Along came the opportunity to try a Laser system, so I bought it. Once again the existing bits were a breeze to whip off. The Laser Y piece bolted up o.k., a bit fiddly with the support bar alighnment. But the silencers!!
Why are they so difficult to get on??? The support rubber bushes are a lot thinner walled than the originals, so may cause more vibration in the rear sub frame and cause tail bulbs to blow. Unless the silencers are 'coaxed' well onto the connector pipe and mounting lugs, they will bump against the tail unit and again, their vibration will cause damage to the bulb and the plastic. And the Lamda sensor is in a different place, so the wiring has to be re-routed. So my silencer cans now have the uniform look that I have read about elsewhere here, that somewhat modified, hammered look. And I was being as careful as I could.
When it was all properly in place, I started the engine.
I like to be discreet when I am on the bike, well noise-wise anyway. NO CHANCE! It now sounds like a race replica. I really thought I had wasted my money. The bike now makes squirrels fall out of their dreys.
Today was one of those rare windows in the weather, after -4 C, snow and slush, trains cancelled due to frozen tracks (???) et al, it was a spring like morning. Sunshine. Roads drying off. Time to try the bike. After lunch I headed for the by-pass. I wanted to appologise to pedestrians as I passed them, it is so noisey. And, usually, never a policecar in sight, today there were three, so I had to be sensible.
Is the Laser worth all this grief?
As I grabbed the throttle onto the slip road for the by-pass, it was all worth it. The unrestricted, but baffled silencers allow the gas through at a healthy rate, MUCH better than the stock silencer. And it's VERY loud. It's most noticeable when putting about in town, not so bad on the open road.
Will I change it back? Not on your life!
I did get some info from a techie at Laser, this system alone gives about three more BHP. As far as I can tell, it's seamless, constant, no flat spots. The bike is quicker. Fuel consumption will inevitably go up, hopefully not by too much. I have decided not to bother with any different chip, from what others have said, they are probably not cost/performance effective and often actually cause more problems. So Karma hs been restored. And the sunlight twinkles pleasantly from the multi-faceted ends of cans.
