Which Exhaust is best for the 2014 Valkyrie?

[rudymsmith]

I've got my Seat, my fleetliner saddlebags, my tail rack, my drink holder, and bling things but now it is time to get down to business - I want to know what exhaust above all others turn our Valkyrie into Odens Favorite ride?

Thanks in advance - money not the issue - this is a performance only issue.

[idcrewdawg]

Not sure why you need more power.  ??? Today while leaving off a light I got the bike to chirp as I took off, and I routinely get her front wheel to be pretty close to off the ground. Of course I have to back off the acceleration pretty quick since most of these roads are speed limited at 45, and I can hit 70 inside a block.

[goldstar903]

I've got my Seat, my fleetliner saddlebags, my tail rack, my drink holder, and bling things but now it is time to get down to business - I want to know what exhaust above all others turn our Valkyrie into Odens Favorite ride?

Thanks in advance - money not the issue - this is a performance only issue.

There is not much.  
http://www.torqmasterpipes.com/product-category/f6c-valkyrie/ with a Don Guhl re-flash, or PC5, and a good MAP.  

[Robert]

Performance improvements from exhaust are not much and there isn't much offered for these bikes. MarkT on this site may be someone worth talking to since he has made the exhausts for the 1500 for awhile. He may want a new project. 

[woofred1832]

               I have put performance pipes and headers on other bikes I have had but, this time I think I will leave well enough alone. I like the deep throutey WHOOOOOOO the pipes make now, and at 70 - 75 MPH and 3200 to 3500 RPMs the sound is fine...... after all Im 66 now so its time for alittle less noise..... if you know what I mean

[hungryeye]

Best exhaust is the one that came with it, no complaints here. But more noise will make you think the added 2 HP made a big difference after spending $500 - $1000.

Ya might as well throw in the $60 K&N air filter so the bike sucks in dirtier air also, just to make it complete.

[rudymsmith]

Interesting bunch of naysayers on this subject - it's ok - I love the power and sound now - squawk the tires plenty on take off - but is there more hidden in this monster ? Things I've done to other motorcycles includes getting rid of the CAT's to cool things off, Fuel management and yes wide open air intakes. Of course I have found that using Ethanol FREE premium does some of this stuff also.

[bradrcfii]

I have torq masters pipes and torq loopz.  The torq loopz get rid of the cats.  That saves weight, gets rid of a bunch of heat and breathes much better.  Since this system breaths better, you need a fuel manager to get the power benefit like one from Dynojet that I also have.  You will need the PowerCommander V and the secondary fuel management module since two wide band O2 sensors are used. 

These bikes run very lean stock.  About 14.4 AFR.  Best power is made at 13.2 AFR.  The combination of pipes, torq loopz and Power Commander makes a real difference.  The Power Commander allows you to set lean stock AFR settings for cruise maintaining fuel economy.  When you open the throttle, you can program the AFR for best power at about 13.2 AFR.  The increased power and throttle response is fun.  Setting up the fuel table is easy.  There are youtube  videos and Power Commander support is awesome. 

The sound at cruise is fine, no drone.  It is louder but you can tune the pipes by moving the baffles for the sound level you want.  Mine are set at 4 inches from the back of the pipe and sounds great.  Not offensive like some of those twin cylinder bikes running around.

Doing business with Torq Master is frustrating.  Slow on delivery and not responsive to email or phone calls.  Product seems OK.  If you do buy the torq loopz, buy spare gaskets where the Loopz meets the pipes.   They are hard to get and if you need one, you will become frustrated trying to get from the vendor.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Brad

[Robert]

Interesting bunch of naysayers on this subject - it's ok - I love the power and sound now - squawk the tires plenty on take off - but is there more hidden in this monster ? Things I've done to other motorcycles includes getting rid of the CAT's to cool things off, Fuel management and yes wide open air intakes. Of course I have found that using Ethanol FREE premium does some of this stuff also.

I tell you what when you get a dyno test then lets see. 

Its really not naysayers but for me the bike is just so good like it is and have been there done that type of thing I really have no urgency to gain 5hp. I would like to do the ECU mod but really again not that urgent, I'm really happy with the bike the way it is.

Glad you are doing these things and its working for you at least we can see what a difference these things make thanks and enjoy

[bradrcfii]

I do plan to have a dyno run but it is down for a couple of weeks.  I was going to do the run to see what is really going on and to fine tune for the best air fuel ration for power.  Never planned to publish but I will.  I did not do this stuff because I thought the bike is lacking.  I am just a tinkerer.  Its fun for me.

[Robert]

I do plan to have a dyno run but it is down for a couple of weeks.  I was going to do the run to see what is really going on and to fine tune for the best air fuel ration for power.  Never planned to publish but I will.  I did not do this stuff because I thought the bike is lacking.  I am just a tinkerer.  Its fun for me.

Yup know exactly what you mean I have itchy fingers wanting to do something the problem is I dont want to take the time away from riding it.  I think this is the first vechical I owned I can say I would rather ride than tinker. If tinker doesnt take to long ok but otherwise forget it. 

[rudymsmith]

This is actually a great thread / conversation - I do KNOW this engine is amazing and I do like the way it sounds (I do think its missing a 6th gear) but as far as exhausts go, loosing the CATs and opening up the airboxes always cooled things down and powered things up... subjective yes most of the time. Objective - only with a good unbiased dynatune. My goal is to make MY Valkyrie the coolest best bike it can be.

[AdrianR]

This is actually a great thread / conversation - I do KNOW this engine is amazing and I do like the way it sounds (I do think its missing a 6th gear) but as far as exhausts go, loosing the CATs and opening up the airboxes always cooled things down and powered things up... subjective yes most of the time. Objective - only with a good unbiased dynatune. My goal is to make MY Valkyrie the coolest best bike it can be.

I couldn't agree more.  I want my bike to run the best it can within it's stock parameters.  The stock exhaust is not only good looking, it's also very well made...  I also believe in time it will mellow more audibly...and get slightly louder...  This was something I noticed with my last bike....  The exhaust tended to  just get louder as the miles piled on.  Oh, and I like the way it sounds.  I really am sick of all the GD loud ass Harleys everywhere...and never ride with them unless I am in front...in which I always am easily if I run across them.  Oh, btw...nice to see another fellow Valk rider who has noticed the better engine run while using ethanol free gas.  To me the difference in performance, while not night and day, IS striking...and well worth the minimal expense and effort to acquire, especially considering the down the road issues that can come to bare running that crap alcohol.

[Robert]

If the cats were off the exhaust would be a lot cooler but I doubt until they get quite a few miles on them there would be little to no gain in the hp dept. The exhaust is designed well and that is one reason I wouldn't want to do the loops. The exhaust has a nice crossover pipe done at the correct angles to maximize the scavenging and the flow of exhaust gas. The loops do not and the cats are directly off the headers and manufactured in one piece less to rattle and less to play with. One day maybe I will consider the doing something with the cats. But for now its just an idea.

[ledany]

Remove the cats is something I will not do, ever ! We learn today that 9% of the death toll in France is due to air pollution (as much as the alcohol disease), 48,000 a year 

[Kidd]

Remove the cats is something I will not do, ever ! We learn today that 9% of the death toll in France is due to air pollution (as much as the alcohol disease), 48,000 a year 

population control  , what's wrong with that ?

[bscrive]

ledany,

Did you know that when a large volcanic eruption happens like Mt. Pinatubo, it can spew so much CO2 and SO2 that it equivalent to years of human pollution.  The tree huggers want us to buy into their crap, so that they will make millions off us while they fly in personal jets, and drive large SUVs.  There will always be air pollution, most people put the bad air into themselves in the form of cigarettes. I bet they didn't remove those people from the statistics.  When I hear these types of statistics, I take them with a box of salt.

[hungryeye]

ledany,

Did you know that when a large volcanic eruption happens like Mt. Pinatubo, it can spew so much CO2 and SO2 that it equivalent to years of human pollution.  The tree huggers want us to buy into their crap, so that they will make millions off us while they fly in personal jets, and drive large SUVs.  There will always be air pollution, most people put the bad air into themselves in the form of cigarettes. I bet they didn't remove those people from the statistics.  When I hear these types of statistics, I take them with a box of salt.

GOOD JOB! But remember if you remove your baffles you can buy carbon credits from Al Gore     

[Robert]

When I had my Porsche I wanted to see what a difference the cats really made. So I ran a test pipe and had a exhaust gas analyzer to see the difference. I was really surprised because I expected the cats to really be making a difference but they did not. I could have passed the emissions test with no cats on the car. I have since tested more cars and the results were pretty much the same. The older cars as expected did worse but with the new engine designs most engines burn pretty clean.

There is a problem that no one is talking about because its so ludicrous, the very gas that cars emit with a cat are co2, water plus a few other. But the gas that is the real offender as a green house gas is CO2 the very gas that the cats change the exhaust to. The other problem is that humans exhale CO2 so they are thinking of putting something on humans, Just kidding. But the real source of the CO2 is not even man made but volcano's that spew thousands of times more than any of the other emitters.

Another thing I have learned about cats over the years is they dont hurt HP as much as thought. A new well designed cat if it stops the flow of exhaust gas will actually burn up and not do its job. So to much restriction in a cat will cause it to burn out. They do make high performance cats for performance cars but they really dont seem all that much different.

To me the real problem is the high heat that the cats run at on a motorcycle and the real question of how much do they really change the exhaust.

[bradrcfii]

Brilliant post.  Funny that man would build an engine that emits the same substance that we exhale, CO2 that feeds the plants and trees.  We are as much part of the natural order as anything else on earth.  The arrogance of those that think man is separate from nature and can change the weather. 

I once read an article where engine exhaust was pumped into a large tent housing plants.  They grew 20-30 faster with the engine exhaust.  Too much CO2 in the air, the plants suck it up and the planet stays in balance.  And for your global warming guys, the planet has warmed in the past (ice age) before the industrial age.  What caused that.........the sun maybe?  Nobody talks about the sun's cycles.

As for me,  the engine is more efficient (less gas used and less so called pollutants) runs much cooler and definetly more fun.  My engine is setup for best efficiency, not an arbritary EPA goal.

But don't get me wrong, a stock Valkyrie is awesome and does not need to be changed.  Different strokes for different folks.

[Robert]

As I take time to learn our new bikes and the engines I have to give credit to Honda for walking a fine line between government rules and accepted norms of power. What I see is a bike that does have some reserve in the design to gain power, kind of like a small detune or hp left on the table for those to find that want every last drop. I saw alot of this on the 1500 Valk because all that did mods got some hp gains and fuel mileage gains but without a blower or without new internals the HP varied 10 over stock. Now I wont say that its nothing but the effort becomes a sliding scale only decided on by the interest of each individual owner. Maybe that is exactly what this is all about just that little bit difference makes all the difference to some including myself.

Fuel mixture and timing are the two easier and more effective ways to get more out of our bikes. Its nice to see some changing things up and showing some the path. Please post gains or at least seat of the pants results.

Of most cars and trucks the emissions battle is partly about cost to consumers that is much played down or never stated or talked about. On the new diesels with the new cats and computers this cost is about ten grand additional to satisfy restrictions. On cars in the early days of cats and not being able to produce a fuel system and cat that would work well together the cost was not only in the original purchase price but in the repair. The same spot we see all the new bells and whistles and want them till we realize cost wise what ownership really means. We can all afford pretty much to buy a car or bike but dont realize that when we go to repair them the cost is much higher. This is partly reflected in the used car price being way lower in the cars that are high maintenance. In all this madness we see a government that mandated a change and didnt care how much the consumer had to pay and didn't care about the time line for implementation. They left it to business to decide how to make it happen and waited for the fallout. This is the problem mfgs can make stuff that costs a ton to repair and is unreliable and offer an extended warranty to cover some consumer cost but when out of warranty its almost unaffordable.

  The BMW KTL1600 is a great example of the bike being absolutely beautiful and having every convenience but if you have to repair it you had better have a deep pocket. I will be interested to see the used value of these bikes and the sales volume.

The Valkyrie can be repaired by anyone with a moderate amount of skill. It can be diagnosed if the check engine light comes on by blink codes displayed on the check engine light. The BMW requires a 20 grand scanner, the cost of parts is through the roof, the down time can be long, and its not a owner repairable bike without this scanner. This is one reason I bought Honda and respect Honda in their decision to keep this bike affordable and repairable.

Ledney I would be like to know how the translate these results to deaths. In Europe there are more diesels which emit much more fumes than cars. I would question it for another reason the fact that although there are quite a few motor bikes most the mileage is really high and the amount of fuel used is so small by comparison to most modes of transportation. So I would question the governments stats on this.

I wanted to point out that our bikes have alot going for them and the reasons for improvements are subjective and not because of any design flaw or balancing act of regs vs bike. Honda for the most part has already done that for us in a beautiful appearing package that works on so many levels including keeping the rider cooler in hot weather. I wonder how much Honda listed to the complaints of the 1500 owners in the design of this bike, again another balancing act.

The cat will yield a little power but also remove some heat the fuel mixture and timing will give an increase in power and maybe better fuel mileage. Again what ever mod you do its personal done for a personal reasons not because the bike doesn't perform beyond expectations. I applaud those who do personal mods, myself included, its nice to hear the results and see the variations and give ideas to tinkerers such as myself. I am not sure the real reason I am writing this its a bit long just to say what I have but when I really love my bike and look to improve it which is and can be done the gains are so slight that I have to question the urgency to do them.

God what a great bike!

[ledany]

@Robert : when the topic gets really technical I can't answer the way I would like to. I give up convincing any of you guys that the climate change is real and due to human activity. When you refer to the Pinatubo or anything else, I know for example that some men are really 100% mean and criminals and have caused disasters far beyond my own power and skill but this doesn't allow me to behave badly. I don't intend to compete !    

The fact is that in France especially, diesel cars are standard because the french manufacturer Peugeot chose this kind of engine long ago and the Republic had no choice but to minimize the taxes on diesel, though we know the diesel particles cause severe damages.

To answer your question Robert, about the K1600 (fantastic bike, I considered once to buy one but I bought a R1200 GS water cooled instead, no regret) the thing is that second hand K1600 don't reach 60,000 km as you can see here

http://www.mobile.de/zweirad-verzeichnis/bmw/k-1600-gt.html

There are lots of K1600 in Paris though, I wonder how they manage to keep such a low mileage. With my Valk, I'll probably reach 50,000 km in two year time (but I have no car and I guess that most of the K1600 owners use their bike to commute, 50 or 60 km/day, maximum).

The Paris Mayor decided to forbid the entrance of the city to old bikes (prior 1997 and prior 1999 for the cars) and of course, there's a lot of anger. I first thought it was ridiculous, considering that the bikes spend less time in the trafic jam. Yes, but the pollution they produce is twice what a car does. Can I say that I feel a little bit guilty using my bike instead of a bicycle or the public transportation ? But I'm no hero. When if everything will be forbidden   I shall comply  
But for the time being, I ride everyday, in and out of the city and I enjoy it a lot !

[bscrive]

One thing I do agree with is that we as a human race needs to clean up our act when it comes to garbage.  There is so much of it in our oceans it is ridiculous.  I read one story that a guy who was sailing around the world encountered a sea of floating garbage as far as he could see at the tip of South America.  That kind of stuff we can do something about.  All countries should pay to have that crap cleaned up, BUT there is no money to be made there.  :ticked off:  So, the stuff will keep floating and getting bigger.  That is the sad truth.  Only where there is money to be made will there be an effort to be 'green'.