Another exhaust question.

heyhey15

New member
Howdy, I've been sifting through these boards for hours and I've so far found a lot of very useful information and reinforcement that I picked a good first cruiser (06 C50). I'm coming off of a GS500F, so I really don't know much about FI vtwins and such. On the GS, rejetting was simple and could be done without spending alot of money on a PCIII and finding/creating the perfect map.

Anyways, since I don't know much about exhausts and these types of bikes, my local dealership recommended long pipes that extended to the back of my rear tire for heat/sound issues since I'll most likely be riding two-up quite often. I also said that I wanted something with a lower, deeper rumble instead of high-pitched loudness. I love a loud bike, but it's gotta sound good. The dealership had a C50 with a set of Hard Krome's that they fired up for me, and they sounded pretty damn good, but the tone was a bit more high pitched that I wanted, so they recommended something longer and HK didn't have a longer pipe for the C50...

So, I pretty much just picked their next best suggestion that I've never heard of which was a set of long Road Burners. No idea if they'll be what I want, and I'm contemplating canceling my order before it's too late and just waiting a while before I put new pipes on the C50. It's also brand new, just brought it home today. Only about 10 miles on it, was the most I could do in 30 degree weather... I tried to joy ride a bit, but, man it was cold.

Anyways, what I want is something with a lower rumble than what the short Hard Krome's seemed to offer and I want to know from someone with experience if longer pipes really do give a deeper rumble to them and what exactly are the benefits to having longer pipes? Also, I plan to also revamp the intake system and debaffle eventually, so I know I'll inevitably need a PCIII, I just don't know if I should hold off on all of this until I have around 1k mi. on her or not. The dealership guys seemed gung ho about getting some new pipes on it when I mentioned I was interested in changing the sound, but I don't think they were much of experts from the way they handled me. After riding a bit instead of hearing it on the showroom floor, I am pretty pleased with the stock sound, so I'm in no real hurry to replace it. I'm more interested in doing things at a pace that's best suited for a healthy break-in and long life for my bike.

This is one fantastic bike, and I can see myself riding it for many many years. Wife and I are already planning trips on our off-days from work and where we should go. Somehow though, we always come back to "let's just head south and see where we end up in a few hours." That isn't very easy to do on a GS500. =P

Anyways, I apologize for the lengthy post, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible because I'm sure there are others out there searching for and wondering the same thing as I am.
 
I understand your confusion. I've been looking at pipes for my '03 Marauder for a while now. I really like the looks of the V&H Cruzers but every time I get ready to buy a set I read a post somewhere about how loud they are. I do NOT want really loud.
 
Hi had my 06 C50SE, delivered Jan-27.Due to a snow fall the week before,or I would have road it home.Had The dealer install Cobra Classic Slashcut pipes...sounds great to me,go to their site,click on exhuast and pick your bike..they give you sound clips, CobraUSA - Home
 
I am running stock pipes with a K&N aircleaner and Techclusion FI unit.
I have 16,000 miles and pipes sound great.
Depending on your riding style, it can take 5-8,000 miles for the pipes to break in. It also depends on your riding style, if you work the bike the sounds gets deeper faster.

So for me, if the pipes do not provide any power gains, go with what you have.

I would suggest a Mustang Touring Seat if you are riding 2up, your wife will notice the difference, so will you.
 
Hey, thanks for the replies, guys.

I guess I'm gonna just wait for the Road Burners to come in, and I'll leave the baffles in for now until I can really get a feel for how loud they are and how it effects my enjoyment while riding.. Maybe also go ahead with a PCIII map so I can get the full performance benefit from the pipes and leave everything else stock for now. I'd consider a K&N air filter for added performance with the mapping, but, I really don't like the idea of letting that much crap get through the filter. K&N's do flow quite nicely, but they don't do a very good job filtering. Plus, K&N's can wreak havoc on your maf sensor. I do, however, put a K&N in everything I plan on taking to the tracks. =)

Anyhow, I did finally find *something* regarding the tone of Road Burners, and it's said that they have a pretty deep aggressive sound, and that's exactly what I'm looking for, so, I'll also keep the thread up to date when they come in and I know more.

Also, I'll be going around to a few MC shops tomorrow and I'll check out that Mustang Touring seat, blackie. I am definitely interested in a new seat for the wife. The C50's stock is 100% better than trying to ride on the back of a GS500, that's for sure, but I wanna get things as comfy as possible for her. Most likely be getting one with a backrest on it.

Oh, btw, any of you with the Power Commander FI mapping system know how difficult it is to finely tune a customized map? The PCIII site didn't have maps for the Road Burner pipes, so I'll most likely have to create my own map and I've never been to a dyno so I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into here. :P
 
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