customizedcreationz
Well-Known Member
First I have to say I talked to Mark and he is a great guy to talk to on the phone. I told him we had a big ride planned ( which got cancelled, but turned into a drag strip run ) and he had everything to me in about two weeks ( little less ).
I have to say a few things about buying exhaust.
1 Make sure you listen to your system you want to buy in PERSON! I repeat, listen to it in person. It will vastly differ from what you hear on the video clips 90% of the time.
2 Make note of what your trying to accomplish. I will touch on this later.
3 Aftermarket systems are all around the same dollar for a complete system.
4 Quality and workman ship, I ll talk about that later as well.
5 Customer Service and support. Again I ll touch on that later.
Sound.
The first thing and probably the most important to most people with replacement of an entire exhaust system is sound. You obviously are looking for something that has a different tone then the stock setup. Some want deep throaty sounds, others want high pitched, some want loud , loud and loud! So with that said I can tell you with the three systems I see the most, I ll rate below for sound.
1 UFO slash cut 4-2. Is by far the loudest most obnoxious pipes you can get as a kit. They are raspy to me though in the higher rpm range. They are loud, did I mention that? If you want to piss off everyone on the street, then you want these. If you want to not hear the clutch chattering, then you want these. If you don't want to hear after a 6 hour trip, you want these. They have by far the best idle sound of any of the pipes I have listened to and the mid range sounds good as well. Once you start to climb in the rpm scale, they start getting really raspy to me. That was the turnoff point for me.
2 Marks 4-2 2.75 openings and 12 " cans. Is deep. Some people say they are loud, I disagree. They are deep. The bass tone it gives off might offset and make the sound seem not so loud, but park next to a UFO piped bike and you will be wondering if you bike is running or not. It has a rumbly big block like sound to it. Which is very pleasing if no one else is around, meaning to interrupt the sound coming out the pipes. It will not leave you deaf on longer rides either. Though I would still wear ear plugs for wind noise. You can easily talk over the sound at 60 mph to your passenger, I am not sure if you could do that as easily with a UFO setup. The deep sound stays up through the rpm range and does not diminish. It is louder up top rpm's , but not obnoxious. I don't think you would get too many neighbors pissed off unless you ride like a hooligan down your street at 12 am.
3 Dale Walker Holeshot exhaust. Now I am going off of memory with this setup as it was on my 1986 Vmax. But recently I heard one in person and it reminded me of it. Again not overly loud, but a little more cackling like out of it. A pleasing sound mostly, but I would give a nod to Marks Can's over the Holeshot cans. Again not loud enough to piss off the neighbors really. And I don't think they would make you deaf on long rides.
Winner in loud dept ?
UFO Slash Cuts
Winner in Sound?
Marks Exhaust
What are you trying to accomplish?
If you want balls out power, styling, or cornering clearance?
1 UFO Slash Cuts 4-2 have low clearance ability. You don't lose anything over stock from what I can see. The pipes fit up nicely and look good doing so. They cross over in the rear , left to right and right to left for the back two pipes. I believe this seems to help scavenging better. They seem to pull rpm better or faster.
2 Dale Walker Holeshot 4-2 also have low clearance ability. Again I don't think you lose much over stock with this. Its possibly with the UFO and Holeshot that you gain a little clearance. But I don't have a stock bike to put next to them at the moment. I can't remember off hand, but I thought these did also. Correct me if I am wrong here. On my 86 they seemed to pull well. But it also had a stage 7 kit in it, so I can't directly compare to my current setup.
3 Marks 4-2. There is less clearance with this exhaust then with the other two from what I can see. I will get some rock solid measurements soon to compare. The performance seems decent. I ran these at the track recently and I can't say I felt any performance increase top end. Mid range they seemed to help a touch. But I didn't notice a "Hell Yeah" feeling over my stock exhaust with Super Trapps. Now this is just a straight across comparo to stock with slip ons vs Marks Exhaust. With jetting, I think both would pick up a little bit, but the Marks might pick up a little more.
Winner in power , clearance, Style ?
UFO 4-2 Slash Cuts
Cost ?
They are all about equally priced.
1 UFO Slash cut 4-2 pipes. VERY nicely put together. The seams are beautiful, the coating is extremely nice and flows well with the bike. Fit and function are great. Hands down good bang for the buck. Center stand works. Very clean looking because of coating, a definite show quality system.
2 Walker, VERY nice package also. Seams are good, bends are smooth and fit and function is great. A little higher priced, but not by much to keep you from buying it. Center stand works. Coated, they look excellent and could be show pipes.
3 Marks Exhaust , Good fit and funtion. The H pipe in back limits some options for swing arms, but there are ones that fit with bracing out there. Just be noted that the center stand can be retained. But may require modification to do so. Mine would have needed to be bent outward quite a bit to clear properly. Not a big deal, few minutes with a torch and you could have had it clearing fine. Now for a few dings......... I have several leaks in the pipe connections in the back and unfortunately have a crack in one of the pipes, its about 2 inches long. The left side can was a hair too long in the bracket area and made it difficult to install. The right side was no problem. The brushed look on the cans is appealing to some and not to others. I don't mind it as much, but have seen better. The exhaust itself had several heat weld marks still in place, while some where removed through cleaning. The pipes are smooth looking in some spots, but show brushed sanding in some spots also. I am sorry to say but these are NOT show pipes to me. They are functional pipes.
Winner in Cost ?
UFO and Walker
Customer Service?
I will say customer service from all three is good. I don't think you will get bad service from any company listed here. Some people aren't UFO fans, but I ve dealt with Jon for years and never had a problem. Dale is another great customer service rep , as is Mark. Its a pleasure to talk to all three on the phone.
With Jon and Dale you get alot of racing experience. Jon will give you lots of performance help and info. Dale is the same way. Mark may have racing experience, but I didn't really talk with him to an extent with it, as it seemed he only sold exhaust and not the complementing parts to go with it.
Winner Customer Service?
UFO , Walker and Marks
So to summarize, I have to say that UFO pipes are probably the best bang for the buck , followed by Walker and then by Marks. A lot it is going to depend on the sound you want and the performance your after. DO NOT expect anyone of these pipes to be bolted on and gain 30 hp over the other. IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. They are all equally performing on the street. At the track you will probably notice a difference between them if your good enough to pick up on those differences. But for the common rider on the street, pick the system that best suits your needs by sound, performance ( fit and function ) and cost.
I have to give the slight nod to UFO as an overall winner.
I ll have videos and pictures soon.
Thanks
Todd
I have to say a few things about buying exhaust.
1 Make sure you listen to your system you want to buy in PERSON! I repeat, listen to it in person. It will vastly differ from what you hear on the video clips 90% of the time.
2 Make note of what your trying to accomplish. I will touch on this later.
3 Aftermarket systems are all around the same dollar for a complete system.
4 Quality and workman ship, I ll talk about that later as well.
5 Customer Service and support. Again I ll touch on that later.
Sound.
The first thing and probably the most important to most people with replacement of an entire exhaust system is sound. You obviously are looking for something that has a different tone then the stock setup. Some want deep throaty sounds, others want high pitched, some want loud , loud and loud! So with that said I can tell you with the three systems I see the most, I ll rate below for sound.
1 UFO slash cut 4-2. Is by far the loudest most obnoxious pipes you can get as a kit. They are raspy to me though in the higher rpm range. They are loud, did I mention that? If you want to piss off everyone on the street, then you want these. If you want to not hear the clutch chattering, then you want these. If you don't want to hear after a 6 hour trip, you want these. They have by far the best idle sound of any of the pipes I have listened to and the mid range sounds good as well. Once you start to climb in the rpm scale, they start getting really raspy to me. That was the turnoff point for me.
2 Marks 4-2 2.75 openings and 12 " cans. Is deep. Some people say they are loud, I disagree. They are deep. The bass tone it gives off might offset and make the sound seem not so loud, but park next to a UFO piped bike and you will be wondering if you bike is running or not. It has a rumbly big block like sound to it. Which is very pleasing if no one else is around, meaning to interrupt the sound coming out the pipes. It will not leave you deaf on longer rides either. Though I would still wear ear plugs for wind noise. You can easily talk over the sound at 60 mph to your passenger, I am not sure if you could do that as easily with a UFO setup. The deep sound stays up through the rpm range and does not diminish. It is louder up top rpm's , but not obnoxious. I don't think you would get too many neighbors pissed off unless you ride like a hooligan down your street at 12 am.
3 Dale Walker Holeshot exhaust. Now I am going off of memory with this setup as it was on my 1986 Vmax. But recently I heard one in person and it reminded me of it. Again not overly loud, but a little more cackling like out of it. A pleasing sound mostly, but I would give a nod to Marks Can's over the Holeshot cans. Again not loud enough to piss off the neighbors really. And I don't think they would make you deaf on long rides.
Winner in loud dept ?
UFO Slash Cuts
Winner in Sound?
Marks Exhaust
What are you trying to accomplish?
If you want balls out power, styling, or cornering clearance?
1 UFO Slash Cuts 4-2 have low clearance ability. You don't lose anything over stock from what I can see. The pipes fit up nicely and look good doing so. They cross over in the rear , left to right and right to left for the back two pipes. I believe this seems to help scavenging better. They seem to pull rpm better or faster.
2 Dale Walker Holeshot 4-2 also have low clearance ability. Again I don't think you lose much over stock with this. Its possibly with the UFO and Holeshot that you gain a little clearance. But I don't have a stock bike to put next to them at the moment. I can't remember off hand, but I thought these did also. Correct me if I am wrong here. On my 86 they seemed to pull well. But it also had a stage 7 kit in it, so I can't directly compare to my current setup.
3 Marks 4-2. There is less clearance with this exhaust then with the other two from what I can see. I will get some rock solid measurements soon to compare. The performance seems decent. I ran these at the track recently and I can't say I felt any performance increase top end. Mid range they seemed to help a touch. But I didn't notice a "Hell Yeah" feeling over my stock exhaust with Super Trapps. Now this is just a straight across comparo to stock with slip ons vs Marks Exhaust. With jetting, I think both would pick up a little bit, but the Marks might pick up a little more.
Winner in power , clearance, Style ?
UFO 4-2 Slash Cuts
Cost ?
They are all about equally priced.
1 UFO Slash cut 4-2 pipes. VERY nicely put together. The seams are beautiful, the coating is extremely nice and flows well with the bike. Fit and function are great. Hands down good bang for the buck. Center stand works. Very clean looking because of coating, a definite show quality system.
2 Walker, VERY nice package also. Seams are good, bends are smooth and fit and function is great. A little higher priced, but not by much to keep you from buying it. Center stand works. Coated, they look excellent and could be show pipes.
3 Marks Exhaust , Good fit and funtion. The H pipe in back limits some options for swing arms, but there are ones that fit with bracing out there. Just be noted that the center stand can be retained. But may require modification to do so. Mine would have needed to be bent outward quite a bit to clear properly. Not a big deal, few minutes with a torch and you could have had it clearing fine. Now for a few dings......... I have several leaks in the pipe connections in the back and unfortunately have a crack in one of the pipes, its about 2 inches long. The left side can was a hair too long in the bracket area and made it difficult to install. The right side was no problem. The brushed look on the cans is appealing to some and not to others. I don't mind it as much, but have seen better. The exhaust itself had several heat weld marks still in place, while some where removed through cleaning. The pipes are smooth looking in some spots, but show brushed sanding in some spots also. I am sorry to say but these are NOT show pipes to me. They are functional pipes.
Winner in Cost ?
UFO and Walker
Customer Service?
I will say customer service from all three is good. I don't think you will get bad service from any company listed here. Some people aren't UFO fans, but I ve dealt with Jon for years and never had a problem. Dale is another great customer service rep , as is Mark. Its a pleasure to talk to all three on the phone.
With Jon and Dale you get alot of racing experience. Jon will give you lots of performance help and info. Dale is the same way. Mark may have racing experience, but I didn't really talk with him to an extent with it, as it seemed he only sold exhaust and not the complementing parts to go with it.
Winner Customer Service?
UFO , Walker and Marks
So to summarize, I have to say that UFO pipes are probably the best bang for the buck , followed by Walker and then by Marks. A lot it is going to depend on the sound you want and the performance your after. DO NOT expect anyone of these pipes to be bolted on and gain 30 hp over the other. IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. They are all equally performing on the street. At the track you will probably notice a difference between them if your good enough to pick up on those differences. But for the common rider on the street, pick the system that best suits your needs by sound, performance ( fit and function ) and cost.
I have to give the slight nod to UFO as an overall winner.
I ll have videos and pictures soon.
Thanks
Todd
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