About 500 miles after installing the Stage 1's I went to a set of modified pipes, the "Atom Bomb 2 1/4"". I really liked the extra sound and convinced myself the bike was running as well if not better than with the Stage 1 pipes.
Fast forward 3000 miles and a 1200 mile ride up to the Georgia mountains and back in some blistering heat and high loads (80+ mph up and through the mountains) I realized that what sounds good on main street becomes quite boring mile after mile on a long trip.
So, I swapped back the Stage 1 pipes and had a bit of an epiphany, the bike was not running right with the open pipes. In just 100 miles with the Stage 1 pipes on I noticed a smoother running bike, more willing to pull to redline with better low and midrange roll on power not to mention the ability to actually hear the radio on a setting lower than 15!
Kevinx can probably concur based on what he saw with the RPW pipes on a dyno, if you use a pipe with a more open design than the stage 1 you will need a fuel controller and even then my guess is it's iffy that you will get to the same level of midrange power the stage 1 package delivers.
For those who claim the stage 1 isn't worth the money I'm here to tell you it's worth every penny and for those who think they have a good running bike with aftermarket pipes I think I can honestly say you are fooling yourself to justify the money you spent.
The stage 1's will stay and the Atom Bombs will be for sale very shortly.
Fast forward 3000 miles and a 1200 mile ride up to the Georgia mountains and back in some blistering heat and high loads (80+ mph up and through the mountains) I realized that what sounds good on main street becomes quite boring mile after mile on a long trip.
So, I swapped back the Stage 1 pipes and had a bit of an epiphany, the bike was not running right with the open pipes. In just 100 miles with the Stage 1 pipes on I noticed a smoother running bike, more willing to pull to redline with better low and midrange roll on power not to mention the ability to actually hear the radio on a setting lower than 15!
Kevinx can probably concur based on what he saw with the RPW pipes on a dyno, if you use a pipe with a more open design than the stage 1 you will need a fuel controller and even then my guess is it's iffy that you will get to the same level of midrange power the stage 1 package delivers.
For those who claim the stage 1 isn't worth the money I'm here to tell you it's worth every penny and for those who think they have a good running bike with aftermarket pipes I think I can honestly say you are fooling yourself to justify the money you spent.
The stage 1's will stay and the Atom Bombs will be for sale very shortly.