Exhaust question

[ulyrider]

Good morning folks, I'm pretty know to owning a Vmax and I am building one good runner from 2 wrecked bikes (I know I'm not wired up right). Do I understand correctly that the 1st gen Vmax has a catalytic converter? If so has anyone ever "removed the guts" from their converter to retain the stock exhaust without the flow restriction?

 

[desert_max]

God morning folks, I'm pretty know to owning a Vmax and I am building one good runner from 2 wrecked bikes (I know I'm not wired up right). Do I understand correctly that the 1st gen Vmax has a catalytic converter? If so has anyone ever "removed the guts" from their converter to retain the stock exhaust without the flow restriction?

Welcome! There is no catalytic converter in the exhaust of a first generation Vmax. That’s not to say that the exhaust is not more restrictive than it probably should be. Removing the guts would end up sounding like a 67 Fairlane with a rotten muffler. Better to install an aftermarket exhaust system if you’re looking for better flow.

 

[ulyrider]

Welcome! There is no catalytic converter in the exhaust of a first generation Vmax. That’s not to say that the exhaust is not more restrictive than it probably should be. Removing the guts would end up sounding like a 67 Fairlane with a rotten muffler. Better to install an aftermarket exhaust system if you’re looking for better flow.

To be fair there are some aftermarket offerings that sound like a 67 Fairlane with a rotten muffler. There is definitely a science behind a better flowing exhaust but playing with exhaust pulses and tube lengths is interesting to me. Maybe I'll stumble on to something interesting maybe I'll stick with stock. I had a 2000 Buell X-1 that I probably had close to 10 different exhaust configurations on. Some sounded good some not so good, some were just insanely loud and I'm old enough to not be a fan of that anymore.

 

[Rollie]

Stock exhaust headers are the restrictive issue for power. Kerker spent a lot of $ to tune theirs for power , but you need a jet kit and you lose the center stand ( and some weight ) . There are other good header systems out there , but the stock headers are a good place to start.