Kerker love/hate

[VeeAte]

The Kerker 4-2-1 is by far my favourite Vmax exhaust of choice, but damn, can't they get around the cutting off the centrestand tab with their design? That is the only thing holding me back from it. Love the 2" comp baffle in it also.

What are people's experiences with the slip on Kerkers? I know, not performance, but soundwise? Not many of them out there.

I am happy with the looks/sounds of the Cobras, but I could not for the 50th time get them running right. Been close with Dynojet kit parts, Venture needles and tied coil combos (all documented on a notepad), but I think my valves need to be set to resolve some hot/idle/low altitude stumbles. Gas mileage sucked bad also (50 kms per tank loss).

I will either go back to stock, or perhaps do Kerkers.

I obviously do not have my centrestand on now, but 2 bolts to quickly put it back on for service. Don't need to even mess with the spring. I do have a bike jack, but only use it in combination with the centrestand when the forks or rear tire are off, with carefull use of blocking under the oil pan also.

Any advice? :ummm:

 

[lankeeyankee]

Your bike looks like mine when I bought it 99 Model with Cobras?
Removing the cobras was the first thing on my list after buying the bike. The bike ran great with em on and all but it was killing the power and plus I wasnt getting the sound I wanted from hearing other VMAXs with the kerker comp baffle.
You should be running stock jetting with the cobras. Dont even remove the y piece. Leave it alone. Cobras arent for performance. They actually hurt the power on the vmax over stock. Cobras are for sound and "look" if thats what you like.
Yes you have to cut your center stand off. Do you really use your center stand that much? Isnt it a bitch to pull back on the stand? To me the center stand is waste plus its an anchor.
When I removed my center stand I left the tab there, so when I want to service my bike changing the oil, rear tire etc. I will place my floor jack on the nub from the center stand that was cut off. Problem solved.
The power and sound plus the weight saving with the kerker is all worth it IMHO! But thats my 2 cents.
I cant stand the look of a bike on a center stand reminds me a vespa scooter or one of them rides you see at the grocery store for kids 25 cent rides.
I will admit the onlytime I dont like my kerker 2.5 is when I am on the instersate cruising at 90mph the sound is loud even with a full face helmet and an ear plug in.
I will tell you what though, you will never get ran off the road cause they didnt hear you coming and you would be surprised on how many people get over when your roaring up on them!!
The best is blasting past Hardly Riders and making sure they are on the right side and you are at around 8K rpms!unk:
If its to loud your to old

 

[hubeerjw]

VeeAte,
There is a guy here in town with 4-2 (Kerker slip-ons) and it doesn't sound good to me. I was VERY surprised how bad they sounded actaully... this is just my opinion, but I almost think stock sounds better than the slip-ons. The slip-ons just seem to have that 1980's tiny honda with a rusted out muffler sound to it... It want's to roar, but it is being restricted by the pipe.

Don't know if this helps or not, but I thought I would share.

Jeff

 

[maxcruiser]

I agree with Jeff, the slip on Kerkers don't sound good IMO - I like to Kerker exhaust 4-2-1 - I have the 1.5 & 2.5" - I change depending on mood and how much distance I will be covering - 2.5" is too loud for long distance.

I didn't mind given up the centerstand - never used it anyways

Another plus for me, is the can on one side only - it's easier for my wife to get on the bike without burning herself.

Just picked up a Scorpion carbon can & will try it on to see if I like the sound - like the fact that they don't need to be repacked.

Mike

 

[VeeAte]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I never put the Cobra's on for performance - I knew that going into it.

I was trying to achieve a certain look from the bike since the day I got it, that's all, as seen in the pics after 1 year. It has the monstrous look without the go, but don't get me wrong, it still rips my arms off, make my eyes blurry and lifts the front tire off the ground between 1st-2nd unk:

I will not waste the $$ on the Kerker slip ons, and again thanks for the feedback! It will have to be the full system.

 

[Buster Hymen]

I have a Kerker and there is a lot of times I miss having a center stand... like when working on the back tire! :damn angry: One route you could go is get a Mark's Performance Exhaust. I believe he use to work and/or design for Kerker. He can make a "Kerker" clone for you where you could bolt on the Kerker cans and retain your center stand.

 

[one2dmax]

Get 2 comp baffles for the kerker slip-ons. It will improve sound immensely. It still won't fix the small primary pipes which hurt power anyway.

Sean

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Here's an easy way to deal with no centerstand.

You have to have crash bars or frame sliders on the front to do it.

buy three of thos cheap walmart floor jacks, they are about $20 each.

Starting with the bike on the side stand place one jack under the right side bar or slider so that it just touches, turn the "cup" thingie on the jack so that it catches the bars so it's secure.

Place the 2nd jack on the left side and slowly and gently raise the left side, checking to make sure the right side jack remains secure till the bike is even.
At this point the front wheel is in the air.
Check again to make sure every thing is stable.

Place the 3rd jack on one the centerstand tabs, or if you don't have the tabs place it on one of the swingarm cross bars, make sure the "cup" is tunred so the cross bar rests securely.

You can now raise the back wheel off the ground.

This sounds a little scary or maybe unstable but it's a HELL of a lot more stable than any one piece motorcycle jack I have used.

If you have a shitty jack that leaks down don't use it, it won't be good.

Rusty

 

[MBreinin]

If you want slip-ons, get Supertrapps. They sound awesome.

Mike

 

[one2dmax]

for slip-ons they aren't bad but when compared to a real header they sound like crap. IMHO.

Sean