didn't produce as much H.P. or torque threw most of the RPM range as did the stock pipe and the ones that did, did not show much of any increase. For instance, the stock KXF450 has 47 peak H.P. and the best a aftermarket system could do was around 50.

I am looking for input as far as anyone's experience in what a aftermarket pipe did for them. Did it mostly just make your bike sound better/louder and gave you the illusion that it ran better/quicker or did it give you very noticeable seat of the pants performance that you were able to compare next to your buddies bike by how much better it pulled or not. I would spend the extra bucks to buy a pipe if I thought it would be worth it.

Sorry about the lengthy question but if anyone has some good experience on this subject that they could share I would appreciate it.

IMO it depends on the type of riding you do. I only trail ride so I could take my e-series off, put my stock pipe back on and most of the time never notice the difference. However most stock pipes are heavy compared to the after market ones.

[Asgeir]

HP or dyno test does not tell all.

For me : Pro-Tec Mach 1 , bike felt lighter and easier on the throttle.

http://www.pro-tecperformance.com/mswr450.htm

[Johnny34]

I still run the stock pipe with the free mods. IMO the performance gain with an aftermarket pipe VS. the price is not worth it. Like $100 bucks per HP?!? I rode a friends 426 (jetted, powernow, etc...) that had a White Bros slip on. Other than being waaaaaaay louder than my 450, the performance difference was not noticable.

FYI, I ride a lot of tight trails and woods.

[Yamahondaha]

I hesitated and hesitated to get a aftermarket pipe...the stock one seemed fine on the WR450....

Ti Powercore....280$, slips right on, and instantly made the bike way more fun to ride. Big power increases and I don't need a dyno to tell me that.

Now, the full systems for 800$....seems a bit a waste of money, but I'm sure they perform...

I put a power bomb header pipe on my XR400 and couldn't believe the RPM's it was reaching where as before it would sign off way too early. My YZ400F had a full Bill's Pipes system and I swapped it for the slip on FMF power core 4 and stock header pipe on my WR400F and just like that the WR woke up and the YZ was sluggish. In my real world experience a corked stock pipe is less efficient than a modified pipe and a stock header pipe is less efficient than an after market one that flows better. When you put the two together it is much more powerful through out the entire range of RPM and becomes most noticeable when you put the old stock pipe back on. I did that with my XR250L and a Big Gun race pipe and header, it sounded loud and ran great but when I sold it I took off the race pipe and replaced the stock system and the bike felt like slug! No more throttle wheelies

[ARin]

ive have a slip on WB e2 and not only does it make more power, but the sound is more pleasant, AND i saved SEVERAL pounds of weight that was high and back...

[BlackSheep]

The stock pipes on motocross bikes are good, because they dont have severe noise restrictions and spark arrestors, usually you put an aftermarket pipe on motocross bikes to move the powerband around, or to make it lighter, more overall hp is not a major consideration. On a "trail bike" there is big performance to be had, usually at the expense of noise and/or durability and price, so it comes down to is it worth it to you?

[00YZ426FMRCD]

I purchased a White Brother E2-Series shorty for my 426. Big improvement over the stock Exchaust + it came with a Forest approved spark arrestor. I was reluctant to spend the $$'s on the Exhaust. 2nd best mod I have made to my bike next to suspension...Much better power delivery and throttle response + the exhaust is tunable by adding/removing the plates.

[MountainMax]

I put an 05 YZ450 muffler on my 06 WR450 and i found i actually lost a little off the bottom and gained way more on top end, and way more noise, but livable....

I got it cheap on ebay and I'm glad I bought it, I can't see how an aftermarket muffler is going to be much lighter then this one, or much more powerful, not like on the link to the HP chart, if you read the fine print they done all the free type mods also, and then compared HP gains, most of them came from the intake mods and the grey wire mod too. I really can't see me spending big bucks for these aftermarket ones......

[quadparts]

I am a new wr450 owner. I bought a 04 model (2800.00 what a steal)and it had a FMF power sore on it . The power hit harder and the pipe was alot louder than stock. I put the stock pipe back on and sold the FMF on ebay. I like the way the power came on (less of a hit) with the stock pipe. I don't know why anyone would need more power. These 450s are very fast. I have raced quads with built CRF450r motors and built YFZ450s but I don't know why you need more power on the bikes. I love the wr450 and would say that it is the best bike I have ever owned. It is a great woods bike and is fun on the MX track.

[OneToGo]

They save weight, my FMF Q2 with power bomb was around 5lbs lighter than stock - stainless steel and ALU end can.

They will give more power - the WRs muffler is very corked and it is one bike that really wakes up with a new pipe (or modded stock).

The standard header is fine and a well chosen slip on will release a few ponies across the rev range.

If you dont mind the sound, the FMF Ti PowerCore is reputedly a good buy, around 98dB with quiet insert I think and discounts for around US270.

For those anti-power junkies (any such person) you DONT have to dial in ALL the power - just carefully exercise that right wrist.

[Matty05]

By the way the are not always quieter, I just said that because some pipes that are quieter can make more power, but the louder ones usually make more power, up top especially.

Louder usually more power, Yes, but not necessarily up top.

[Matty05]

If you buy a pipe, buy it for maximum power.

And Standup rider, we have WR's mate, any pipe on these bikes makes absolutely huge gains. The MX bikes make way less gains, but gains are there to be had.

If I had a YZ450F instead of the WR450F, I wouldn't have spent lots of money on a pipe as way bigger gains are to be had by using a big bore kit, which is cheaper than most systems too.

The fact of the matter is that on the WR450's, it is the exhaust that is the restriction, even at stock capacity.

[Matty05]

I can't see how an aftermarket muffler is going to be much lighter then this one, or much more powerful.

That is heavy!!!!! Pick up a titanium muffler and get back to me!

Well more powerful in terms of peak hp? peak torque? broard power? There are many things aftermarket pipes are built to do. Some slow down the revs and broarden out power. Others like supermoto versions can add nearly 10hp, all top end of course, and that is on YZ's, not WR's!!!!!

I really can't see me spending big bucks for these aftermarket ones......

The YZ muffler is all you need brother!

I can't help my self spending lots of money on shiny new things........

In reality, I should have just got a GYT-R slip-on muffler, like the one on my WR250.

[MountainMax]

Again I like my YZ muffler, it's very light, all aluminum with a titanium tip out back, a bit louder but with a larger inlet pipe to boot, and it was cheap on ebay.I would like to see a HP comparison betwen just swapping stock muffler/yz and aftermarket ones on the exact same bike, then we will all know what kinds of gains are made just by the muffler......

[Matty05]

I would like to see a HP comparison betwen just swapping stock muffler/yz and aftermarket ones on the exact same bike, then we will all know what kinds of gains are made just by the muffler......

My guess is lots!

I felt that the YZ450F muffler made a slight improvement over the stock muffler with the tip pulled out. It was noticable, but not much.

The difference between the YZ450F muffler and Procircuit Ti GP system, is like the difference between the WR250F and WR450F. Not even in the same league!!!

If you look at the gains of just the GYTR oval muffler on the YZ450F over the stock muffler, you can see that big gains are still there to be had.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com.au/yshop/Product_detail.asp?CatID=2&ModelID=248&RangeID=21&CatDesc=MotoCross%204%20Stroke&ProdID=2446

These babies rock! This is probably the best slip-on you could buy.

But you can't beat a YZ450F muffler brought real cheap, bang for buck, it is the absolute best!

[MountainMax]

Well 580 bux plus tax is not a good option for me to gain a big? 1.5 horsepower on top end? That dont sound like big gains to me . I don't even think any normal rider will feel 1.5 horsepower IMHO.........