The right aftermarket exhaust can not only add a stunning look to your bike, but it can also help your engine maintain its optimal performance and help maintain the engine’s health.
Thus it should come as no surprise that a poorly designed or cheap exhaust can also harm your bike’s engine performance. Badly designed pipes and air filters are just a couple of the many reasons behind a poorly designed exhaust system harming your engine.
This blog has collected everything you need to know about the main problems with cheap and poorly designed aftermarket exhausts. So without further ado, let’s get started!
The Perils of Poorly Designed Exhausts
According to the current market trends, many riders tend to opt for cheaper exhaust systems without realizing the full repercussions of their decision to do so.
One of the main reasons for this is that the sellers feel that the exhaust has nothing else but noise. The technical and performance advantages are unknown to them because of which the side effects are more harmful to the bike rather than providing an advantage. This is why going for cheap roadside free flow exhaust will definitely give you the noise that you require, but then the performance and efficiency of the bike are surely going down the drain.
Avoiding these cheap or non-standard products will actually help you financially in the long run as well. Investing one time for a premium exhaust is a much better option than taking the burden of constantly changing the cheap ones.
Here are the main problems with poorly designed exhausts:
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Decreased Power and Acceleration: If you have a problem with your exhaust, it will begin to affect the performance of your engine. You won’t be able to accelerate as well or as quickly, and you won’t get the same power when you do accelerate.
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Decreased Fuel Efficiency: When your power and acceleration decrease, your vehicle’s fuel efficiency often decreases as well. To get your bike to function in the same way that it does without an exhaust problem, it has to work even harder, therefore using more fuel. You may think that the cost of replacing or fixing your exhaust is high, but you’ll begin spending a lot more on gas if you don’t get it fixed.
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Increased Engine Smoke: Compared to the more premium free-flow exhausts, the cheaper ones can’t keep up with the necessary back force in the engine. This results in a drop in the overall performance of the motorcycle. Since there is no more pressure created in the entire flow of the combustion cycle, the air sucking action due to the backpressure and the fuel intake/injection is very erratic resulting in incomplete combustion, and hence there is a lot of smoke.
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Excessively loud exhaust making hissing sounds: What most cheap exhausts lack in terms of performance, they try to make up in the sound department. Many a time, these exhausts are comically loud. One of the key downfalls of such loud exhausts is a hissing sound. If any of the exhaust pipes or tubes break or crack, they can cause an exhaust leak that will result in an excessively noisy engine. The exhaust may produce a hissing or tapping sound that may become more pronounced during acceleration.
Hanging/Loose Exhaust Pipe: If your exhaust pipe is hanging or dragging on the ground, you should have it fixed immediately. If any part of the pipe breaks, even a part that does not cause a leak, it can begin to hang under the vehicle. The dragging is not only a danger to you, but if it falls off of the vehicle it becomes a danger to the drivers around you.
(The most significant problems with poorly designed and cheap exhaust systems summarized)
And now that you have the complete picture of all the major problems with poorly designed exhaust systems, we want to conclude this blog with a quick look at the best practices when it comes to choosing the right exhaust system for your beloved bike.
Choosing The Right Aftermarket Exhaust
Choosing the right aftermarket exhaust is key to ensuring that your bike maintains its top performance.
Here is a quick list of all the significant areas that you must consider when choosing your next custom exhaust system:
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Exhaust Type: Two main exhaust families are the slip-on exhausts and the full system exhausts. While the slip-on exhausts are generally cheaper and offer more vehicular versatility, the full system exhausts are unmatched in performance improvement and their stunning looks.
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Budget: Determining the upper ceiling for your next exhaust purchase is essential before diving headlong into the world of aftermarket motorcycle exhaust systems. Your budget will guide you to better pick the right product in your price range.
- Material: Exhausts made from different materials offer different advantages and disadvantages. While stainless steel exhausts are the best for durability, Titanium exhausts are the lightest and offer the best racing performance, and Aluminum exhausts fall comfortably in the middle -- offering the most flexibility for most users.
Now, are you ready to go full throttle with a brand new Exhaust? Kick your gears and get into the action. Complete your motorcycle with the right custom exhaust system and instantly become the envy of all your rider buddies!
At Barrel Motors, we run complete engineering flow simulations, thermal analysis simulations, and pressure build-up analyses for every single exhaust that we make to ensure the best possible performance from every Barrel Exhaust.
As a part of our journey of offering incredible experiences to bikers across the globe, we ensure the highest quality standards for all our products -- enabling the rider to always have an unforgettable riding experience.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Q. What does an aftermarket exhaust do for a bike? A. An aftermarket exhaust helps enhance the bike’s peak performance with enhanced engine horsepower.
Q. Does an aftermarket exhaust affect the engine of a bike?
A. Yes, changing the exhaust can affect the power of the engine.
Q. Does a bigger exhaust use more fuel?
A. A louder exhaust usually does not use more fuel and there is no correlation between its size and fuel consumption.