Exhaust opinions wanted.

[xjeleven87]

Hi guys. I'm thinking about taking my air box off and putting on some pod filters. Also thinking about either fabricating some straight pipes to attach to stock exhaust or buying MAC 4-1 and fabricating straight pipe for those headers. Also I am intrigued by the X-pipe exhaust system, although the price is a little intimidating. I want to add HP and make the bike sound as gnarly as possible. I'm just worried about the jetting. Looking for opinions here, I'm new to this game. Fast and loud is what I'm looking for. If you could include some jetting tips with your suggestions that'd be helpful. Thanks guys!

[xjeleven87]

Increase my horsepower please.

What are some suggestions to increase the horsepower of my recently purchased stock xj1100? I'm new to the motorcycle game, had an xj650 for the past couple years but never tinkered with it. I want my 1100 to be as mean as possible. Loud and fast is what I'm going for. I want to learn as much as possible about the technical aspects of these motorcycles. If you guys could help me out Id greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

[wazimoto]

I have a mac 4-1 system on my bike and like it quite a lot





As for the jetting, once you go with pods you are often entering the realm of trial and error, but I think there are some threads you could find that have general guidelines for re-retting.

[s63921c]

exhaust

I have had a Mac 4-2 system on my bike for years and it definitely sounds good,though within a year the welds started to rust. years later I sandblasted and painted them,but they still sound good. As far as jetting,I upped my jet size 1 and didn't need it,but with pods,as said before,it's definitely trial and error.

[crazy steve]

The only part of that you'll succeed at will be making the bike sound 'gnarly'... you'll lose power....

Not to rain on your parade, but these bikes as-delivered were tuned to pretty much their maximum power output unless you want to throw large sums of money at it. At one time there were a few aftermarket exhaust systems that offered a 'bump' on the top end but they're all long out of production and nearly impossible to find now. The stock systems offer a near-perfect blend of overall power that only a few aftermarket systems matched or bettered. These days, there's nearly zero in dedicated performance upgrades for these bikes (the Campbell X-Pipe is the sole remaining new exhaust option, and according to one list member who bought one, requires frame/kickstand mods to make it fit, not an easy bolt-on). Pod filters offer no power gain, merely make the carbs easier to remove (and usually harder to tune).

Straight pipes will be a disaster; you'll find insurmountable tuning problems without proper backpressure (several have already tried this...).

If your XJ is still in nice, unmolested stock form, leave it that way and give it the best tune-up you can; make sure the valves are adjusted to spec, maybe install a ACCT (at the least adjust the OEM unit), block off the YICS passage, and sync/tune the carbs as well as possible (the OEM jetting is a bit lean in some cases but not all).

Not to say you can't get more power out of these, but it's neither cheap nor easy. For a pretty thorough review of what it takes to make extra power, search for and read posts by member 'Dan Hodges'; he spent literally thousands exploring these motors and finally decided that on a dollar-per-horsepower basis, a very well-tuned stock bike was the best deal....

[DGXSER]

Yeah...What Steve said.

Over the years of being on this site, and the bikes I have owned and or worked on for others, I can honestly say that the stock system offers the best over all power for these bikes. Now, if you want a little extra sound form the system, you can drill some 1/4" holes...say six of them around the outlet flange of the exhaust. My very first XS had that done to it. It did not suffer a significant power loss, and it may have helped the top end. But it would pop on decel no matter how I tuned the carbs.

Now I have two XSs, one with a stock airbox, and I believe stock headers with Jardine slip-ons, the other PODS with a Kerker 4-1. I definitely notice the difference in how the two engines behave. The SG with the Kerker and PODS has a little more top end grunt, kicks in pretty good at about 3k RPM or so. But the SH with the 4-2 and airbox seems to have better performance right off idle. I would say that once your in 5th and rolling 60 MPH or so there is little noticeable difference between the two.

If your stock exhaust is in good condition, I would keep it. And those folks who claim loud pipes save lives are rationalizing the money they spent. The only thing that saves bikers lives is facing the reality that every cage is out to kill you any way they can, be prepared for that.

[jetmechmarty]

Campbell X-pipe

Here is an X-pipe discussion that may be of interest.

XS650.com

[CaptonZap]

I want to add HP and make the bike sound as gnarly as possible.

At the risk of offending Crazy Steve, if you want a bike that is obnoxiously loud and gnarly, get a Harley.
The cylinder count weighs against you with the XS. Many small cylinders wailing at max output make a siren call. Whiney, like an old girlfriend, or a screeching harpy.
Two massive cylinders pumping at a lower RPM, (since they will probably come unglued at a higher RPM ), give a more viscerally satisfying sound. Like a pronouncement from God, or Morgan Freeman, which ever came first.

CZ Free opinions given, solicited or not.

[natemoen]

At the risk of offending Crazy Steve, if you want a bike that is obnoxiously loud and gnarly, get a Harley.
The cylinder count weighs against you with the XS. Many small cylinders wailing at max output make a siren call. Whiney, like an old girlfriend, or a screeching harpy.
Two massive cylinders pumping at a lower RPM, (since they will probably come unglued at a higher RPM ), give a more viscerally satisfying sound. Like a pronouncement from God, or Morgan Freeman, which ever came first.

CZ Free opinions given, solicited or not.

HAHAHAHA!!!! Well said Capt'!!!

[crazy steve]

At the risk of offending Crazy Steve, if you want a bike that is obnoxiously loud and gnarly, get a Harley..

No offense taken!.... Being a HD owner also, I understand about the difference; mine are loud as they have aftermarket exhaust although I like to think not obnoxiously loud... no straight pipes here...

If you're looking for that type of sound, you won't get it with the XS....

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there XJEleven87,

As everyone has already stated, there really are NOT any bolt-ons that will give you any more HP or speed! These bikes are big...1100cc's, but they are OLD technology, and modern 650 crotchets will blow us away on the top end anyday! But our machines have power and torque not unlike the Rat Harley recently posted in the Member's Lounge!

Now, you can make it louder...but it really won't do anything for the performance, just make your neighbors and others your riding near annoyed. As human beings, we get 90 % of information of our world from our EYES. Take a look at the WHY WE ARE INVISIBLE thread in the Misc forum for an eye opening view of why so many cyclists are HIT by cars and drivers that just didn't SEE them! And the extra noise will just cause premature hearing loss for yourself, so you'll be needing hearing aids years sooner, you won't be able to hear the nice high tones in your favorite songs, etc.!

If you're going to go molesting your bike with radical changes...possibly making it into a bobber or such(Street Rod), and it's an otherwise pristine XJ1100, then we would suggest you TRADE or sell your XJ and get a barnfind XS11 to practice your fabricating skills on! Not trying to be mean, just pragmatic, we've seen many folks begin a bobber type project only to abandon it because they got way in over their head, or just lost interest, etc.!

About the only increase in power still involves considerable $$, a big bore kit, not to mention the cylinder boring costs, other mechanical work required to tear it down, reassemble, etc..

T.C.

[Yahman]

If you do make any of the changes that you talked about, I would recommend a Dyno-Jet kit for the carbs. My XJ had a Kerker when I purchased it and then I put pods on it. After messing with the jets for over a year, I installed a Dyno-Jet kit and it ran great. I changed the exhaust to a Jardin Spaghetti pipe last winter and dropped the mains down one size and now it runs even better. They both sound good, I think the Jardin sounds the best.

Ride safe,
Larry

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Larry,

Don't stop there! What STAGE Dyno Jet Kit?? I don't recall but I thought there were more than one, but maybe only 1 for the XJ?? Just wanted to give him the most info possible.

T.C.

[mharrington]

Any of you fellas remember an aftermarket exhaust company named Alphabet? The 1979 GS1000N I have fixed up has a 4 into 2 Alphabet system on it. Double wall beefy tubing with a crossover just like OEM. Boy it does not sound OEM! Its sounds FANTASTIC. Not too loud and makes me jealous my XS1100 does not sound like this. I have 2 neighbors who are not cycle guys and they complimented the sound- they heard me going thru the gears a road away.

To the original poster if you dont go with a MAC 4 into 1 you can try some Emgo or other aftermarket mufflers on your existing headpipes. I heard a 78 KZ1000 with some "gutted" Jardine slip ons last summer. With my helmet on I though it sounded great........but with my helmet off I realized it was waaaaaaaay too loud!

[Yahman]

Hey Larry,

Don't stop there! What STAGE Dyno Jet Kit?? I don't recall but I thought there were more than one, but maybe only 1 for the XJ?? Just wanted to give him the most info possible.

T.C.

The kit comes so you can set it up for stage 1, 2 or 3. I set it up for stage 3 with the 4 into 1 Kerker and changed to stage 2 (smaller main jet) for the 4 into 2 Jardin.

Larry