I was at the dealer today and was talking with the service writer about pipes, I was listening to different pipes they had installed on bikes and soon started talking about the cats and heat issues. He offers to remove the cat from the head pipe for 100.00. I asked about voiding the warranty and he said if they remove it they would not void the warranty, said most dealers wouldn't even know or care if they did. Whats the difference if you remove the cat from stock head pipes or replace it all together, should have no impact on warranty IMO.
So how much of an improvement sound, heat and performance wise would I get by removing it. Is it worth it if I'm just doing slipon's?

 

A few days ago I replaced my headpipe with one from Wild Pigs. It is much cooler than stock. I am still running stock mufflers right now but they do have a better sound to them. Removing the cat is worth it in my opinion. The price they are quoting is a good one also.

 

$10 for a paddle drill bit 1 x16 and just drill it out.

 

Voiding the Warranty? Probably not, except for the warranty on the Catalyst (Duh!). The real issue, for the Mechanic and the Dealer, is that for them to disable or modify any emissions device they are in violation of Federal and many State laws. While the odds of getting caught are almost zero . . . Occasionally they do nab a Mechanic and the business that they work for. The fines can be pretty stiff, and the odds of anyone hiring that mechanic ever again, once they have that sort of a reputation . . . Not Good. So while the risk is unbelievably small, the downside can be pretty bad . . . if they get caught . . . and a couple of times a year they do make an example out of a few folks.

 

No answers, just a few more questions. Why spend $400-600 on a new header without a cat when you could just decat the stock header for $100? I've often read the after market headers have internals that allow the correct amount of back pressure yet my simple mind can't grasp that - fee flowing exhaust is what you want, right? So, decat and retune/remap the ECM (powervision/V&H fuelpac, etc) or by a new header and retune/remap? That said, I do like the look of true duels...

 

In theory, free flowing is what you want to make the most power. It doesn't work that way in the real world. As the exhaust pulses reach the end of the pipes, some of that pulse is reversed back into the engine. The more free flowing the pipe, the worse the problem. That is why drag pipes suck in the rel world. If you attempted to run a bike with no exhaust, assuming you could even get it to run, it would run like crap and be way down on torque.

 

Thanks Andy02, so this begs another question - does a stock decatted header provide the necessary "reverse pulse"? Maybe the slip ons would provide the back pressure rather than the header? I've got RC component slip ons. I've only seen pics of true duals, are they truly "free flow"? Maybe a question for the manufacturer...

 

Thats a good deal. I bought a decatted oem pipe on Ebay 135 shipped. For 100 let the dealer do it

 

I have a 2011 and destroyed 2 drill bits and spent probably 4-5 hours of drilling, knocking, and banging to get my cat completely out of there. If I could have found somebody here to take the exhaust off, do the work, and reinstall the exhaust for $100, knowing what I know now, I wouldn't blink an eye before doing it.

Oh btw...I have RC slip-ons as well and it made a great improvement in sound quality as well as literally eliminating the right foot heat issue.

 

man, i don't know what you were doing, maybe trying to go to fast with it. didn't take me but about an hour to remove mine and i've done many others since.