Since my stock muffler got some holes in it, I had to think about a replacement. I was
sure, that it couldn't be fixed with some beer cans ;-) , as to be seen here
(that's why my bike is called
"Faxe Biturbo"), or here,
the winter '96 seasonal
design.
The new pipe should be German TÜV proof, so mufflers like Arrows or Supertrap were out of question. Viewing the appearance, I tended to purchase the Laser ProDuro. Settling for the Sebring, was a matter of money: the Laser is for DEM 757.- (US$ 450.-), the Sebring for DEM 567.- (US$ 335.-). I purchased it from Detlev Louis, because I get discount from them.
Shipped
with the muffler is a mounting device for mounting it to the stock mounting points.
Mounting it was very easy, it took me all in all half an hour. The most difficult thing, I
guessed, would be removing the old muffler, but even that was easy. I used some rust
remover spray and let it take it's effect over night. A little yank, and it was done. The
real most difficult thing was to remove the stock carbon gasket from the manifold, it's
not used anymore. The muffler fitted perfectly to the manifold and the lower mounting
point at the pillion's foot peg, An aluminium clamp is used for fixing the muffler to the
upper mounting point on luggage carrier. Read the additional
mounting instructions.
I
imagine there's a bit more of performance at mid revs (roundabout 4,000), and I imagine
the engine is kinda "plugged" at upper revs (roundabout 6,500 +). But maybe I'm
just imagining, it's not measurable. Accelerating from 50 km/h up to 120 km/h in 5th gear
gives the same amount of time as before. V/max I clocked a little bit lower, but that
could be due to environmental conditions like wind, air pressure, temperature or something
like that. I'll watch it. I guess there would be a better performance when removing the
little end tube (they say up to 4 hp), but until now I didn't dare. I guess it would be
too loud for Germany, and I'm not sure if it's refixable.
The sound is not directly louder, but it's harder than with the stock pipe. It sounds like an off road bike now.
Lately, I had a problem. The aluminium clamp was broken (know the hell, why), and I didn't notice it. This gave the muffler the opportunity to work on destroying the manifold by wobbling around the footrest fixing point. The other day, it succeeded, and the manifold broke, of course when being in the middle of nowhere ... Thus, every now and then have a deeper look to the fixing points, it may serve you the manifold. Some pictures will follow.