Staintune Review

Well, I haven't said anything until now, as I have been having fun putting another quick 500 miles on my bike...

Last Thursday my new Staintune pipe arrived from Honda of Milipitas. This was only two days after having placed the order, and earlier than expected. I got a smokin' deal of $450 for the pipe (slip-on), and it arrived packed perfectly and in top condition. Thumbs up to Honda of Milipitas and Nikki, who took my order. She even included the factory exhaust gasket, which, by the way, is not necessary on the Staintune. The Staintune is "all inclusive," Nikki, but you get a "thumbs up" for throwing that in for free just in case...

Kudos to Staintune.. This is a beautifully machined piece of equipment! Installation was a snap, and required no drilling, machining, banging or shoving of any kind. While most people could have installed this pipe in under an hour, I really took my time and completed the job in about two and a half, but I am including time to wash and pack away my stock pipe in case I want to reinstall for resale.

I tried the pipe both with and without the spud... My take on this is that there is some difference in the sound (although not much), and it is quieter with the spud in. However, with the spud in it feels nearly stock in horsepower. Without the spud, however, it sounds AWESOME, although it's been criticized by some of my squid buddies that it's too metallic sounding and that a Micron or MIG would have sounded better. Personally, I like the more metallic ring (like a "rip") to the pipe, and I preferred the Staintune's sound to the more muffled "thump" of the MIG and the Micron. Of course, that's just MHO... I have a .wav file for anyone interested, although admittedly it's not mine and was sent to me before I purchased my pipe. However, I will be happy to share if the real owner (I forgot who I got it from) has no objections.

The pipe fit great. Looks incredible. I am very happy! Oh, and for all of you naysayers out there talking crap about Staintune's that do not increase the hp of your Viffer, I say you are full of it! At least without the spud (why would you want to use that thing?), there is a definite hp and torque increase that can be felt throughout the RPM range, and especially about 9k. Staintune publishes charts that say that there is a 5-7hp increase in the upper range, and I can definitely feel exactly that! The bike now accelerates from 100-130 the way it used to from 40-70. I would not be surprised to see a top end speed increase of 5 mph or so, if you have the balls to run that fast. All this with a stock filter...

What I bought in a pipe was ease of fitment, looks, sound, and a small performance increase, although not necessarily in that order. That is exactly what I got, and I got it early because I bought from HOM.

Note that the other pipes that I mention here are carbon fiber. I didn't purchase those pipes because I don't like the look of carbon fiber, and knowing that carbon fiber breaks down over time in extreme heat conditions, I was worried about what it would look like in a year. On the other hand, carbon cans tend to stay cooler to the touch than metal ones.

My Staintune definitely gets hotter than the stock pipe did, and I was worried that a high pipe might cause problems with a pillion or with my big boots. Happily, I can tell you that neither my pillion nor me ever burned or melted anything, which is a problem that MIG apparently has and Micron actually added a guard for. While this seems like a great idea, I liked Staintune's idea of just keeping the pipe and the connecting pipe away from you or your passenger better. I am very happy, and while the pipe is definitely warmer than stock, I would not say it's going to be extreme enough or in the way enough to cause any kind of problem. Nothing of mine or my pillion's comes in contact with any part of the pipe, which is apparently more than can be said for Wolf, MIG, or Micron. (Don't shoot me for saying that, I am simply reiterating what owners of these pipes have told me...)

I definitely recommend this pipe. Clean, throaty, gorgeous, and everything I wanted in a pipe. Oh yeah... No springs either, and no separate connecting pipe and can like some pipes... It's also a huge bonus that unlike all other aftermarket pipes, I will never have to "repack" my Staintune... It does not use packing material. Instead, like a car muffler and the stock pipe, it uses a series of metal baffles designed to be lightweight and maintenance free. This gives the pipe it's unique sound and is as conveinent as the stock setup.

My grade: A+