Exhaust for my 1200, DAM exhaust

Hi Nik, page 2 half way down under carbon can cover, I think the guy makes carbon bits and peaces for the 1200. I have a link to his site somewhere. I am tossing up between the Carbon Cover, Two Bros or the Dam, my concern with the Dam is the heat, we get 40+ over hear and it will fry your right foot. A guy over hear lined the inside of his stainless cover with heat reflection material (the same stuff you see under MX bikes protecting the plastics from the heat of the pipe and apparently it works a treat). I will get the Bazzaz controller and override box when ready also, I think in OZ we could be waiting for sometime.

 

Honda VFR 1200 Parts - Carbon Fiber by Aerolite Composites

 

Thanks BAD and Captain Happy...that is some sweet stuff! By the way, I ordered the DAM exhaust in matte : ) in addition to a K & N air filter and fuel commander. Gonna try to max out the performance on this baby!

 

Bro I want to know how hot that Dam pipe gets, its summer for you boys over there so let me know.

 

I get mine in about 3 weeks and will be happy to post!

 

Hey,

I'm new here (first post).
I just got my DAM last week, and I love it. The bike acted a little funny at first, but I think the ECU "learned" the pipe, and now I can confirm that the throttle tip-in is smoother. No more having to use the clutch in order to make it behave.
The overall appearance of the pipe is great. The can itself and the hose clamp provided are top quality. The welds are great with exception given to the welds on the noise killer (won't be seen anyway).

It arrived well packaged for shipping across the pond.




I did have some difficulty in the installation. The head pipe was a little too long, and I had to trim about 1cm off to make it fit.





It was no real problem as I had all the necessary tools, and I talked to David about it. He speculated that the American version of the VFR1200 might have a slightly different exhaust length, but he also noted that he had sold a few to us Yanks w/o issue.

The overall appearance is great, and I'm not just saying that because the stock exhaust was fugly either. This pipe actually looks like it was made for this bike, unlike all the cookie cutter offerings from Two Bros, Demon, Akro....etc. It fits the lines, and it's nice and compact.



How does it sound?
Oh heavens!

From low rpms, it sounds like two Ducatis fighting in a bag. At higher revs, it's more like four angry chain saws.
Decellerating produces a nice loud burble, with lots of pops that I suspect will go away when I remove my PAIR system to install the Power Commander Auto Tune oxygen sensor.
Where the stock exhaust did nothing but dissapoint (Star Trek alien weapon looks, rattling/anemic sound, stifiling power delivery), this can thrills. After watching (and carefully listening to) many of the videos for the other guys' exhaust, I believe that this is by far the best product for the bike.



The cost was $660 after shipping and bank fees (Apparently Mr. Damiaens doesn't use PayPal, so I had to do a $30 wire transfer)
It was a little nerve racking to transfer that much money into the account of someone I didn't know from Adam, but he came through.
The package also shipped to my door in Washington State in 6 days! Wow. I expected it to take at least 2 weeks!
Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. It is a fine product at a good price, and David was cool to deal with. I would certainly recommend it to any VFR owner looking to ditch the hideous monstrocity Honda saw fit to attach to the ass-end of the 1200.

 

Two Ducatis fighting in a bag, lol. :biggrin:
You're right, it does fit the lines beautifully. I'm in Belgium but I bought the Remus can because of the meticulous research they do and the CE-approved thing which means I have a legal pipe for once. And the Remus does fit the lines beautifully as well and I'm a sucker for Ti.
I can't say how much difference the can made as it was fitted at the same time as the new ECU which made the bike go from 100 hp to full power. This is my first V4 so I have no experience when it comes to exhausts for those but having developed full exhausts for Aprilia and KTM bikes at least with those, a can makes some difference but nothing like a well-designed full system.

Just my two cents. The DAM sure is a gorgeous can and makes me proud to be Belgian for once!

 

Mate, its summer over there for you boys, how hot does the pipe get on ya right foot ?

 

Last Saturday was 79 degrees F, and I was on the bike most of the day. I did a mix of city and country riding, and I had no heat issues aside from what normally comes from the collector below the motorcycle just next to your right foot.
I did not have a passenger, so I cannot speak to what they might encounter, but I suspect they might find it a little hotter than stock.

 

Thanks bro, I beta Order up.

 

Anyone want to sell me their standard exhaust can?

 

I totally agree.
Isn't this as first happened with the whole VFR 1200 model itself? As I first saw the bike (the early stolen pictures of an all-blue one in the USA in the late 2009) I was perplex. As soon as I saw the bike in the flesh it started to grow on me -old VFR aficionado, sold my VFR MY2002 and now it is a 'joy and bliss' for me to ride and look each time. The stock exhaust is big, 'important' as the bikes' front and side look; it has a sense. I personally found it fine in the back view mainly. It felt way too large in the side view; covered the suspended wheel. Somehow I really felt it stopped the rising line of the tail (one of the best looking features of the bike for me, almost dragster-like: a fine piece of all-time bike design!). I was happy neither with its metal polish cover, too kinda complex, fake looking. Driving and falling in love with the bike's many features I started looking for a slimmer exhaust for my eyes. DAM was the latest to be produced, the cleanest and simplest, really fit to VFR 1200's new design for me. Incidentally, in the past 3 months it also improved sensibily bike's performances and whole VFR1200F character. After 5000km with it if someone wish to change the stock exhaust I reccomend this no doubt. Never drived the bike with any other, though.

 

It really is too bad that David can't seem bothered to reply to a sales request. I have been trying to buy a can from him for a month and he is extremely unresponsive. I wish a major manufacturer would have made this can so I could actually buy one.

 

I had success because I called him directly in Belgium (dial 011 to get out of the US) to make sure everything is on track. He has two things working against him that us Americans are not really used to 1) he is local in Belgium and small with no distribution centers because he wants to keep prices low and "middle men" out of the equation 2) he is european and they have that slow to respond "relax" attitude. On top of this, he was getting overwhelmed with requests (for a good reason) when I was buying mine. If I were you, I would call him because he always personally answered the phone when I dialed (like 4 times). I know this is not the type experience or level of service us Americans are used to and its a pain in the ass but it is honestly worth it in the end.

 

Dam

Mate, David now has PayPal so it should be easier to deal with him. I had no such problem even though he was slow to respond. My pipe is suppose to arrive in 2 weeks so i will report. Keep trying cause its the only pipe for the 1200 period. You dudes are spoiled with good customer service I know that first hand, I actually thought his service was great compared to Oz.

 

Well,

Mine arrived on Wednesday. I couldn't wait to get it on and try it out. I waited until the weekend and killed 2 birds with the one stone. At the same time I also installed a Geelong Carbon Craft rear hugger. The back end of the bike now looks so much better, and the sound is great. Now if someone would only come up with a fender eliminator that would get rid of the 3 foot of plastic that hangs out the back it would be perfect.

On the exhaust install, it was all straight forward. Nothing difficult at all, just followed the photos that David sent through. I'll post up a photo of the finished product later on. The photos of the packaging that were in Elseebee's post were exactly the same for me. It was very well packaged.

i agree with everything Elseebee had to say about the end result. When I first started it up, it popped and backfired, and I think I had an MIL error. I turned it off and restarted it and haven't seen it since.

I am running a PCV, and am using the Jardine map at the moment, as i can't find a DAM map. I would love to get hold of one if anyone out there has one. i think the popping/backfire is getting less, so there must me some learning by the bike along the way.

I wonder whether it would be worthwhile putting some gasket sealant where the pipe meets the headers. I had a megacycle exhaust put on an old CBR 600 once, and I know they put sealant in that when they installed it.

If you want the DAM, keep trying to contact David. It took me two goes through his website, and he replied really quickly to the 2nd one. The first time I used his form, the 2nd time I sent an email directly.

Cheers
Seddo

 

Had the pleasure following a 2 Bros equipped VFR12 up a winding mountain range today, found it was a lot different than I expected most unlike any other road bikes sound including my VFR800s v4, must say it sounded rather good accelerating uphill out of tight low speed corners.

 

Hey John,
Was a pleasure to "let" you hear it...:tongue: A most enjoyable ride it was too, thanks for the company.

Seddo, I've got a bit of popping/backfiring on the overrun with my beast too, I originally suspected an air leak at the link pipe join to the stock collector but the seal is good. My next course of action will be to block the "Pair" system and see if that helps, a couple of guys on the other forums have done it with good results.

Cheers,
Smithy.

 

Bad,
I forgot to update you but there are no real heat issues with the DAM when compared to the standard exhaust. I rode the thing all day in 102 degree F hot ass weather and did not have any issues.

 

I don't mean to seam, uh, well, OLD, but how loud is it? Does it come with a decibal killer? I really like that pipe. Thanks.

Mark