The thing to remember is that no one product is right for everyone and as I will attempt to point out each one is good in its own way. Also in the process of preparing for this shoot-out I received some interesting info that I will pass on to all who care to read. Of the products that I develop I have been inspired to a higher level Quality. I realize that all that I have to say here will not be well accepted and I will likely get yelled at by a few people but I hope that shoot-outs such as this will help improve the product and the customer relations that you the customer receive from each company. Do not be surprised if some prices go up as it costs a lot of money to go though the R&D to develop better products.

I will relay every conversation that we had with manufactures and the results of each exhaust as best I can.

Dynos ?????

The fastest engines in almost any form of racing are not solely developed on the dyno or by seat of pants. A dyno is only a meter to make comparisons to aid in faster and less expensive development. However no matter what the dyno shows you must take it to the track for further testing. THE FINAL TEST IS AT THE TRACK

Horsepower vs. torque

Horsepower is a calculated number of work accomplished. Horsepower is an indication of which bike can go the fastest in a straight line if all other variables are the same. Horsepower is surrounded by a lot of hype and a lot of false claims. How you get your horsepower readings can be as variable as the difference between two riders. Accurate testing is just that. Control as many variables as you can and do so with the engine in as similar a condition to its application as possible. When I am testing an MX engine I will test it a different rate of acceleration than I would an oval track engine. Engine temp. and pipe temp. are critical on a four stroke but nowhere close to the importance of this on a two stroke. When I work with a new engine always start with engine temp readings at the track than begin testing at these temps.

Torque is a measurement of the twisting force that the engine produces. To compare a dyno graph to what you will feel on the track or in the woods you must look at torque. An engine with a broad torque range is easier to ride and will produce better results on the race track. As you can see later on some graphs one engine produces a lot of torque and receives a lot of hype about how powerful it is because it feels so strong yet in actual racing does not have a broad enough torque spread to achieve good results unless the rider short shifts. On the flip side if you look at hp only you will be disappointed at the track.

I will give an account of each company in the order that we initially contacted them along with graphs and some photos and I will report any problems that we may have seen at the track with their products.

Later

LS

Things that we will be reporting on:

R E P O R T

When we go to state parks to ride they do all the sound level testing very close to the bike at half the manufacturers rated rpm. I chose to test the sound more like what the neighbors will hear. not that this is better only that I feel this represents closer how we sound to nonriders. All the sound testing was done at full throttle and at full load 10 feet from the bike and around the corner of the building. The dB showed here will be higher than what is tested at state parks or at AMA races.

Big Gun

The first company that Scott contacted was Big Gun. I had more requests for info on there exhausts than any other. The comments that I have received from people who have bought their exhaust are "its awesome" , "it made a big difference" , "it sounds great". When first contacted Paul offered an exhaust for the shoot-out even before we asked. When we checked with them 3 weeks later Paul said they were behind on building the exhausts furthermore they sent several to magazines for testing so they would not participate in the shoot-out. A customer brought his system over for the shoot-out ( I had tested it earlier but wanted to give it an equal shot on the same day as the rest of the systems.

Installation of the Big gun was very basic and had no problems other than that the exhaust stud holes at the head may need to be slotted to fit some bikes. Sound levels on the full race were 116dB with stock exhaust, 119dB with Big gun, and 123dB with full race system. Note: Big Gun did not have a spark arrester and is not legal at state parks. On a completely stock bike the peak hp dropped, the average hp from 3200 rpm up went up 2%, it had a much smoother power, but the big difference was the increase in torque. Torque went up 24% at 3600 rpm. Sound levels were stock 104dB, Big Gun 116dB. This was also a very light system weighing in at 7.4 lbs. On a full race bike the exhaust simply could not flow enough though its small diameters to run well at high rpm.

Read the graphs, you be the judge.

CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE

Yoshimura

When Scott first called Yosh he was told he needed to talk to Brent Russell. Scott left several messages for Brent Russell and sent a fax to him with the details on our Shoot-out. several weeks later he finally made contact with Mr. Russell who said that they would send an exhaust for the shoot-out. When no exhaust arrived Scott called them back and was told by Mr. Russell "I talked to Hi-torque publications about this shoot-out and have decided not to participate or send an exhaust". (Hi-torque is the company owning both Dirt Wheels and 4-wheel ATV action) He did not explain any of the details but I will give you detailed info later of our discussions with them.

I contacted their tech department to get more info on their exhausts and was treated very politely and given the following info. "The first system offered has a stainless head pipe and aluminum silencer. Or you can buy just the silencer and use it as a slip-on. The second system has a stainless headpipe and titanium silencer. Or you can buy just the silencer and use it as a slip-on. The third system uses a titanium head pipe and titanium silencer." I asked what the difference is between the systems performance wise and was told there is non as they are only made from different materials but are dimensionally the same. Also I was told that all of these systems have the same collector diameter as stock but that their head pipe is multi- stage. From past testing with these diameters you should see a substantial increase in torque on a stock bike but find the system restrictive for full race. as soon as one of their systems is available to us I will gladly update any info that may be incorrect here.

Supertrapp When Scott called Supertrapp Kathy answered the phone and was very "short" with him. Said he should fax the info and that he would need to talk to Aaron Olsen. Scott left a lot of messages for Mr. Olsen and not one was returned. After 4 weeks of this I called and the secretary said I would need to talk to Aaron Olsen and that he was not in the office. I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to and she said all the managers were gone and would not be back for a week.

I asked again if there was anyone I could talk to as we had been trying to make contact for several weeks. She than put me on hold for 10 minutes after which Tim Taber came on the line. After explaining the shoot-out to him he asked who said I should talk to Aaron olsen because he was not the right person to talk to I should have talked to Bernadette Brennan.

He apologized for the trouble getting through to any one, said he would go check what was in stock that he could ship for the shoot-out and call me right back. He never called back. After 2 days I called back and he said that they would not be sending an exhaust as they were discontinuing the IDS silencer and had no interest in having it tested. He said that their new silencer the IDS 2 would not be released until all of the old silencers were sold. He than sent me a letter explaining the same thing.

I received an IDS slip-on from a customer for testing. it did fit on the bike nicely and was the quietest of all after market systems. The stock exhaust flowed 86cfm with the IDS flowing 82cfm. Just for reference an open system such as Big Gun flows 250cfm. The IDS does Include a spark arrestor. Stock bike 104dB, with IDS 111dB. Full race bike with stock exhaust 116db, with IDS 117db. As far as horsepower and torque are concerned you be the judge. As soon as they have sold their outdated product (Tim Tabers exact words) they promised to send an IDS 2 for testing.

CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE
DG When Scott first contacted them Jimmy answered the phone and sounded somewhat interested. He said he would get the info to Jack. When Scott called Jack back 3 weeks later he said that they would not be particpating as the owner was leery of shootouts. However he did thank us for including them. Personal note: They had the most profesional way of saying thanks but no thanks. Many of the companies spent 5-10 minuites making excuses and degrading the shootout.

FMF

When first contacted FMF was easy to talk to. Josh answered the phone and said he would get with Tom Webb with the info and let us know. To speak with anyone capable of making desicions they became very difficult to deal with. You could only leave a message on voice mail and no one would return your call. Scott left messages for both Tom Webb and Don Emler. Mike Fairbanks contacted us through our web site and only asked "what info do you need". I e-mailed him back a full explanation of the shootout and he responded that he was sorry that they had been hard to reach and that they would be interested in participating if I could verify that we were a legit company. Also he wanted to know how many hits our web site gets and how long the people stay thier. He left a phone number and time that I could reach him if I had any questions.

I sent they info he requested to him and tried to conntact him for two days. After 15 attempts and no return phone calls I did reach him and was told that they are not interested in participating as 1. Thier web site gets 2million hits a month comparred to our little site 2. They have discontinued their exhaust for the 400 and dont want it tested 3. They dont have a new exhaust for it yet.

I was given a Mega-Max slipon by a customer for testing. The exhaust that was given to us had already been broken and rewelded 3 times. The customer than installed a slipon from another company so that he could race trouble free. I have seen several on these slipons at the track and have seen several that were broken and repaired. On a stock bike the sound levals was 112db and on the mdified bike it was117db. On the stoc bike peak hp went up .6 hp average hp went up 3%. It also had a huge increase in torque from 3200rpm to 6000 rpm. This exhaust gained hp almost everywhere on a stock bike. On the modified bike it gained over stock but did not flow well enough at high rpm to give good overrev compared to a full race system.

Read the graphs --you be the judge

CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE Four Stroke Tech

Never returned any calls.

Curtis Sparks

Answering service said that she would give him the message and that they did not have a fax. Mr. Sparks called back and gave a fax number to send info to. Scott called back 3 weeks later but Mr. Sparks would never return a call.

TC Racing

When initially contacted he said he would send an exhaust for the shoot-out but when contacted again he said he would send one later for testing. He said that he did not like dynos and wished that his exhaust be tested on a track for lap times or in drag racing.

One exhaust seen at a track said TC on it and had an end cap on like he uses on his 250x exhausts. This exhaust was identical to the exhaust Graydon sells. As soon as more info is available on his systems I will post it.

DMC, Double Barrel (Duncan Racing)

Jim at DMC said we would need to talk to Jeff. We could never get him on the phone and he would never return any calls. Lauren Duncan told Scott that he didn’t like dynos and that he would never let his product be tested unless he is there to control the test. According to Glenn Hanson at ATV sport Lauren offered him a pipe to test as long as it was only tested by seat of the pants or with a radar gun and not on a dyno. Lauren also made a few comments about bad testing on a dyno in our area but did not explain who or what. I have seen both of these systems and according to DMC they build both systems and the only difference is that the one system is stainless vs. chrome.

I have tested one of these systems earlier on a full race bike. It is a very good running system that produces 3% more average hp than a Graydon Proline exhaust on a full race bike. It has one other advantage regarding the length of the pipes that I will try to explain at the end of all this info. Read the graphs-- you be the judge.