Exhausts

Athena

New member
The CTX is too new for pipes yet. Also adding slip-ons will require new tunings and cost a lot more $ than expected. Changing the back pressure of the exhaust with no tail pipes, can be a miserable experience.
 

ofdave

Member
As mentioned, there are a couple slip-ons available-Radiant and Coffman found on ebay.
There is another one available that looks very much like the stock except it is black and costs about 600 bucks. I'll try to find the brand and location.
Some have had success with just installing them and the ECU makes corrections for the new pipe.
I am not convinced merely installing a slip-on really is a benefit except for being much louder than stock.
Many confuse loud with better performance.
I installed a Radiant, found it to be obnoxiously loud to me so I put a baffle in it. Much better but no performance gain-. I also adapted a Muzzy exhaust to fit.
Nice sound. I went back to stock and I feel the bike actually runs better.
During the exhaust swaps I often noticed a gas smell after a few miles of slow speed (below 3000 in 3rd) before pulling into my garage. My gas mileage also dropped from the usual 65 to just over 50 so I knew something was wrong.
Talked to a Honda tech friend who spoke with a Honda rep who suggested a "re-set" of the ECU. This appears to be what many refer to a a "reflash" on other bikes.
I also heard of a way to reset the ECU myself. It has been done on other Hondas. It involves unhooking the battery for 10 min. or so and then restarting the bike letting it idle until it smooths out and then riding as normal. This lets the ECU adapt to how you ride-just as it did when new.
I tried it after reinstalling the stock exhaust and it seems to have worked. Mileage back to low 60's and strong pull through the gears-like I remembered it when new.
My bike goes out of warranty in 30 days so I will have the ECU "reset" at the dealer just to be sure.
This will be done tomorrow morning and I will update after it's done.
Bottom line, Honda may know more about how the exhaust should work than us average rider/owners. I will not go to anything other than stock unless I feel the research has been done to insure the bike works properly.
Stuck with a quiet bike that runs really well when I want it to have a nice sound and run really well.
I'll take good running any day.
 

ofdave

Member
Update on reset
The ECU was reset at the dealer.
The bike showed an O-2 sensor fault code and another I was not familiar with.
Honda procedure when a new bike is set up from the crate calls for the bike to run at idle after the battery is hooked up until the fan kicks on. This lets the ECU learn it's job which continues as the bike is ridden..
If not done, the bike will often show the fault code and mileage can vary quite a bit.
The feeling is that this initial set up was not done to mine (it was a dealer swap, so where I got it did not do the set-up).
It runs very different from before the reset. I can now pull smoothly from 2000 rpm in the upper gears (4,5, & 6)and before I could not. Did a 50 mile ride and it runs like a different bike.
I believe my swapping exhaust back and forth from stock may have contributed to the issue by causing the ECU to correct or adapt to operating conditions too often, especially since the initial set up was not done correctly.
Anyway, she now runs like she should-I'm a happy camper!
 
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