Falco exhaust dent... Gone!

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#1 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:00 pm

I'm probably a little obsessive, but the dent in the Falco pipes really annoys me. Aside from it having no obvious purpose, it looks crap and probably knocks off a bit of power (ok, probably not much, but...)

So - I got it taken out. See below for comparison between old and new:

: Faco_pipes.jpg (2.33 MiB) Viewed 2389 times

While I was at it I got Mark to make it so that the pipe cleared the chain even with the Ohlins on maximum ride height and with the 'scoop' at the back of the pipe removed. So I'm doubly pleased with it, really...

Falcopops · #2 Post by **Falcopops** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:13 pm

Good work mate, but really you need to get out a bit more

#3 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:45 pm

Falcopops wrote:Good work mate, but really you need to get out a bit more

Fair comment.

I'm trying to get all the mods out of the way during the UK winter/early spring so that when summer arrives (all ten minutes of it) I'm ready...

Falco9 · #4 Post by **Falco9** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:11 am

Nice pipework M8, very very nice. I love stuff like that (yes I should get out more too!)

Let me know who you used. I'll keep their details on record. Good engineering skills like these are becoming harder to find

F9

#5 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:50 am

The guy who did the work is Mark Chittenden. I know him via his dad, Derek, who has been building frames and running race teams under the Hejira banner since the early 80s. He (Derek) built a carbon chassis nearly 20 years ago and has raced it in the Supermono championships for years.

Mark used to work for Parallel Motion who made very high quality aftermarket systems for Ducatis. I have one on my 888 and it's the best exhaust of its type I've seen. At the moment he's working in one of the A1GP teams (not sure which) and is off all over the place, so it's probably easiest to contact him via his Dad. Derek's number is 01280 812152. Derek is based in Buckinghamshire.

D-Rider · #6 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:43 am

mangocrazy wrote:The guy who did the work is Mark Chittenden. I know him via his dad, Derek, who has been building frames and running race teams under the Hejira banner since the early 80s. He (Derek) built a carbon chassis nearly 20 years ago and has raced it in the Supermono championships for years.

Mark used to work for Parallel Motion who made very high quality aftermarket systems for Ducatis. I have one on my 888 and it's the best exhaust of its type I've seen. At the moment he's working in one of the A1GP teams (not sure which) and is off all over the place, so it's probably easiest to contact him via his Dad. Derek's number is 01280 812152. Derek is based in Buckinghamshire.

I've heard of Derek and some of the things he's done - you've certainly got some good connections, Graham !

#7 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:51 pm

Derek's a great bloke - can talk for England, but what he doesn't know about bike setup isn't worth knowing. And Mark's a chip off the old block. They're both genuinely nice, honest people.

I got to know Derek when I bought a Spax monoshock off him for my 350LC in the early eighties. Any fabrication work I need doing that can't be done by local engineering firms goes straight to Derek or Mark. He built me a 350YPVS-based special (box section steel frame & swingarm) in the early 90s that got featured in Superbike mag. I had to sell it some years ago (skint), and still wonder where it is now...

joecrx · #8 Post by **joecrx** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:34 pm

nice work , is the dent not there so the side stand dosent hit it ? dont want to put a new dent in your new section

#9 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:45 pm

Side stand doesn't go anywhere near where the dent used to be. I've junked the original and fitted a GSXR stand, and that has about 10mm clearance from the pipes. It all looks like it's meant to fit, but in my haste to get the pipes off and polished I omitted to take a photo.

But I will do in a week or so and post it up...

Chabby · #10 Post by **Chabby** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:17 pm

Now all you have to do is get rid of all the welds!

D-Rider · #11 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:56 pm

joecrx wrote:nice work , is the dent not there so the side stand dosent hit it ? dont want to put a new dent in your new section

Nah - I think this is a red herring - I've never seen a stand that close to the pipe. Also, there's another dent round the back of the pipe. I have an untested theory that they are there for some other purpose - maybe back pressure or something.

#12 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:34 pm

D-Rider wrote:Also, there's another dent round the back of the pipe.

Yes, and I'm pretty sure that dent/scoop is there to give a bit more chain clearance, especially when ride height is added.

D-Rider wrote:I have an untested theory that they are there for some other purpose - maybe back pressure or something.

If it turns out that they're put there for the 5k 'dip' in the power/torque curve, I shall be well chuffed.

But I doubt life could be that simple, tbh.