SBP expansion chamber; good, but maybe not for everyone

[bluegoatwoods]

I got my sbp expansion chamber/exhaust installed yesterday and my feelings, so far, are mixed.

There doesn't appear to be any quality issue; it's well made and was packaged superbly. (No surprise there. It hasn't been hard to see that these guys are quality minded.)

Getting it to fit was a bear, though. Clearance between exhaust, BOTH wheels and pedal was very tough. And you might as well forget about having a kickstand on your bike. Not a big thing for many of us, but be warned if this is important to you.

To get mine to fit, I had to modify it. I had to take out, perhaps, 2 or maybe 3 inches of pipe. So now my tuned exhaust is less-than-perfectly tuned.

But I'd better be clear; this is a 24" beach cruiser. Maybe the fit is better on a 26" bike.

I only got in one short test ride yesterday before the rain came. More testing to come today. But from what I could tell performance seemed to be okay. Less of that "pop-pop" feel at low speeds, which is exactly what I bought this exhaust for.

The bike is louder than with a stock HT exhaust and sounds more like a motorcycle. For many this is a good thing. But I crave a quieter bike.

I'll be doing more test riding today and I'll post more about performance.

I really like the copper exhaust gasket, by the way.

This might sound like a poor review, but that's not what I really meant. SBP never said that this was a one-size-fits-all, easy install and they didn't say that it would make your bike purr like a kitten. And even if I end up deciding that I like the stock exhaust better, I'm happy to know it beyond any doubt and I'm willing to spend a few bucks for that knowledge.

I'm still entirely impressed with SBP; they are innovative and quality minded. Packaging and customer service are top notch. An excellent vendor and there are other items in their catalog that I have my eye on and will be buying in the future.

 

[Pablo]

We hear you loud and clear. Thanks!!

1) We did not try this pipe on smaller bikes, so yes some adaptation is necessary. It is at least adaptable. One guy turned his into an up pipe.

2) The noise. This is one thing that there was WWF match on the shop floor of SBP. I'm telling Jim Headlock "Ghost0" that many/most people want quiet, but he pins me to the mat every time. Soon if folks want we will have a quiet kit. Simple and inexpensive. See picture. It's still a two stoke, but this lawn mower muffler cuts the sharp sound right out. Regardless, the expansion chamber and supplied silencer are more quiet than a drilled or cut stock pipe.

3) No kickstand. There is that. Some people can make the center stand work, others can't. My bike didn't even come with a kick stand, so when I put my rear stand on with my pipe, I was grinnin' ear to ear. Rear stands are pretty sweet.

4) Power - yes cutting yours 2-3" had to effect power. All reviews, including timed and recorded trials have noted an improvement. You may need to mess with your jetting to see what happens.

All and all, thanks for not reaming us a new one.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

You're right, Pablo. It is quieter than a cut stock exhaust. And to keep my post as short as possible I left out something that pertains; as a test I grabbed a lawn mower exhaust I have sitting around that I've filled with "stainless steel wool" and slipped it over the end of the sbp silencer. It took the "bark" out of the exhaust's sound. But the entire package was still rather loud. A lot of the noise was from the engine itself. (these HTs are pretty noisy, after all.)

So any disappointment I might end up feeling over the noise issue is actually unjustified.
This product is not meant to make your bike sound like a brand new Cadillac, and I've seen no marketing that suggests it will.

And I'm not sure that I'm disappointed at all with the sound. I'll know in a few hours after I've ridden it a bit more. In either case, it's not the fault of this product. That's not what it was designed for. I only mention it for the sake of those who regard quiet as a high priority.

And the offset couplers which enable the owner to "shape" the run of the pipe is a good idea. I suppose the alternative would have been to make several different runs for various frames. That wouldn't be very efficient.

 

[Pablo]

Indeed - the noise from my engine comes from the head, not the exhaust.

 

[Skyliner70cc]

I need a quieter pipe too. With the tuned pipe, I can't ride teh many colorado trails because I don't want to ruin it for the runners and mountain bikers who use them too. Luckily, I have 2 other MBs to choose from.

 

[Ghost0]

All right Pablo, WWF round III, this exhaust is to improve performance. I am unaware of any performance exhaust that is quieter than its stock counterpart. Look at any performance exhaust in the automotive or cycle industry and it will be louder than the exhaust that comes standard with whatever vehicle it was on. To get performance out of an exhaust requires improving exhaust flow which is partly done by lessening the effects of the muffler. However as you point out that an additional silencer can be added to lessen the db level and not cut the performance down too much.

bluegoatwoods,
Email me a photo of your pipe installed and I bet I can figure a way to get the length back in your pipe. You also may have noticed that we started selling a rear kickstand around the same time we released the pipe. No coincidence there. But when we get them back on the market we will put a note in the product description so that it is clear that you will need one unless you install it like lordoflightaz. Attached is a photo for reference.

 

[Pablo]

See I told you he wins!! Every time.

Yeah that's the up pipe. A motored bike without a kickstand is like a cheap wrestler without a choke hold.

 

[lordoflightaz]

I haven't even burned my leg, yet I am thinking about making an extension to be able to grab the choke, but I never need to stick my hand there when the bike is warm.

All it took was 1 45 degree piece of copper to get it to flow right.

Did I mention the automatic chain oiling I get from the exhaust. LOL

PS I knew up front that my center kick stand was going to be an issue.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Point well taken, Ghost0. A performance exhaust is not going to be as quiet as an exhaust meant for quietness.

I'm kinda sorry I brought the subject up; I feel like I'm knocking your product. So once again, that's not what I mean at all. It's a nice, well designed and well made exhaust system.

Thanks for the offer of help, too. But I won't need it; I put the stock exhaust back on.
It's simpler and I like the sound of the bike better. I might put it on my other bike, a 26" mountain bike. The fit should be better.

But I'm still not sorry I bought it, either. If I hadn't I'd be wishing for it, or wondering if it's what I want.

And you guys have other products that I definitely want. You'll be hearing from me.

 

[Pablo]

Don't even worry about it. We didn't take this stuff as a knock at all, and nothing you wrote was untruthful or anything. It's good that people read this stuff, so we don't have people thinking this is a stealth running pipe or something. I still contend on MY bike the pipe with the double muffler effect, is more quiet than stock.

I have idea that I want to try (see what you did!) I was thinking of wrapping the output taper with performance muffler wrap to cut back on the sound coming out from the bounce....hmm........