BLACKPIPES

weak-ends side-bleed fun

So I was borrowing a MMM Destroyer for the Black Butte, which was absolutely a great pipe. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone. However, as I mentioned… it wasn’t mine. And then the guy I was borrowing it from needed it back. So I needed a replacement. Then this popped up on buy/sell brand spanking new for a good price, and I got the damn thing in 2 days from the seller.

When I pulled it out of the box I was kind of like… *piffle*. Next to the Destroyer it was absurdly small looking… but I know small chambers can rev higher so I wasn’t doubting it yet. The pipe looked really solid, with what appear to be quality welds and the powdercoating job was fine. I think the new MLM pipes I’ve seen have a higher-quality powdercoating with a better finish, but that’s just me. No big deal, as long as it doesn’t flake off too quickly I’m fine with it. There are fewer chambers than the most recent MLM pipes, as well, this more looks like a N8P or so to me (which isn’t a bad thing, really).

It bolted it up in less than 5 minutes. It was ridiculously easy to mount up and fit perfectly into place. I wish it had more than one hole in the mounting bracket to the subframe, but everything is secure. The pipe is designed by clever guys who like Hobbits, it’s clear. Even with the side-bleed the side cover fit perfectly and the pedals clear by a good inch. A cool benefit of the side-bleed is that you can lift the front wheel up for moving the bike without hitting the stinger really quickly, which can happen with pipes that mount so low like the n8p, st-ripper, etc. Looks great on the bike, too, nice and compact.

The pipe has a nice tone at idle, and it’s not as quiet as I expected after hearing that side-bleed pipes are quieter. It was equally as loud as the MMM and MLM pipes I’ve had on the bike. Which is to say pretty quiet but throaty. I got on the bike and took off on the pipe.

I could immediately tell the pipe was a ripper and a good match for the bike, even without messing with jetting. It’s hard to really talk about the low-end, as I use the malossi MHR springs that spin up to somewhat absurd speeds before engaging. I also have some moderate exhaust duration increase (to about 172 degrees) courtesy of Devin at MLM. I’d say the pipes are about equal, with a good launch but nothing really “hitting” until maybe low 30s. If this sounds bad, bear in mind that a powerful Hobbit build will still beat 90% of the bikes off the line.

The pipe has a moderate but distinct hit in the high 30s, maybe, and pulls really well. I was riding in different traffic conditions than I usually do, so it was hard to tell exact differences between the Destroyer and the W-E, but they were both fairly similar with the W-E having a bit more of a hit. One thing I noticed after the engine was way too hot (400+) and trying to go up a steady grade was that it didn’t want to hit and I was kind of just going in the high 20’s, but I think my crazy clutch springs were causing some engagement issues between the clutch and the bell. I need to sand down some pad material again, and honestly probably run slightly more reasonable springs for city riding.

So you all want to know, how fast is it? Pretty goddamn fast. My previous speed record on this bike was 61.5 on a long flat, and I hit 64 tonight on a totally different road that I couldn’t even get a ton of speed built on. My much lighter friend hit 64.5 on this bike last week, and I’m willing to bet he could hit 67 or so on it now.

Oh yeah… I need to up-jet. Pretty badly. So I might lose a mph or so by jetting this pipe right, but I can’t right now because the aforementioned skinny friend is borrowing my jet case. Still, even routinely hitting 400+, the bike was really ripping hard and I was easily hitting mid 50s just sitting upright on short straightaways. I can’t wait to get some more miles on this thing.

-ShaneB

Tags: honda hobbit. project. build. exhaust.