Boomtubes Vs. Quat-D Exbox

[DucHead]

I had an Ex-Box and now have Boom Tubes.

Butt dyno senses no difference between the two.  Good enough for me.  If I wanted max hp, I'd get a Gixxer or a 'busa.

Regardless, I'll prolly replace the Boom Tubes in the Spring...time for somethin' new.

[EEL]

I've owned 3 aftermarket exhausts for my S2R800

1) Quat D Exbox - POS fitment - Returned it for a full refund back to motowheels. These things are very restrictive and weight almost as much as the stock setup.

2) Exchanged said Quat D for the exhaust that is quite possibly the exact opposite in terms of fitment (Arrow Full Race system). That thing is designed so perfect you dont even have space for RTV at the slip fit joints. I put a lot of miles on my bike at this stage so I got really tired of taking off the exhaust every time I had to change a rear tire.

3) After 7 tire changes, Arrows got on my nerves, bought a set of boomtubes. I was one of the first orders. Fitment was better ONLY because unlike the Quat D's I knew the person accountable (Mark) and was able to send them back. After 2 trips back to Washington state, we got the fitment working to run on my bike. The setup is so extreme that unless I had my fit and fueling perfect, the bike would backfire. Put in on the dyno and the operator had a REALLY tough time tuning the rear cylinder due to the shorter exhaust run. I'm lucky i paid for an advanced map with independent fueling for the horizontal and vertical cylinder. The vertical fueling was night and day different than the horizontal.

I have to stress that this setup DOES lose top end like most people say. I can tell between the arrows I previously had. I'd say at least a 2-3 horse difference.

BOTTOM LINE. Theres a lot of baggage that comes with boomtubes. A lot of factors have to be just right for the bike to run properly. If they are, you're going to enjoy your bike,  but If you're not a detail oriented person I'd stick with the quat d. In terms of fueling, the quat d is a LOT more forgiving.

Example: I had one exhaust gasket blow out a month ago (the stock ceramic gasket at the header connection). I lirerally had the sandwiched ceramic blow completely out. End result of this was a fat blue flame spitting out of my 'tubes on decel. Some people think thats cool..I dont.

BTW.. DONT get 'tubes that are not ceramic coated like I did. Mark's got the tolerances set for the coating on the slip fits coming off the headers so if you dont, you're going to have a tough time sealing up exhaust leaks.

I recommend Wurth exhaust assembly paste for the slip fit connecions. its harder to come by but Permatex Ultra Copper RTV will just blow off the stainless steel (2 months of dicking around with exhaust leaks at least taught me at least that much)

Dont take this post as a negative towards boomtubes. They're good exhausts. But they are a lot more radical than some of the others. And bear in mind I have TPO Pods and Boomtubes. The setup is about as radical as it gets.

[kopfjäger]

There is a reason you don't see this type of exhaust on any pro race motorcycles, just sayin.

[1KDS]

I think everyone is missing the point here...

The poll is flawed.

Boobies.

[mattc7]

Xbox on a s2r with same mods hyperstack, pc, cams, made 7 less hp than btubes on my 1100 with pc, cams, stacks. Termi full on 1100 made 2.5 more horses, but the power curve was more peaky and had less area under the curve overall.   

But dyno bt feel the best to ride,  with almost no weight compared to the termi set.   Xbox is heavy for what it is. 

My bt are oversized (1.75" at header to 2" each at exit) , so i would expect less performance slight for regular sized tubes.  They are moderate baffled, with less I could probably squeeze another horse or 2.

[ungeheuer]

...The vertical fueling was night and day different than the horizontal....

Yup. Thats my experience too.  One fuelling size doesnt fit both.

There is a reason you don't see this type of exhaust on any pro race motorcycles, just sayin.

Exactly.

[hunduc]

Exactly.

on my s2r1000, 93-2=91. huge difference for a pro racer, no difference for a schmo like me. i do not think we should worry too much about miniscule differences in hp. i also doubt any of us ride these bikes to their limit, especially on the street.

[The ModFather]

Now this debate is really getting interesting. 

[hunduc]

well, your question was basically "choose between megan fox and evangeline lilly" - what did you expect???

[duccarlos]

I did forget to mention that at the time I installed the BT's, I also opened up the airbox. I had to get the PC custom mapped to fit. They spend a long time getting it perfect, but they did an awesome job and it ran super smooth.

[The ModFather]

So if I get Boom Tubes on a simple little '05 620 am I going to have to do anything with regards to tuning or modifications. Is it recommended if not required?

[mattc7]

So if I get Boom Tubes on a simple little '05 620 am I going to have to do anything with regards to tuning or modifications. Is it recommended if not required?

It's definitely required to tune for them. 

[Buckethead]

I would say that if all you're doing is the exhaust, then no, you likely don't HAVE to do any tuning. The limiting factor on how much air your engine moves is still going to be the intake. It will probably run a little better if you get it tuned, but it's not likely to hurt anything if you don't. Hell, they're even available with an O2 sensor bung if you want/need it.

If you open up the intake at the same time, then yeah. More air in + more air out = need noticeably more fuel.

[ungeheuer]

on my s2r1000, 93-2=91. huge difference for a pro racer, no difference for a schmo like me. i do not think we should worry too much about miniscule differences in hp. i also doubt any of us ride these bikes to their limit, especially on the street.

All reasonable points you make there. 

I'm not worried about "minuscule differences", but for me any mod which resulted in ≈2.5% drop in HP is something I'd wanna know about prior. I think its worth noting that whilst systems like this do have great visual appeal, and obviously (especially in the case of boomtubes) shave off weight, in the absence of any actual measurements to the contrary, anecdotal evidence suggests that these aesthetic/weight benefits come at the cost of a little HP.

[mattc7]

All reasonable points you make there. 

I'm not worried about "minuscule differences", but for me any mod which resulted in ≈2.5% drop in HP is something I'd wanna know about prior. I think its worth noting that whilst systems like this do have great visual appeal, and obviously (especially in the case of boomtubes) shave off weight, in the absence of any actual measurements to the contrary, anecdotal evidence suggests that these aesthetic/weight benefits come at the cost of a little HP.

Weight savings BT vs. M1100 Termi full system. ~7 lbs.  HP loss 1.9hp with medium baffling.

No anecdotal evidence, real numbers only.  the curve is fatter across and less peaky, so it feels better than the full termi did.