My XSR came with a great-sounding Akrapovic twin-pipe system right. OK, it was pretty scratched, but so was the rest of the bike. Turns out, thanks to the one-inch lift and the modest speeds I rode in Morocco, the XSR barely scratched the sump. Most of the damage was from flying stones on the front plate of a SW Motech spoiler I fitted right. Maybe I should have kept that Akra, but actually I prefer a stubby stock-style pipe which keeps the back sides slim for baggage. On the XSR forum a guy shows how to extract a fruity noise from a stock system by cutting open the box, excising a section of tube as shown left, adding a bigger bore out-pipe and closing it all up with weld.
I like the compactness and partial protection of the under-engine system, but this was all too much work for me with a junior hacksaw and some Chemical Metal. As I learned with my TDM , aftermarket pipes are pretty much the same [range of] silencers added to bespoke headers with an O2 sensor to fit your bike.
It fitted easily enough; one supplied mounting bolt was way too long and the whole thing sits fairly close to the swing arm. The pipe weighs just over 2. Some talk of getting an ECU re-flash; not even sure what that means but no warning lights came on. Of course the offset beat on any degree parallel twin like the XSR produces one of the best sounds in biking, so you get a free pass from Neighbours Watch, anyway.
The much reused Spitfire screen I fitted to get to Morocco right was too low for long road days and got removed. For the moment Simon mounted a cheapo Puig headlight cowling to cover the wiring exposed by my non-standard LED headlamp.
Those inexpensive fork preloaders worked surprisingly well on the stock springs in Morocco and seeing as the bike was OK on the dirt, I also decided to invest in a set of firmer fork springs.
