Help with pipes

H

Helper

New member
I called my dealership and was told that the Cobra Speedster Slashdown pipes would run $609 plus $170 to install. At that point I thought it was a pretty fair deal. Then the guy said I should also have a "power commander" installed. That would drive the price up another $695. I don't even know what a "power commander" is. What should I do? Thanks - Oh, an"08 C90.
 
If you are just doing pipes you do not need a PCIII (Power Commander). If you are doing pipes and a high flow air filter then you would need a PCIII or another unit.

Honestly the pipe install is super easy. Even if you only have a little mechanical inclination I would recommend that you do it yourself. All you really need is a 12mm socket and two new crush gaskets from your stealership. Should be a very simple install.

A PCIII is a fuel processor that adjusts your fuel air flow mix. When adding pipes and a high flow air filter your air fuel ratio would be very high (lean) which could potentially damage your engine.

Probably your stealership is just like mine, they have no idea that there are other units out there. With a PCIII you would most likely have to put your bike on a dyno, more $$$ (I think in the $300 range) If you want simple then go with the Cobra Fi2000r or with a very popular unit for us C90 guys, the Bully. You cannot go wrong with the Bully!!! G-Man is on this forum and also on the Suzuki/C90 Owners group forum. His customer service is excellent!!!

The Bully is a simple install as well. Plug and play is all that is needed. Do it yourself and learn about how your bike works!!

Save the $170 pipe install, do it yourself and buy the BULLY!!!! Also, shop around for your pipes. Save a couple of $$ HERE or on other sites for what you want. With this price on pipes and doing it yourself you have just paid for the Bully or Fi2000r.

There is a good reason why we call them STEALERSHIPS.
 
i just bought cobra speedster slashdowns for my c109r! They list for over $625 i ordered them from motorcycle proshop .com for $516. I also got the cobra fi2000r it does the same thing as a power commander but you just plug it in no use for a laptop computer to tune it i paid $200 for it. The dealership wanted about $275 to install every thing but i am going to try it myself
 
IMO, it is more difficult to remove the stock C90 pipes than to install am pipes. As far as the fi2000r or the bully the instructions are very good. If you can put up a Christmas tree you can do these simple installs.
 
Thanks for the information. I have a friend that's been a mechanic at a cycle shop for over 30 years that I talked with yesterday regarding pipes. I asked him if it would run better with the cobra pipes and he said it might not run as good. He said that the factory spends lots of time and money developing a pipe that delivers optimum performance on a particular machine. He said that aftermarket pipes might perform better at a certain point in the power band but overall the stock pipes will probably be better over the whole range. He went on to say that, in his opinion, Kuryakyn pipes would be the thing to install - that they have a nice sound and are not obnoxiously loud. What are your thoughts?
 
Pipes will only give you a tad better performance, if any at all. It all comes down to personal taste and style that you want. I really like my HK Sideburners, just the look I wanted, a bit different. The only way to unlock the power in your bike is by a combo of pipes, high flow air filter and a fuel processor. Keep it stock if you want. Your mpg will be better but still lacking in potential performance. If you don't care for performance and looks then leave it as is.

Here is a video of my pipes. You can find many other video with sound on you tube. Kinda helps to here them before you buy.
 
I agree its all about personal taste. Cobra hard krome v&h they will all sound about the same and give you the same power gains but if you like the looks of your stock pipes and dont want a loud bike i would save your money. If you do buy pipes your dealer should have a catalog with pictures of all the brands and styles. suzuki c90 is a good selling bike as posted above there are plenty of videos of it on you tube with different pipes and sounds also i dont think kuryakyn makes pipes
 
An important motivation for me to go to the Speedster slashdowns was to make room for a Gtank. I changed the bike to full stage III with the pipes, bully controller and open air intake. The power increase is not subtle, but massive. The sound is authoritative and even non-bikers think it sounds great. I did go to a quiet V&H quiet core to increase some backpressure and take out the high frequency soundwaves.

I bought the pipes on Ebay and did my own installation for well under $500 complete. Don't forget you need new crush gaskets, and I recommend the stainless exhaust bolts by Gman. If you install pipes made for the 98-2004 LC get the long ones, C90 bolts are shorter. You can do this install with the tools in your bike tool kit. Don't let it freak you out, and it will really increase your confidence working on your own bike.

If you go with a Gman Bully controller, you will learn to skin the bike console and fake tank covers. Hey, its a great time to drop in that open air filter. :cool: If you get stuck, just get online here or on the LC1500/C90 forum and you'll get all the help you need.
 
Today I was looking at the exhaust system and how it's attached. It looks like a pretty straightforward procedure. But what is that black box on the bottom? Two pipes from each exhaust feed into it. Does it stay and become part of the aftermarket pipe system or what?
Thanks
 
That black box is a "collector" box. I believe the C90 is the only bike with such a stupid contraption. It sorta is and is not a muffler. If and when you remove your exhaust you will be cursing it. Your pipes and this collector box will some apart and it is an integral part of the exhaust system. The nice thing is when you do put on a new system you will have this space open for a G-tank which is an auxiliary fuel tank capable of holding 2.5 gal. of fuel.
 
That collector is the biggest, most useless 40 lbs you can remove from the bike. Definitely one of the best reasons to change pipes, and as said above allows room for the Gtank. The exhaust and collector come off in one piece, so its a lot easier than you might think.
 
check around for pipes and power commander. those prices from the stealer sound way to high.. i put cobra dragsters on my 07 c90 with the power commander for around $650.dealer installed map program straight from cobra. i installed in about 2 hours.only problem i had was trying to be cheap and reused crush gaskets.. didnt work ,sucked air and made pipes turn red when running. so spend the extra 15 dollars and get the new gaskets and enjoy working on your bike
 
I got a great set of Hard Krome Big 3" Straights on ebay for 200 becuase they had a dent on the lower pipe. The funny thing is the dent was small and once the pipes where put on the only way to see the dent would be to take the pipes off. So look at scratch and dent sales also as far power commander it isn't hard either and you don't have dyno your bike if you just check the Dyna jet website and you can download the correct map without any problems also look for the programmer on ebay or other online source my dealer told me 425 just for the commander I got it for 275 online and only spent $20 for the crush gaskets.
 
Good buy on the pipes but after talking to a few folks with the PCIII I would still say get the Bully for $259.00. The PCIII seems to be a fine unit but my understanding is that if you really want your bike tuned correctly you either need a dyno or you need to have a very good idea as to how to tune it yourself. With the Bully you can have a good understanding as to what each of the 8 mode does. You can test your changes yourself immediately and make changes on the fly. On top of that I have been extremely impressed with Gmans customer service, it just don't get better. Gman is a biker, he did the dyno and test rides himself. You just can't find a better expert than Gman. Try calling service for PCIII, I would wager that you would not get much of anything. Somebody just paid to answer the phone that does not ride and is not a bike tech. Same with Cobra fi2000r, been there done that.

BTW, the Bully stage 3 comes with a K&N air filter current advertised price is $315.00
 
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