APH exhaust and Wilbers damper

[ACM]

Not sure where to put this since it applies equally to SX and RX.

I suspected my rear shock was starting to pogo towards the end of last season, adjustments didn't seem to make any useful difference; when I got the bike out a few weeks back it was definitely shot. 19k miles, so that's really not too bad, all things considered.

Pulled the wheels to replace the tyres and I noticed very much worse corrosion on the back of the cat.conv 'breadbox' - that will not last another New England rainy season, no doubt. Surprised that the breadbox is mild steel, aren't there federal requirements on cat.conv life ? Maybe EBR thought nobody would ride the bikes that much. Memory says limits for cars are 10 years/100k miles, whichever comes last.

I've ordered a Wilbers shock assembly and an APH system from NCCR, I will let you know how they work out. I have a hard time believing it will not work out very well, but sometimes shiite happens. Against the cost of an Ohlins that needs to be rebuilt before it's even installed, Wilbers seemed a better alternative. The NCCR APH exhaust is engineered to beat all race track noise regs, so it should work OK for New England. I am toying with replacing the steering damper with Wilbers or Ohlins, but I'm not noticing any real issues with the OEM so far, so "don't fix what ain't broke". That time will probably come soon enough.

[Cooter]

One of the first things I swapped was for an Ohlins steering damper and it's still on there. I have my favorite street (12 clicks) and track (18 clicks) settings, all good! With the OE one in my hand, I couldn't even tell if it was working:( Not sloppy, just not damped NEARLY enough.

I also have the Wilburs rear shock on mine and love it! Took awhile to get but worth it. I like being able to set the rear height seperate from pre-load. I suspect the OE rear shock is a pretty cost conscious unit, it doesn't even compare to the Wilburs.

Darn it, I have the re-packable APH 'race' exhaust I would like to sell:( I loved it! But the noise regs here in Cali are a bit stricter so I had to go back to the heavy ugly stock can. I've been good at re-coating that stock one so it still looks good, but we also don't do salt here, lol. Theres a cat in there? Didn't know that.

[9RX]

I am curious about the APH by NCCR exhaust. Which one did you get exactly?
The one with SC Project can? It looks like there's a few.

If you can eventually measure the sound level even with a smartphone or something, I'd be interested to know.

[ACM]

I ordered the slip-on with SC carbon can - # 991044. It has stacked DB killers, so I can be sure it'll be quiet. NCCR have to make a special up-pipe to allow fitting to the stock position, the normal APH runs higher than the OEM mount allows. With both DB killers fitted it meets the most stringent track sound levels NCCR have come across, so probably about as loud as the dual tips in the stock breadbox. It'll be interesting to see just how heavy the OEM part is, though mine will be lighter than a new given all the rust flaked off :)

[Cooter]

I got the APH "Race" exhaust that Alan was making before the NCCR one and it is NOT quiet. LOL. Its the stainless underbody oval can with a riveted rear section to replace the packing (that blows out every 20 miles...).
Did some dB testing awhile back:
Measured at 5 feet with the SLM app on i-phone
Idle/5k RPM/ WOT rev
Stock complete exhaust 80/94/100
Resonator delete/tips 88/97/106
Open header 102/117/124 and the shop ceiling was dropping dust!
APH Y-pipe 100/111/118
APH Race 90/105/110

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a2lqBS2gSmk

[9RX]

#991044 exhaust from NCCR is exactly what I was considering long term. Looking forward to hear your thoughts once you get to experience it a bit.

Btw do we have dedicated threads on the forum for upgrade options?
I am thinking of one thread for rear shock, one for exhaust, one for brake upgrades, etc. Having sort of a parts glossary could be great! Or maybe it's one thread and the top post has a list per category and gets updated as info comes in. What do you guys think?

[Cooter]

Go right ahead! I'd love that. There was a race mods list going too for awhile. You can see how quiet it is in here:(

[ACM]

After ~600 miles on the Wilbers shock and APH/NCCR exhaust I am very pleased with the results.

I took 3 clicks of HSC out and the Wilbers is now working really well over New England's unending frost heaves; there's still a little tweaking to do but it was very close out of the box. This thing is orders of magnitude better than the stock Showa, it's a lovely piece of kit.

Exhaust - it has a single dB killer, not a dual setup as indicated by NCCR, it is the 'standard' dB killer that SC shows on their site. First impression is that it's pretty quiet with the dB killer fitted, seemingly quieter than the stock+tips setup I was running previously. It seems higher pitched than the tips setup, that "basso profundo" noise that I loved appears to have gone, but apparently it sounds pretty much the same from behind. The mid range feels to be much stronger than before, roll-on performance is now ridiculous, any gear any rpm, doesn't matter. The full NCCR exhaust weighs in at a little under 10 lbs, the OEM primary muffler fitted with tips weighs in at around 18 lbs - I can't say I notice any difference from the weight loss, but the primary muffler is pretty close to the bike's CG, so I wouldn't expect to notice anything, certainly not on the road. I haven't run it without the dB killer, and I probably won't bother. The bike always had great roll-on response and performance, but it's definitely even better now. Exhaust swap was very simple, the instructions are detailed and comprehensive, only lacking details on the bellypan brackets - which are actually pretty obvious once you get there, they use the old rear muffler mount bolts, and you need to provide a nut or 2. This is also a lovely piece of kit, the welding is drop-dead gorgeous, everything about the system exudes quality right down to the individual brackets. Gorgeous.

That's about it ! I do think that stickies for the various mods would be a good idea.

[Cooter]

Well, I for one appreciate the report! Our bikes a re very similar and Im currently running the 'Tips' set-up to keep the Po-Po in check. Love the bass cadence at stop lights:)