I love my baggy

[chisleu]

Sorry for the useless thread.

I rode my bike today and even though I was cold as hell and tired after a bad reaction to some Epinephrine, and a tooth that was throbbing, I love riding this bike.

It's so freaking agile it's scary sometimes. Taking low speed corners in 2nd with a foot on the asphalt and the footpeg scraping a little is scary fun. Pulling the front end up with less body english than Jlo swings in a 2 step makes me smile.

I love this bike. I'm really glad I chose it over a DRZ400SM.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

just don't get to rowdy on it and break it or YOU

[chisleu]

just don't get to rowdy on it and break it or YOU

I laid it down twice, once in the dirt (dumb) and once at 1mph trying to see how tight I could cut circles. (stalled engine)

I'm not sure how rowdy is too rowdy. I don't split lanes or anything crazy. I do some light power wheelies in 1st leaving lights. I never let the front come up enough to balance.

I've not been able to get a clutch slip wheelie to happen in 2nd gear. Not sure exactly what I'm doing wrong, but I only tried a couple times not wanting to wreck the clutch.

Man I love this bike. I can't wait for it to warm up so I can clean it before taking her to school today.

[chisleu]

Waiting for a tracking number! Hope this winter isn't too cold!!

[chisleu]

Followup on the gear I got from leatherup.com:

I've held and tried on many jackets/gloves before. Never tried on chaps.

Gloves: Gauntlets are AWESOME! Don't expect to use them in the summer. They are way too hot, but for winter riding they are EPIC. My jacket went into the gloves easily and the fit was acceptable (I have oddly proportioned hands). Took a little getting used to because they are thicker than the thin MX gloves I was using before. A fantastic deal, but I'll have to order some summer gloves in the springtime!

Chaps: My only complaint, and only because of my physique, is the length from the crotch to the top isn't long enough. It's great for over-pants use, but if I wanted to wear them as pants, I need to have on a tall shirt. Again, My torso is very long compared to my legs. I'm 6'5", but when I sit at a table I tower over people. I have to wear tall shirts with the jeans I prefer (which come up high to my belly.) so I don't have ass hanging out the back.
They seem like they are cut for the typical male, but even then they will be a little low. They fit well on me when I wear them as hip huggers over my jeans. I ordered a 48 when I wear a 46 jean size. The 48 is too big to wear without a belt, but I like belts!

Jacket: The jacket was far too small. I ordered a 2XL (48-50) jacket because I wear a 46 jean and people say to order 1 size higher than you need. It was so tight that I couldn't breathe with it zipped up (which was a challenge to accomplish.) I sent it back to exchange for a 4XL which should be plenty big enough for me. I think a 3xl would still fit snugly, and I want to be able to wear a long sleeve shirt underneath.

The quality was very nice. The naked cowhide was decently matched. The quality of the interior was very nice and the neck warmer flips in and out easily. The Level 3 Armor was uncomfortable. I guess that's why it's removable! haha. I don't think I would use the elbow guards. They make it a little hard to get the jacket on. Your hands want to catch on them. The shoulder guards make you feel very Mad Max though. I really want some spikes now!

All together I'm very pleased with my order. I'm sad I have to send the jacket back, but I should have measured my belly, not my waist I guess. If you have a belly, order much much larger than your jean size.

[chisleu]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WLK-17742

Installed one of these today. WHEW. I'm beat. I had the exhaust pro make a bushing with a piece of 1 7/8" exhaust pipe. He had to stretch it a touch to get it over the outside of the stock midpipe, and stretch the other side to get it to fit snugly inside the 2" muffler. It fits the bike well and is a good bit heavier than the aftermarket straight pipe I took off.

I do not believe it has reduced much performance. I still power wheelie in first and it goes through the gears readily however it's INSANELY quiet compared to the straight pipe. I am in love! I made a video but there is no reference sound so it's hard to tell how loud it is. It sounds muffled at idle and sounds like a muffled motorcycle at higher loads. I will get them to shoot some video of a drive by on our next outing in case anyone is interested.

I'm very pleased with the sound and the quiet. I am tired of loud race exhaust. Daily driving a gutted turbo sentra with 3" side exit exhaust cured me of that disease! 425fwhp was worth the experience, but now I want things to be a little more calm.

A good friend of mine told me it sounds like a stock exhaust on an ATV.

[chisleu]

Bad pic. It's a screenshot of a bad movie. I'll put together an exhaust sound movie later.

It just had a base coat of ceramic on it which got scratched up badly from refitting the entire hanger system. First it was hitting the license plate, then it was hitting the wheel when the suspension compressed. haha

I had to twist the hanger bracket to a horizontal position to allow the can to twist around enough that it easily clears both the wheel and the plastics and the license plate.

It sounds decent and the more I ride on it, the more I like it. I think the pilot is too rich now that this exhaust is on. I'm going to pull it down a bit but 99% of the popping is gone!!!
It definitely makes the bike more respectable to the bobby's!

[chisleu]

repainted. looks a bit better now!

[cat]

Take it outside for photos. If it's not raining. So far, it looks good, better than most of the shiny expensive ones. Is it oval? (It looks round in the shop pic, but here it looks oval - or i'm imagining it.)

[chisleu]

Take it outside for photos. If it's not raining. So far, it looks good, better than most of the shiny expensive ones. Is it oval? (It looks round in the shop pic, but here it looks oval - or i'm imagining it.)

Right on. I decided to put an anarchy symbol on it so after that's done I'll cook it and roll it outside for some pics today.

It's totally round, but it's only a 6" diameter, so the only real difference between what I had on before is width. It clears the tire though, and doesn't look like it will melt any plastic so it's good enough for me!

This is a rough mock up of my idea:


On the muffler front, The muffler is already starting to change it's waveform. As carbon builds up and fills the holes and changes the effect of reverberation in the pipe, the exhaust note seems like it is deepening and becoming better muffled. The entire powerband feels different now. It feels like I took off a 10psi turbo and put on an 8psi super charger. Power is extremely smooth and linear now, which is a good thing for me. It still power wheelies in first but the entire powerband feels smoother and I definitely enjoy the more quiet exhaust. It's not silent by any means. I'll try to record a video clip today of a couple drive-bys.

[chisleu]

Well, I took a couple pics, but after some rough housing with it, the support bracket isn't strong enough to hold it up high enough that it won't hit. It bent down enough to catch the tire a little bit (close to max compression.)

Sucky. I don't mind the battle scar on the paint, but I've got to come up with something permanenet to fix this or I'll have to change to a magnaflow or something. Maybe a U muffler (in and out on the same side) with a turn down to shoot exhaust out the side of the bike. IDK. Gotta keep it quiet but hitting the tire is not OK.