Ducati Monster Forum

Ok, so awhile ago on the old board I read about this super cheap pipe mod that was supposed to sound awesome, be easy to do, and most of all, cheap. I've always kept it in the back of my mind and the past couple of weeks I decided to give it a try.

I started off by ordering two hedman hedder hot tips (the same that were used in the previous thread I had read about) and waited for them to arrive. Once I received them from the friendly ups guy, I went to the garage to see what kind of fitting issues I was going to run into. First, the header on the monster is about 1.5" in diameter, and the new exhaust tips were 2". Now in the previous thread, the OP said he simply crushed the tip onto his header via a muffler clamp. That was a little too much to crush IMO, so I went to the local auto parts store to see what I could find. I ended up picking out two exhaust adapters, 1 7/8 by 1 3/4 I believe, and brought them home...the fit was almost perfect, not snug, but it was going to be much easier to crush the tips to the adapters, then the headers themselves.

After figuring the adapters would do the trick, I cut two slits on opposite sides of the adapters, as well as the tips, with a dremel so the muffler clamps would be able to crush them onto the headers. I then went back to the auto parts store and picked up a two 2", and two 1 3/4" exhaust clamps and did some test fitting. I liked how they looked, so I figured I'd see how they sounded. Fired the bike up, and...wow, just make the beast with two backsing wow. They sound amazing. To be honest, I've never heard arrows or termis in person, but these put a smile across my face. Somebody in the original thread about these tips said they made their bike sound like a harley. I completely disagree. There is a harley with straight pipes in my garage and it sounds absolutely nothing like it. 

Now that I've determined I like the way they sound, I decided I'd paint everything matte black. So this weekend I started painting. Put three coats on everything, let em dry for a couple days, then went to do the final install last night, putting some red rtv silicone to help with any leaks. I like the look, the exhaust clamps are a little bulky, but blend in nicely now that they are painted.  They do leak a bit, but that may be because I didn't use enough rtv.

All in all this mod was everything the OP in the other thread said it was. Sounds freaking amazing, looks good, easy, and CHEAP. 

Here's a list of the costs involved:
Tips - 2 at $24              http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=HED-17120&N=700+115&autoview=sku
Adapters - 2 at $2.95
Clamps - 4 at $2
Paint - 1 can at $6
Total - about $70

Here are some pics for ya, and a crappy vid I took inside the garage, I'll try to get a better one later this week.

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/PICT7787.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/PICT7790.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/PICT7791.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/PICT7792.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/PICT7789.jpg)

And the vid....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K580q0g1_o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K580q0g1_o)

No experience with them out on the road yet, as there is about 3 feet of snow outside.  :(

Oh, and btw, I probably shaved about 5 lbs or more from the bike. The stock pipes are HEAVY.

Looks & sounds great.
Well done. [beer]

Very cool!  [thumbsup] Perhaps painting the whole header black would look even better?

Threadjack: What kind of rear hugger are you using?

Spend a little more money and attach the tips without those HUGE clamps.   [thumbsup]

Oh, and nice avatar.  [thumbsup]

Thanks guys  :), I agree it would look a lot better with the whole header painted black. Still lots of time before summer, so we'll see what happens.

Not sure what brand the hugger is. It's pretty much exactly the same as the stock one, except in carbon fiber. It was on the bike when I purchased it.

Pompetta-  I may still get everything welded to get rid of the clamps, but I wanted to make this mod something that I could easily reverse if I wanted/needed to. Yeah they are big, but honestly the only time you can really see how bulky they are is from the rear of the bike, so for now they will stay on.

starting to sound a bit like that pontiac powerhouse you got there ;)
that the 6.6?

It does sound surprisingly similar  ;D

Nope,  just 5.0 305 in her....for now  [evil]

my brother has a '77 in pieces in his garage...
has a huge 10bolt rear in it from a nova... lots of suspension goodies on it too... coil overs, SSBC brakes, blah blah...
can't wait till he gets that thing back together.
most fun car i've ever driven.... we used to do burnouts the length of our street... the neighbors loved us...

Sounds good.
I would def. ceramic coat/paint/black header wrap the pipes.
And please, eventually either weld or get some smaller clamps then the ones on their now.. [beer]

Don't weld em cause then if you change something or dent one you will be screwed.  Just get some nice clamps. 

what about welding just the adapter pipe to the hedmans and then add tabs for a spring retention system. isn't that how the stock is held in place? so the tabs should be there on the front part of the pipe already.

I will probably end up doing just that. But, the stock exhaust on my monster doesn't have the retention springs or clip, so instead a smaller clamp will go on for the connection to the header.

i was looking on the site that you bought you headers from. there is a small clamp that looks like a strap more than a big bar..

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WLK%2D33228&N=700+4294923429+4294919986+400358+1001+115&autoview=sku (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WLK%2D33228&N=700+4294923429+4294919986+400358+1001+115&autoview=sku)

Yup, that's exactly what I need. 1 3/4" diameter tho.

i would like to do this to my 696.. other than fitment. should i be on the lookout for any other problems?

I have no idea what this would be like on a 696. Although up for debate, an exhaust only change shouldn't be enough to affect your a/f mixture. So, I wouldn't think you'd have problems, but I honestly don't know. A few have done this mod with their FI bikes (mine is a carbie) and their experiences would probably be more helpful to you. I know Monstermash has done this to his s2r 1k, send him a pm about what he noticed with the switch. 

Sorry I can't help you more  :-\

Good luck with it tho  :)

Looks good. I would wrap the rest of the exhaust in black to go with the tips. Good job  [thumbsup]