Most Interesting Motorcycle Exhaust

[El-Twin]

Things have been pretty slow around here lately.

Lets have some fun about a subject that everybody loves, motorcycle exhausts!

I'm talking about Ducati exhausts, and why they are more interesting than the rest of the field. It's the way that they look, with the various sweeps, approach angles, mating locations and visual impact. Even a bit mysterious at times.

I suppose that it has something to do with the location of the exhaust ports, but there must be something more.

Any thoughts out there?

[booger]

I never thought Ducati engines were very good looking to begin with, like say a Harley engine has a certain symmetry to it and visual coherence that the L twin does not have. The dull gray paint job doesn't help either. Don't understand why they could not have used a black semigloss or some darker color that doesn't show dirt as much but it's just an unattractive lump, and in the case of the Monsters a bunch of wires & hoses arranged haphazardly. To be fair they were more or less meant to be underneath a fairing but they could have done a little more like perhaps better paint for the nakeds and some wring cleanup. Fortunately the rest of the bike makes up for the ugly engine. Slap some carbon belt covers on it, engine's still ugly. So an opportunity to distract from that with a nice exhaust is there. For the older Monsters though, pre 2009 - Arrow make the best. The weld quality says it all for me and the fit is correct. Termignoni is super overrated, overpriced and sometimes their pipes don't fit. They aren't made as well as Arrow but somehow they cost more? Never understood Termignoni. I see now that VAG owns the company a few things are now done differently. I have observed that Ducati's upgrade exhausts are now Akrapovic. Have Ducati finally cut Termi off or are Termi exhausts still in the catalog?

I never saw Ducati's exhausts as being more interesting than others though. The aftermarket offerings do seem a little more bejeweled than the norm, but I figure that's par for the course when going aftermarket. Somebody was on dope when they designed that stomach udder for the S*R bikes making it mandatory to upgrade.

[stopintime]

Ducati was a balanced and beautiful mix of art & industry. "Industrial chic" I was told. In that mix, an ugly exhaust with visible welds has it's place. New owners and new times brought on a huge (German?) misunderstanding; that changing every part to a clean look (no visible welds, no visible engine parts, no visible bolts a.s.o.) would make Ducatis look better. So wrong, so wrong.

[El-Twin]

While I agree that Ducati's motors are kind of a nondescript lump... I've always thought that their exhausts are a joy to behold. 

[kopfjäger]

He’s rebuilding a 900SS. Multiple videos on his channel.

[booger]

Well custom exhausts are going to be interesting as a matter of course. Don't the bends & lengths have to be tightly calculated for matters of "fluid dynamics"? To obtain best scavenging/combustion/performance? I'd love a custom exhaust but I got my Arrow race carbon full system used for $400 and I'm a born cheapskate so there is little chance of that happening.

[ungeheuer]

I preferred the look of Ducati exhaust routing when both exhaust ports were at the front....  better... feng shui IMO

[stopintime]

I preferred the look of Ducati exhaust routing when both exhaust ports were at the front....  better... feng shui IMO

 

[diamonddog-2]

I'd love a custom exhaust but I got my Arrow race carbon full system used for $400 and I'm a born cheapskate so there is little chance of that happening.

booger ~ Twin sons of different mothers.  I found the same beautiful Arrow CF set for $450. I'm too cheap to pull the trigger on something custom or getting the more expensive Termi.  Also, Pretty happy with the manifold now that I gave it a going-over and got 99% of all the corrosion off of the stainless metal. It looks almost bright polished ........ for now. Pretty sharp looking.

[El-Twin]

I preferred the look of Ducati exhaust routing when both exhaust ports were at the front....  better... feng shui IMO

Well, yes. A good example would be the 750 GT and 750 Super Sports from the early '70s. They were straightforward exhausts that were elegant as well. But the rotation of the exhaust port the the back side of the rear cylinder presented a host of opportunities for creative exhaust options. Or maybe I'm just an exhaust nerd. I've been called worse. 

[Monsterlover]

Anyone remember those spaghetti headers?

[cencalal]

Ya mean like this?  Zard stainless pipes and Leo Vince can on my Hyper 796

[koko64]

Anyone remember those spaghetti headers?

Yep. You see sets come up for sale on rare occasion.
Staintune are back in business and will dust off their old jigs to make pipes. They offered a large diameter, oem style with ported crossover for M900's and a spaghetti type for the 900 Supersport back in the 90's.

[ungeheuer]

....Staintune are back in business and will dust off their old jigs to make pipes.....

Staintune went out of business?? 

[booger]

I'd love a custom exhaust but I got my Arrow race carbon full system used for $400 and I'm a born cheapskate so there is little chance of that happening.

booger ~ Twin sons of different mothers.  I found the same beautiful Arrow CF set for $450. I'm too cheap to pull the trigger on something custom or getting the more expensive Termi.  Also, Pretty happy with the manifold now that I gave it a going-over and got 99% of all the corrosion off of the stainless metal. It looks almost bright polished ........ for now. Pretty sharp looking.

I'm all about used parts for big savings. I ceramic'ed my exhaust black as it had been tracked and was looking rather ugly and discolored and I wanted the +.00001 hp performance boost that ceramic coating yields, plus I was hoping it would make a difference with the ball roasting thing which it did not. Oh well. Did you know that there is a German product that you spray on and let sit then rinse off- that will make the exhaust look brand new? Forgot the name but it exists. Think it's a caustic chemical of some ilk but supposedly it works.