Out of curiosity I removed the spark arrestor on the stock pipe and put the 3-bolt cover back on (There is little to no traffic enforcement here, much less emission/sound ordnance's, I can get away with that, and pretty much anything else here).

I've had it off for about a month now, I love the way it sounds, especially compared to all the lame vespa scooters and the army of crotch-rockets around here.

Will this have any adverse effect on maintenance, longevity of parts et cetera?

I'd swear it's faster now with a better throttle response, but maybe I'm imagining it.....

(Edit - Fixed post title to proper description.)

I took the spark arrestor out as well. It is louder in my ear then before. I don't think the db's went up that much though. I do notice a drone from the exhaust when cruiseing along with the throttle in one position.

what exactly did you do? did you remove the three allen bolts and take the whole thing out? I did that once but I didn't like that the pipe had just a big hole at it's end...

This was the first thing I did to my bike... It won't cause any maintenance issues - the one thing I had to do was put an aluminum spacer over the top left bolt to fill the hole bc it was blowing exhaust on my tail fairing(my bikes white so it will yellow if you dont)

I think the only benefit is sound and maybe a tiny bit when its tach'd out. Sounds awesome and you get to keep some low-end with the ex-up intact
I can't believe more people don't do this.


Take 3 bolts out - remove cap and spark arrestor - replace cap with 3 bolts but throw the spark arrestor away.

to each his own - I just hate how quiet the pipe is stock and I like the BRAAPP as loud as possible
I've gutted mine also so maybe it sounds different. IMO these little guys aren't getting much improvement in performance from any pipe...maybe the Graves full system...but I refuse to pay $900 for only a few hp on a bike that makes less than 30 total.

again, just my $.02

My X is 99% street ridden.

I leave for work at 5:00am - so having a noisy exhaust is of high concern.
My neighbors and family would not be happy at all with a loud exhaust.

I don't fall into the "loud pipes saves lives" crowd.


In fact - I think loud, obnoxious exhaust noise is highly detrimental to ALL motorcyclists.

Glad I'm not your neighbor.

I think that saying is worthless as well...

Difference - Mine is 99% track ridden...and I race/ride with earplugs

I made this to go on for my endcap