Love Al Baker and his contributions to the XR community. But yes for me , and 99 percent of 650l riders, the stock headpipe is much more usable. Thank you so much for doing an objective comparison and having the integrity to post. I have a 2008 xr650l in need of a freshening up. Ill go thru it this year and do chassis and brakes then find a good mechanic to do the valves and maybe carburetor swap. Thanks again Team Kaplan for doing the good work. Btw, love the gary Nixon jacket...legend.
I've owned 3 XR600's. The best mod I done was a 2008 CRF450 carb on my XR600. Use your XR650L inlet boot. Bolt the carb on and bridge the gap from carb to air filter boot. What a wicked improvement. Strongly recommend
@@MXRiderFiftyTwo that's so funny, I just bought my best friends 2017. Suspension is done. Fmf pipe...and fcr carb...totally transforms the bike as you said. Very responsive and tractable..definitely worth the $1200.00 upgrade
I just paid $1520 for a full Staintune exhaust system.,, (stainless steel, tuned ).. Australia.. Spoke to the owner personally, and he said that they did a lot of R&D on this system stating that it is the perfect size to suit the XR600R. They went up in size on the tubes 1mm at a time until they started to lose power on the dyno, then stepped back to the last size before, and the power gain was very impressive. So when I have finished building my 600, I'm going to dyno it with the stock system and then with the Staintune system. The Staintune system has a fully welded silencer/ muffler and will never need re packing.. Made by hand in Australia.. Cheers from Australia 🍻
Amazing that Jeff is back, he is an absolute honour to watch and learn from! Need to swap the stock carb now for a 40mm FCR carb now and smiles will go through the roof! Now you guys just need a Xr 650r to compare results! I personally think this modded L is making more now then a stock R! God Bless you all
Surprised they didn't mention it, they did in the previous engine build video, but they did put a Mikuni TM Flatside on it, don't remember how large it was. (I know the Keihin Flats are slightly better, but it definitely has an upgraded carb)
@@allistairneil8968 Man I feel lucky! What a great example of an endurance, trail, track, road and all round arse kicker of a motorcycle. The best of all worlds with this big girl! I actually acquired this bike with the idea of doing some maintenance and selling it on? Wow. There's no chance of that happening now, I think this beast will follow me to the grave. God bless AUSTRALIA and AMERICA. God bless HONDA. And God bless the MIGHTY XR'S. MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS. ALL THE BEST WISHES FOR YOUR NEW YEAR!
I've owned a few 650l"s.. I have 2 now. They pull real hard between 3000 - 5500 rpm. Past that they fall away. They are meant to be shifted Not revved. Best hillclimber. I've got 60,000 miles on my 2004. Been all over on it.. I love that bike.💜💚
Wow, guys - thank you!!! I was one of the guys last year that was saying you might want to try the XR's Only head pipe in addition to an aftermarket muffler. Boy, was I ever wrong. Thank God I saved my stock head pipe. Now if only I can find it... I know it's out there in the garage somewhere... It's been ten years...
Beautiful. ALOT of work went into this testing. Thanks to you both for the passion to test things for bikes for us. Waste of money buying this exhaust pipe. Stock is better in this case. Well done guys I love watch your passion at work
Right on with an honest review!!! You could seriously get a lot more views/subscribers testing all the Moto performance parts out there than giving your honest reviews like this!
I went crazy on building that motor also. Big extended cooling fins, valves, porting, rod, 683cc, same pipe as yours, 2 oil coolers (sutton and vintage big lockhart), air intake mods. It did run very well. I never could solve the very hot oil temp problem out here in the desert at hwy cruise speed, always suspected the stock headpipe made it run snappier. Your dyno test confirmed that. I was told to go FMF on the pipe. Never did. Should have kept the bike but like a dummy I sold it. Now wanting to do another and just take it easy on hot hwy runs. They really do run great with some work. Thinking 9.5:1 big bore, headwork, titanium valves, stock cam, fmf, Sutton cooler, airbox mods, (extra snorkels on top), barnett clutch, aluminum frt sprocket, fork brace. Sweet machine. Hard to beat. My previous one is in the coso vids on my channel if you want to hear the snap down low. miss it. Great vids as usual! I learned good on this series. Also used to race an 86 cr500 at friday night mx Ascot Park, Gardena.. good times, just sayin, can relate. Thanks!
Hell yea jeff is back hope he getting better . Been watching this and it is so good to see it confirmed with dino 👍. I have a xr600r and changed the whole pipe and i had my suspicion’s ! This was great to see , my stock header pipe was rusted through so i did not have much choice . The pipe i found is a “ White brothers “ full system new old stock still in box . Sounds great half the weight and looks the part but the power dose feel like it comes on mid to full range i then added a tooth to my gearing at rear to make up for it . I have a video on it on my RUclips channel @ old dirt bikes Xr650r. Video title “ XR600R new exhaust | White Brothers exhaust, fitting and test ride “ i run 68 pilot 155 main and 2 turns out , of course i have no dino to check but I adjusted by reading plug and by sound prob out a bit but rides nice . Would love jeff to see my bikes and work i do 👍👍👍. Great vid as always
I saw the video of XR650 tuning. More videos like this please. I could work with this man for free just to have a chance to learn from Him. Incredible knowledge and passion. Greetings from Poland. God bless you all.
thank you so much for doing this video guys!!! i have a 98 XR that is a 675cc kit , hot cams camshaft, ported head with a bit of a bump in compression to 9.25:1and a factory carb re jetted, it ran 39.8HP and 36.5TQ on the chassis dyno here in Edmonton Alberta. I was always curious what a header would do, and that solved it for me!! as a road and trail bike i do not want to loose any torque down low... that is where the engine lives 2000-4000 rpm all day long in 2nd and 3rd gear! you guys rock keep up the awesome content!!!
That's quite a low hp figure with all them mods. I just run my completely stock 92 xr600 on a dyno, and it put out 39.41 hp at the wheel . I've owned it since 1993 and it's only done 4500 miles from new. I was just curious of how much power it was putting out stock I have a super trap muffler I used to have fitted but went back to stock as it seemed to run better, I'm going to fit it and dyno bike later this week.
So I also found if you do a little grinding on the inside flange of the stock header,it flows equally as well as any aftermarket header.thats why I didn't waste my money on one.i took the heat shield off and did a header wrap,which dropped the engine Temps by 50 degrees. The difference is how close the header is to the oil lines.
@@1979utuber how much did you use? i just bought 15m(like 50feet) of 2 inch but im not sure its enough, im doing my xt600 but the pipes are very similar
Ten years ago I took my stock header off my 95 XR 600R and put on the XR's Only header pipe. I went for one ride and found the exact same thing that your dyno showed. I went for another ride with it because it looked cool and I didn't want to believe the fancy cool looking part wasn't better. As soon as I got back to my garage I took that pile off my bike and put my stock Honda header back on. I think Al Baker started making these things before dynos were as common as they are now. In hindsight, it's pretty obvious the larger diameter XR's Only header is going to be a negative at lower RPMs and a loss of tourque as well. I still run the XR's Only tailpipe, the Honda one weighs a ton. Great video once again, you guys totally ROCK!
Welcome back Jeff! It looks like your shoulder is recovering which is great. I dropped my BMW GSA loading it in my van in Sept and broke my ankle on both sides. One of the dumbest things I've done and man is it taking forever to heal. If I wasn't so cheap I'd love to have you stop in Delaware on your way to Florida next year and make a fire breathing dragon out of my XR650L. My XR is 99.99% bone stock with 14,000 miles on it. I just now put a chain and sprockets on it for the FIRST time. I have done the counter sprocket a few times. If I would have had a used chain in stock I would have left the rear sprocket on. I kinda felt guilty and changed it all. I have replaced the front brakes a few times and worn out some sets tires. All I've done is adjust the valves (easy enough for me to do), change the oil and ride the darn thing. I also always get 52 mpg. I only use this bike to putt around on the back roads. Quiet and doesn't disturb anyone or thing. Not my favorite bike in my stable to ride but once I'm our on it I'm ok, its just flat out fun to ride even though she ain't pretty.
Love the video on the XR. Just love the old air cooled thumper. Great to see your effort in getting more horse power, 50% is massive, well done. I think the dyno runs are great. Finally some true hp figures for dirt bikes, for some reason hp figures for dirt bikes are a secret . Here in Australia we never get hp for dirt bikes, even when tested by the journalists. Keep up the good work and thanks.
great info guys! I know I can speak for all the viewers watching here that this is PRICELESS information that your providing to all of us out here in motorcycle land that don't have the opportunity to dyno every mod we do to our bikes and just have to trust what the companies are telling us. I can't say how much we appreciate the work you did here and so many other times like this across your channel. bless you guys and gals at Kaplan cycle. now we'd all love to see that xr75 on the dyno and see what the ol' girl pulls, can your dyno even handle that much output?😎 I just restored an 81 xr80 for my step daughter's first bike! powroll 92cc big bore kit, xr100 carb and xr's only pipe. and to be fair xr's only does offer alot of great products, the full exhaust setup did make a noticeable difference on the lil 80cc motor, so I can say they do have good products and I don't need a dyno to tell it picked up torque everywhere. I think in this particular application, they made the diameter of the headpipes too large and it killed exhaust velocity down low, only utilizing the size of pipes in the high rpm range. I also wonder how this pipe would have tested on a totally stock xr650, tho I suspect the results may have been even worse. I can endorse the company for many other good products for xr bikes tho, so don't hesitate to check them out!
I stuck to the stock header and muffler on my 2005 XR650R just adding the HRC baffle. Changed the jetting and uncorked the airbox and it rips the way it is. It’s a handful in the woods!
thank you so much for this! I just got a brand new zero-miles XR650L and could have been easily fooled spending unnecessary $$ changing the stock pipe. now I can relax about the exhaust, and maybe concentrate any mod efforts elsewhere.
@@jimbo4203 I put the full Mega Bomb system on my Xr650L and I bought the really cool FMF heat shield and it looked bad ass and the system made a difference. Plus it was sweet looking
I was waiting for that one fellas👍.......very interesting. My XR600 is pretty stock with a stock carb running a Wiseco piston, an FMF Q4 without spark arrestor, and a stainless steel header made by some dudes in Greece. It has a stage 1 Hotcam too, but i think i prefer the stock camshaft as the Hotcam seems to trade off a fair bit of top end for a small increase in bottom end power. It definitely feels better than stock off the bottom, although I've never dyno'd it. I might have to put my stock header back on to make sure I'm not trippin'. I'm in the UK and I've done all the work on my XR myself. It's a pretty good example and it's my baby, but i would definitely let Jeff work some of his manic magic on my bike if i could🙂. Would be interesting to see if the old advice about grinding the excess weld from the inside of the stock header makes a difference or not. Didn't that used to be an old Scott Summers tip? Would be good to see if any other brands header pipes like the different ones that FMF make have any performance gains or effects on the power curves. I always enjoy a Jeff episode, thanks👍
Wow I literally had the headers n exhaust pipe in my cart on XR's only site just now for my '85 XL600R. (They said it'd bolt on '83-'87 XL's) Thank God for the hammer of truth n justice !!! lol 😆 Saved me a little over $500!! Keep up the good work gentlemen!!!! 👏
It's common knowledge that stock pipes and mufflers give better engine performance. Though aftermarket parts can be lighter, be made of better materials but performance wise they always lose.
Who doesn't love honesty, an absolute stellar video. Thanks for what you do fellas. It's late but hey sometimes the facts take time haha. If I had the money I'd love to bring my 11 husaberg 450fe engine to you gentlemen to get freshened up. I got a small growing channel myself and am a huge fan of you guys. Keep up the good work. When I get some cash I'm calling to see how much a rebuild is for my husaberg. You guys are the best when it comes to engines.
Agree. Spent $45 bucks on their oil temp dipstick and it isn’t even filled with mineral oil to keep the needle steady like most gauges. Also took a while to get. Won’t be going back for business.
Thank you , I was about to order a full XR's only system , now I will just do the silencer . For the record , I have dyno'd the FMF HiFlo header pipe and there is no difference to stock , not sure about the FMF Power Bomb header , has anyone compared that to stock ?
I’ve kinda always assumed a head pipe on a 4 stroke MX bike was a waste of money. I mean logically how much difference can one tune be better over another same size tube… The mufflers are usually less restrictive but the header is mostly just bling.
most aftermarket headers have little cherry bomb canisters and stuff on them to increase low rpm torque by tricking the bike into thinking the pipe is longer (like a long tube header for torque) , then at higher rpm it flows better (like a large shorty) . This pipe is literally nothing more than a better flowing pipe which of course only equals high rpm power
Check out the FMF Mega Bomb headers You can get a aftermarket single tube header quite a bit bigger than stock but aftermarket duel pipe headers tend to be the same size as stock on Honda’s but they have different bends
This is actually a very common scenario. Just because you buy an aftermarket pipe doesn't mean it's better. Honda puts a lot of research into their products.
Doesnt mean it’s worse either, or that the design isn’t intended for more power mods than exist on this bike, XR’s only know what they’re doing, trash talking their stuff because it didn’t make a difference at this performance level is dumb
@@dasboot9471 Where is that bike? The one with the intended power mods? We just saw a real world example of it actually being worse (yes, worse) that stock. I, too, can imagine a bike that loves this pipe, but it's in my head. Show us.
@@stan0matic on an basic stock L model it may not make any more power, or less even, same is true for an R model, but not fully opened up, we’re talking cam and intake improvements at a minimum. Done it on a couple and seen it on many
@@dasboot9471I'm going to assume that you know zero about this current XR on the the table they just dyno'd, nor have watched their other videos on it, because it's got a 102mm larger bore, forged dished piston, a 4 angle valve job with new oversized valves, a Flatside carb, large intake and exhaust D porting, a completely custom reground cam, and 11:1 compression..... this bike(when stock) made 30hp with the XR's silencer the only thing other than stock on it, after the work done by themselves, in video and shown to us step by step, it made 46hp to the wheel with massive gains from idle(from 25% off idle all the way to over 50% more at redline)....they then reached out to one of their suppliers (XR's themselves) and told them what the bike had done to it and what it made for power....they then asked nicely if they, XR's Only, would supply a header for the bike so they could see if it made more power....XR's declined outright..... Kaplan then bought one themselves, dyno'd it on the built bike, it lost power everywhere, they then spent an extra 2hrs swapping and tuning that Flatside to give it, the header, "the best chance" even though the air/fuel ratio never moved to begin with.... here's the results.....trash.
@@johnnygeorgopoulos4072 I see what you’re saying…and more or less I was just tryna say that this is a mismatch in parts, it still doesn’t mean their equipment is trash, it just means it didn’t work on that particular setup, on a bone stock bike it may very well see gains with an exhaust and jetting only…hard to say because they tested it on a far more overbuilt engine than most XR riders with a bike like that will ever see…
I just bought an xr600 off Jeff the Monster truck guy in Manchester. He’s a friend of the shop. It has a lectron carb which I know looses midrange power vs a keihin. Also has a full XR’s pipe. The bike is a dog at low and mid range and I have to rev the heck out of it for it to pull hard. Not what I want. I want a low to mid range beast. Thank you guys for shedding light on this! Once I get the stock carb dialed with a stock header. I think the bike is going to rip! Maybe I’ll bring it up to the shop for some before and after dyno runs.
Jeff's Back ! fresh out of the Jello Tree ! love the dyno tests...would love to see an old RD350 done with and w/o Chambers , I have a feeling may be the same results
Thats wild! I have aftermarket headers and expansion pipes on most of my bikes. I wonder if I'm losing any power because of them. Great video and great job with the build
Dang...those Honda engineers must have known what they were doing. Harsh reality for the pipe maker though, maybe they should hire a ME with his PE to check their design's. Really best way to increase power&torque through out the RPM range is a variable pipe length like the old Yamaha ex-up system..but better. Love your videos....you guys are stupid smart!
They're about 53hp from memory, which makes sense as I'd rate a stock XR650R about as well as a 600R with mild cam and intake modifications. A 600R with a Hotcam, Unifilter "NU-4075KIT" intake kit and stock exhaust/muffler is an absolute rocketship. I've been on a machine like that with higher gearing and my mate behind me was at 105mph and said I was walking away from him. Add some mild porting and a higher compression piston and you're really into some stout territory.
Great video. XR's muffler just sounds right. Did not buy header for stock 8.3. Did buy Mikuni and muffler from XR's only. Runs and sounds great after leaner rod.
Everyone should know aftermarkit headers on a small block vehicle only gives 5-7hp at peak rpm over the stock manifolds , so what were we'all expecting ? outta 45hp bike 2% gain on top only just like a truck engine shorty Header " looks only " 1 of the best videos ive ever seen along with building that motor
God to know! As the best bkke in the world these little gems are priceless for future mods. Roll on the 2023 model unchanged since before the big bang!
Hey Jeff good to see you back wow not what I was expecting out of changing the exhaust pipe I agree rather have the stock one pipe 😱 Junior what a gorgeous looking XR if I had the money that would be sitting in my man Cave that’s for sure wow 🤔 hey maybe Jeff catch up with Keith Johnson at the gym get him back into health i’m sure Keith knows how to work the kinks out of broken shoulders and body parts
You just Saved me $300. and 10% Horse Power. Thank you So Much. I have the XR's Only Muffler and stock header and a jet kit, Im going to stick with. Sign of Relief.
I said the same thing to people 10 years ago on my xr650L. I felt more power putting stock rear and fmf header, rather rear aftermarket with header. The bottom was a train compared to full pipe.
Were there any mods to the air box? I know some grind out the extra weld material on stock header pipes to open them up for more flow. How about XRs only muffler, did it make a worthwhile difference?
Great video as always and I really enjoyed watching the XR getting bigger lungs. I live in Australia so unfortunately we don’t have the XR but we have DRZ400E models that are healthier than the S models sold in the US. I reckon you guys should get an S model and see what can be done. Perhaps start with the higher comp piston, cams and FCR carb and then once you have it breathing properly go and do the 434cc big bore on it. It would be really interesting and with so many DRZ owners out there it would be hugely popular. I know what a great idea hey. Thanks guys Ithink I have watched nearly every vid you guys have done now. I’m an old KX500 owner along with numerous CR’s in 250, 125 and 80 and absolutely love watching you wheel out the old MX bikes.
I have the last production year XR600r In great condition. Also a XR400r in great condition. and a 1997 XR 200. Needs work. The RFVC motors in these bikes are top quality design. I found adding an external oil cooler really helps.
Great series ! FMF makes a Powerbomb header with something that looks like an expansion chamber at the midpoint. It feel like it accelerates better in the mid range, but it would be nice to see if there is really anything there !
TEST the FMF Stainless Steel header (with FMF Q4). I have one on my 2008 XR650L, bought new, only owner. As you guys CORRECTLY stated, I run from extreme technical "A rider" trails to fast two track "Baja style". MOST of the RPMs are from JUST OFF IDLE to about 5k-ish. The bike DOES NOT like to run in the high RPMs. HOWEVER, I can "crawl" up nasty tech single track, just above idle to get through that nasty section on many Western Colorado trails. Butterknife (which should have been named Steakknife), Second Thoughts, Windmill Trail ("5 Miles of Hell" type stuff) outside of GJ Colo (4800ft elev.). ALSO, I have used a setup for the XR650L called "Dave's Mods"(carb setup), designed and tested specifically for the XR650L, since the bike was new. From idle to top RPMs, excellent pull, for me, and the way I ride. Thanks in advance!!
Put a Big Gun complete system on an old old original KLR650. Little jetting work. Gained so much low and mid. Short shift all the time abs ride the torque. Those stock systems were pretty restricted. The stock Honda pipe must be pretty spot on.
You guys did some awesome work on the engine. I wonder if your mods are outside the specs of the XRs only pipe. Do you had a stock engine bike to test the pipe to see if it increases the hp for stock? Would be worth seeing.
I'd bet the fmf power bomb clone headers would make more bhp lol and they dirt cheap on ebay , I think its time you upgraded the carb to a mukini tm40 or mukini tm 42 to wake that motor up with a decent performance filter and drill some holes in the air box door it will get more torque and bhp ... the older XL600r ran big bore headers than were same diameter as the old fmf power headers before they went with the power bomb design.
As far as slip on's go I'd recommend the Arrow pipes made in Italy, Yamaha contracts them to build pipes for Yamahas sold in Europe, beautifully welded stainless steel with removable core for awesome sound. you can't get any better!
Moriwaki is the Japanese aftermarket exhaust and parts manufacturer Honda used to build the "HRC" pipes for the late model XR650R.... I've also run old custom Moriwaki full exhausts on my old CB750's....(and a full, hand made and bent titanium TSR exhaust on my CBR-XX), two companies who built specific exhausts for the Honda race bikes....not sure Arrow, who does make nice exhaust, ever built anything specifically for Honda or their race bikes themselves... aftermarket, yes, but not for Factory racing. Personally, I like sticking with that type of lineage myself, like Yoshis on Suzukis....but I'm a bit OCD 😅
Thanks for filling me in on the Moriwaki pipes I'll look into them, one of the reasons I chose the Arrow was their factory involvement, they make pipes for the Yamaha race teams.@@johnnygeorgopoulos4072
1 tooth up on the front sprocket will reduce your RPM approximately 500 rpm . With all the torque and extra horsepower you probably would never notice it and increase you top end other 5 + mph . It’s a win win !
Wow....I saw the first video and thought that was huge enough improvement. Quite amazing and first time viewer by the way 👍 Maybe a pass on this pipe. Would the same issue be there with a totaly stock bike? Top end gain but lose low/mid range? 🤔
This guy builds absolutely awesome engines and I'd trust him any day to build me a bulletproof engine, top quality work indeed
Love Al Baker and his contributions to the XR community. But yes for me , and 99 percent of 650l riders, the stock headpipe is much more usable. Thank you so much for doing an objective comparison and having the integrity to post. I have a 2008 xr650l in need of a freshening up. Ill go thru it this year and do chassis and brakes then find a good mechanic to do the valves and maybe carburetor swap. Thanks again Team Kaplan for doing the good work. Btw, love the gary Nixon jacket...legend.
I've owned 3 XR600's. The best mod I done was a 2008 CRF450 carb on my XR600.
Use your XR650L inlet boot.
Bolt the carb on and bridge the gap from carb to air filter boot. What a wicked improvement. Strongly recommend
@@MXRiderFiftyTwo that's so funny, I just bought my best friends 2017. Suspension is done. Fmf pipe...and fcr carb...totally transforms the bike as you said. Very responsive and tractable..definitely worth the $1200.00 upgrade
Hard to beat a lot of stock components.
All the power came from the cams, manics porting & compression. Nice job guys & thanks for sharing.
I just paid $1520 for a full Staintune exhaust system.,, (stainless steel, tuned ).. Australia..
Spoke to the owner personally, and he said that they did a lot of R&D on this system stating that it is the perfect size to suit the XR600R.
They went up in size on the tubes 1mm at a time until they started to lose power on the dyno, then stepped back to the last size before, and the power gain was very impressive.
So when I have finished building my 600, I'm going to dyno it with the stock system and then with the Staintune system.
The Staintune system has a fully welded silencer/ muffler and will never need re packing..
Made by hand in Australia..
Cheers from Australia 🍻
I love these videos of the dyno runs and parts upgrades to see if their actually worth the money 👍✌️
Ill bet the next time they ask a manufacturer for a product to test theyll get it with a bow on top
@@brandonknight7240 They should lol
Amazing that Jeff is back, he is an absolute honour to watch and learn from! Need to swap the stock carb now for a 40mm FCR carb now and smiles will go through the roof!
Now you guys just need a Xr 650r to compare results! I personally think this modded L is making more now then a stock R!
God Bless you all
Surprised they didn't mention it, they did in the previous engine build video, but they did put a Mikuni TM Flatside on it, don't remember how large it was. (I know the Keihin Flats are slightly better, but it definitely has an upgraded carb)
@@johnnygeorgopoulos4072 it was a mikuni 42mm... but they did not say it was the tm series... i did not spot any pump on the carb either....
Now I know to stick with my XR 400 Stock header pipe, and save burning my leg at the same time. Awesome build by Jeff. Long live the XR'S. God bless.
yep dont waste your money or time
Same.
XR 400? Lucky bastard!
@@allistairneil8968 Man I feel lucky! What a great example of an endurance, trail, track, road and all round arse kicker of a motorcycle. The best of all worlds with this big girl! I actually acquired this bike with the idea of doing some maintenance and selling it on? Wow. There's no chance of that happening now, I think this beast will follow me to the grave. God bless AUSTRALIA and AMERICA. God bless HONDA. And God bless the MIGHTY XR'S. MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS. ALL THE BEST WISHES FOR YOUR NEW YEAR!
I ran stock front section XR400 with WB tail section.Thought that was a good compromise.
I've owned a few 650l"s..
I have 2 now.
They pull real hard between 3000 - 5500 rpm.
Past that they fall away.
They are meant to be shifted
Not revved.
Best hillclimber.
I've got 60,000 miles on my 2004.
Been all over on it..
I love that bike.💜💚
Wow, guys - thank you!!! I was one of the guys last year that was saying you might want to try the XR's Only head pipe in addition to an aftermarket muffler. Boy, was I ever wrong. Thank God I saved my stock head pipe. Now if only I can find it... I know it's out there in the garage somewhere... It's been ten years...
Beautiful. ALOT of work went into this testing. Thanks to you both for the passion to test things for bikes for us. Waste of money buying this exhaust pipe. Stock is better in this case. Well done guys I love watch your passion at work
Right on with an honest review!!! You could seriously get a lot more views/subscribers testing all the Moto performance parts out there than giving your honest reviews like this!
I went crazy on building that motor also. Big extended cooling fins, valves, porting, rod, 683cc, same pipe as yours, 2 oil coolers (sutton and vintage big lockhart), air intake mods. It did run very well. I never could solve the very hot oil temp problem out here in the desert at hwy cruise speed, always suspected the stock headpipe made it run snappier. Your dyno test confirmed that. I was told to go FMF on the pipe. Never did. Should have kept the bike but like a dummy I sold it. Now wanting to do another and just take it easy on hot hwy runs. They really do run great with some work. Thinking 9.5:1 big bore, headwork, titanium valves, stock cam, fmf, Sutton cooler, airbox mods, (extra snorkels on top), barnett clutch, aluminum frt sprocket, fork brace. Sweet machine. Hard to beat. My previous one is in the coso vids on my channel if you want to hear the snap down low. miss it. Great vids as usual! I learned good on this series. Also used to race an 86 cr500 at friday night mx Ascot Park, Gardena.. good times, just sayin, can relate. Thanks!
Hell yea jeff is back hope he getting better . Been watching this and it is so good to see it confirmed with dino 👍. I have a xr600r and changed the whole pipe and i had my suspicion’s ! This was great to see , my stock header pipe was rusted through so i did not have much choice . The pipe i found is a
“ White brothers “ full system new old stock still in box . Sounds great half the weight and looks the part but the power dose feel like it comes on mid to full range i then added a tooth to my gearing at rear to make up for it . I have a video on it on my RUclips channel @ old dirt bikes Xr650r. Video title “ XR600R new exhaust | White Brothers exhaust, fitting and test ride “ i run 68 pilot 155 main and 2 turns out , of course i have no dino to check but I adjusted by reading plug and by sound prob out a bit but rides nice . Would love jeff to see my bikes and work i do 👍👍👍. Great vid as always
I saw the video of XR650 tuning. More videos like this please. I could work with this man for free just to have a chance to learn from Him. Incredible knowledge and passion. Greetings from Poland. God bless you all.
thank you so much for doing this video guys!!! i have a 98 XR that is a 675cc kit , hot cams camshaft, ported head with a bit of a bump in compression to 9.25:1and a factory carb re jetted, it ran 39.8HP and 36.5TQ on the chassis dyno here in Edmonton Alberta. I was always curious what a header would do, and that solved it for me!! as a road and trail bike i do not want to loose any torque down low... that is where the engine lives 2000-4000 rpm all day long in 2nd and 3rd gear! you guys rock keep up the awesome content!!!
Great to hear from a Edmontonian..headed there within the month myself.
@@sevendyseven4090
What do you ride?
@@troym6270 I am bike'less atm, however, when the right 2014-2016 blue FZ09 shows up on Kijjiji, it will be that! :)
That's quite a low hp figure with all them mods. I just run my completely stock 92 xr600 on a dyno, and it put out 39.41 hp at the wheel .
I've owned it since 1993 and it's only done 4500 miles from new. I was just curious of how much power it was putting out stock
I have a super trap muffler I used to have fitted but went back to stock as it seemed to run better, I'm going to fit it and dyno bike later this week.
Love seeing Jeff back and going through a few minutes of the College of knowledge.👍
So I also found if you do a little grinding on the inside flange of the stock header,it flows equally as well as any aftermarket header.thats why I didn't waste my money on one.i took the heat shield off and did a header wrap,which dropped the engine Temps by 50 degrees. The difference is how close the header is to the oil lines.
I just did my WR426 header wrap but I still have to take and see how it works it's snowing out now so might be a little bit thanks for sharing though!
What did you wrap the header with?
@@wk.7348 I think I used a 2-in header wrap and it came with stainless steel zip ties on eBay for like 25 bucks
@@1979utuber how much did you use? i just bought 15m(like 50feet) of 2 inch but im not sure its enough, im doing my xt600 but the pipes are very similar
@@charlieward7606 I only used half a roll and then I use the rest on my zero turn headers so you should be good
I saw that ke100 in the background, I got one brand new and 1987 for my 15th birthday, I rode the wheels off that bike best times of my life!
My dads a friend of Al baker, cool dude and he just wants to keep the XR's alive. Glad you tested the pipe and let people know whats up with it!
You speak as if he's still alive. Dude died in 1992.
Ten years ago I took my stock header off my 95 XR 600R and put on the XR's Only header pipe. I went for one ride and found the exact same thing that your dyno showed. I went for another ride with it because it looked cool and I didn't want to believe the fancy cool looking part wasn't better. As soon as I got back to my garage I took that pile off my bike and put my stock Honda header back on. I think Al Baker started making these things before dynos were as common as they are now. In hindsight, it's pretty obvious the larger diameter XR's Only header is going to be a negative at lower RPMs and a loss of tourque as well. I still run the XR's Only tailpipe, the Honda one weighs a ton. Great video once again, you guys totally ROCK!
I'm glad to see Jeff up and back to his maniacal ways!
Welcome back Jeff! It looks like your shoulder is recovering which is great. I dropped my BMW GSA loading it in my van in Sept and broke my ankle on both sides. One of the dumbest things I've done and man is it taking forever to heal. If I wasn't so cheap I'd love to have you stop in Delaware on your way to Florida next year and make a fire breathing dragon out of my XR650L. My XR is 99.99% bone stock with 14,000 miles on it. I just now put a chain and sprockets on it for the FIRST time. I have done the counter sprocket a few times. If I would have had a used chain in stock I would have left the rear sprocket on. I kinda felt guilty and changed it all. I have replaced the front brakes a few times and worn out some sets tires. All I've done is adjust the valves (easy enough for me to do), change the oil and ride the darn thing. I also always get 52 mpg. I only use this bike to putt around on the back roads. Quiet and doesn't disturb anyone or thing. Not my favorite bike in my stable to ride but once I'm our on it I'm ok, its just flat out fun to ride even though she ain't pretty.
Love the video on the XR. Just love the old air cooled thumper. Great to see your effort in getting more horse power, 50% is massive, well done. I think the dyno runs are great. Finally some true hp figures for dirt bikes, for some reason hp figures for dirt bikes are a secret . Here in Australia we never get hp for dirt bikes, even when tested by the journalists. Keep up the good work and thanks.
great info guys! I know I can speak for all the viewers watching here that this is PRICELESS information that your providing to all of us out here in motorcycle land that don't have the opportunity to dyno every mod we do to our bikes and just have to trust what the companies are telling us. I can't say how much we appreciate the work you did here and so many other times like this across your channel. bless you guys and gals at Kaplan cycle. now we'd all love to see that xr75 on the dyno and see what the ol' girl pulls, can your dyno even handle that much output?😎
I just restored an 81 xr80 for my step daughter's first bike! powroll 92cc big bore kit, xr100 carb and xr's only pipe. and to be fair xr's only does offer alot of great products, the full exhaust setup did make a noticeable difference on the lil 80cc motor, so I can say they do have good products and I don't need a dyno to tell it picked up torque everywhere. I think in this particular application, they made the diameter of the headpipes too large and it killed exhaust velocity down low, only utilizing the size of pipes in the high rpm range. I also wonder how this pipe would have tested on a totally stock xr650, tho I suspect the results may have been even worse. I can endorse the company for many other good products for xr bikes tho, so don't hesitate to check them out!
I stuck to the stock header and muffler on my 2005 XR650R just adding the HRC baffle. Changed the jetting and uncorked the airbox and it rips the way it is. It’s a handful in the woods!
thank you so much for this!
I just got a brand new zero-miles XR650L and could have been easily fooled spending unnecessary $$ changing the stock pipe.
now I can relax about the exhaust, and maybe concentrate any mod efforts elsewhere.
Would love to see this done with the FMF power bomb header and see what the outcome is.
The mega bomb with FMF full system will probably help
@@jimbo4203 I put the full Mega Bomb system on my Xr650L and I bought the really cool FMF heat shield and it looked bad ass and the system made a difference. Plus it was sweet looking
@@frederickschlegel1388 cool, Ive run the megabomb on 5 or 6 bikes with great results
bigger dia=less low/mid but more up top for racing depends on how you ride
I was waiting for that one fellas👍.......very interesting. My XR600 is pretty stock with a stock carb running a Wiseco piston, an FMF Q4 without spark arrestor, and a stainless steel header made by some dudes in Greece. It has a stage 1 Hotcam too, but i think i prefer the stock camshaft as the Hotcam seems to trade off a fair bit of top end for a small increase in bottom end power.
It definitely feels better than stock off the bottom, although I've never dyno'd it. I might have to put my stock header back on to make sure I'm not trippin'. I'm in the UK and I've done all the work on my XR myself. It's a pretty good example and it's my baby, but i would definitely let Jeff work some of his manic magic on my bike if i could🙂.
Would be interesting to see if the old advice about grinding the excess weld from the inside of the stock header makes a difference or not. Didn't that used to be an old Scott Summers tip? Would be good to see if any other brands header pipes like the different ones that FMF make have any performance gains or effects on the power curves.
I always enjoy a Jeff episode, thanks👍
3:49 gave me a cackle I didn't know I missed... You lads are doing the Lord's work out here. Awesome and keep on chooglin'!
Was gonna buy a head pipe for my XR last week and something told me to wait. Glad I waited. Thank you guys for putting out these videos!
Sale torpedoed by Kaplan America's hammer of truth & justice
As an owner of a 2015 XR 650 L I apreciate this analysis! Thanks from Costa Rica guys!!
Huge respect for your Honesty!
When I put the fmf powerbomb header and q4 muffler on mine with the fcr pumper carb it definitely felt more powerful
Love real world testing.. Keep up the good work guys👌
There's nothing I like to see more than real world dyno numbers. Thanks guys.
Wow I literally had the headers n exhaust pipe in my cart on XR's only site just now for my '85 XL600R. (They said it'd bolt on '83-'87 XL's) Thank God for the hammer of truth n justice !!! lol 😆 Saved me a little over $500!! Keep up the good work gentlemen!!!! 👏
The XR75 was my second bike. It would start fields on fire from the flames that shot out the down sweep pipe.
I love that bike.
I love going through a puddle of water lol
Love the dyno runs!! Would love to see som old classics on the dyno🥰
It's common knowledge that stock pipes and mufflers give better engine performance. Though aftermarket parts can be lighter, be made of better materials but performance wise they always lose.
Who doesn't love honesty, an absolute stellar video. Thanks for what you do fellas. It's late but hey sometimes the facts take time haha. If I had the money I'd love to bring my 11 husaberg 450fe engine to you gentlemen to get freshened up. I got a small growing channel myself and am a huge fan of you guys. Keep up the good work. When I get some cash I'm calling to see how much a rebuild is for my husaberg. You guys are the best when it comes to engines.
Thanks for the dyno and " hammer of truth" report , I stopped buying from XR's only years ago because of poor fitment , overhype, under delivery
Agree. Spent $45 bucks on their oil temp dipstick and it isn’t even filled with mineral oil to keep the needle steady like most gauges. Also took a while to get. Won’t be going back for business.
Would love to see a test of the aftermarket CDI boxes!
the websites like MSV that sell them have dyno graphs and basically prove themselves that the product they sell sucks
Thank you , I was about to order a full XR's only system , now I will just do the silencer .
For the record , I have dyno'd the FMF HiFlo header pipe and there is no difference to stock , not sure about the FMF Power Bomb header , has anyone compared that to stock ?
Excellent content! Always such top quality! Been waiting over 2 months for my , XRs Only pipe, for my 85 XR600r!
Send it back.
I’ve kinda always assumed a head pipe on a 4 stroke MX bike was a waste of money. I mean logically how much difference can one tune be better over another same size tube… The mufflers are usually less restrictive but the header is mostly just bling.
most aftermarket headers have little cherry bomb canisters and stuff on them to increase low rpm torque by tricking the bike into thinking the pipe is longer (like a long tube header for torque) , then at higher rpm it flows better (like a large shorty) . This pipe is literally nothing more than a better flowing pipe which of course only equals high rpm power
Primary length and diameter are pretty important, so much so there is actually a header equation for getting it right.
Check out the FMF Mega Bomb headers
You can get a aftermarket single tube header quite a bit bigger than stock but
aftermarket duel pipe headers tend to be the same size as stock on Honda’s but they have different bends
This is actually a very common scenario. Just because you buy an aftermarket pipe doesn't mean it's better. Honda puts a lot of research into their products.
Doesnt mean it’s worse either, or that the design isn’t intended for more power mods than exist on this bike, XR’s only know what they’re doing, trash talking their stuff because it didn’t make a difference at this performance level is dumb
@@dasboot9471 Where is that bike? The one with the intended power mods? We just saw a real world example of it actually being worse (yes, worse) that stock. I, too, can imagine a bike that loves this pipe, but it's in my head. Show us.
@@stan0matic on an basic stock L model it may not make any more power, or less even, same is true for an R model, but not fully opened up, we’re talking cam and intake improvements at a minimum. Done it on a couple and seen it on many
@@dasboot9471I'm going to assume that you know zero about this current XR on the the table they just dyno'd, nor have watched their other videos on it, because it's got a 102mm larger bore, forged dished piston, a 4 angle valve job with new oversized valves, a Flatside carb, large intake and exhaust D porting, a completely custom reground cam, and 11:1 compression..... this bike(when stock) made 30hp with the XR's silencer the only thing other than stock on it, after the work done by themselves, in video and shown to us step by step, it made 46hp to the wheel with massive gains from idle(from 25% off idle all the way to over 50% more at redline)....they then reached out to one of their suppliers (XR's themselves) and told them what the bike had done to it and what it made for power....they then asked nicely if they, XR's Only, would supply a header for the bike so they could see if it made more power....XR's declined outright..... Kaplan then bought one themselves, dyno'd it on the built bike, it lost power everywhere, they then spent an extra 2hrs swapping and tuning that Flatside to give it, the header, "the best chance" even though the air/fuel ratio never moved to begin with.... here's the results.....trash.
@@johnnygeorgopoulos4072 I see what you’re saying…and more or less I was just tryna say that this is a mismatch in parts, it still doesn’t mean their equipment is trash, it just means it didn’t work on that particular setup, on a bone stock bike it may very well see gains with an exhaust and jetting only…hard to say because they tested it on a far more overbuilt engine than most XR riders with a bike like that will ever see…
I just bought an xr600 off Jeff the Monster truck guy in Manchester. He’s a friend of the shop. It has a lectron carb which I know looses midrange power vs a keihin. Also has a full XR’s pipe. The bike is a dog at low and mid range and I have to rev the heck out of it for it to pull hard. Not what I want. I want a low to mid range beast. Thank you guys for shedding light on this! Once I get the stock carb dialed with a stock header. I think the bike is going to rip! Maybe I’ll bring it up to the shop for some before and after dyno runs.
Thanks for settling that question! Thanks again Sam!
Jeff's Back ! fresh out of the Jello Tree ! love the dyno tests...would love to see an old RD350 done with and w/o Chambers , I have a feeling may be the same results
This is awesome, good effort showing you did try to help the pipe out by rejetting.
The XR75 was a fantastic bike in its day. I want the one shown in this video
I have a mint xr650 2001 model with 1000 miles and I'm glad I've kept it completely stock now
Need to see more Jeff love everything y'all do
Thats wild! I have aftermarket headers and expansion pipes on most of my bikes. I wonder if I'm losing any power because of them. Great video and great job with the build
Dang...those Honda engineers must have known what they were doing. Harsh reality for the pipe maker though, maybe they should hire a ME with his PE to check their design's. Really best way to increase power&torque through out the RPM range is a variable pipe length like the old Yamaha ex-up system..but better. Love your videos....you guys are stupid smart!
I would love to see a xr650r on your dyno and compre to to that bike , keep up the good work guys , greetings from ireland 🇮🇪
100 percent.
They're about 53hp from memory, which makes sense as I'd rate a stock XR650R about as well as a 600R with mild cam and intake modifications. A 600R with a Hotcam, Unifilter "NU-4075KIT" intake kit and stock exhaust/muffler is an absolute rocketship. I've been on a machine like that with higher gearing and my mate behind me was at 105mph and said I was walking away from him. Add some mild porting and a higher compression piston and you're really into some stout territory.
It is what is it , the numbers speak for themselves. The truth is truth . Stock is better in this case . Thanks for helping the folks out 👍
Great video. XR's muffler just sounds right. Did not buy header for stock 8.3. Did buy Mikuni and muffler from XR's only. Runs and sounds great after leaner rod.
Everyone should know aftermarkit headers on a small block vehicle only gives 5-7hp at peak rpm over the stock manifolds , so what were we'all expecting ? outta 45hp bike 2% gain on top only just like a truck engine shorty Header " looks only " 1 of the best videos ive ever seen along with building that motor
God to know! As the best bkke in the world these little gems are priceless for future mods. Roll on the 2023 model unchanged since before the big bang!
Hey Jeff good to see you back wow not what I was expecting out of changing the exhaust pipe I agree rather have the stock one pipe
😱 Junior what a gorgeous looking XR if I had the money that would be sitting in my man Cave that’s for sure wow
🤔 hey maybe Jeff catch up with Keith Johnson at the gym get him back into health i’m sure Keith knows how to work the kinks out of broken shoulders and body parts
now im curious about how FmF power bomb header performs compared to stock pipe. thanks for this video i was curious about that header
Great follow up work . I thought it was going to be 3 or 4 more hp
I used a mugen head pipe on old 540 xl . Inside diameter of those pipes were same as a quarter it worked real good
MANIC is back! Dyno's don't lie... midrange is key for this bike. Sometimes stock is better.
Pulling my XRs only pipe tomorrow. Thanks Ken and the gang
well did you notice anything ?
You just Saved me $300. and 10% Horse Power. Thank you So Much. I have the XR's Only Muffler and stock header and a jet kit, Im going to stick with. Sign of Relief.
That's a kick in the bollocks for XR'S ONLY!!👊💥
they need to go back to the drawing board 🤣🤣🤣
Great stuff.👍 Cool to see were the gains and losses are.
How much did the slip on add over stock
Beautiful bike. I just bought a 1999 minty. Runs like a champ. Thanks for the info. Love these videos.
Kaplan America myth busters edition 😆 Good to see Jeff ! keep up the good work
I said the same thing to people 10 years ago on my xr650L. I felt more power putting stock rear and fmf header, rather rear aftermarket with header. The bottom was a train compared to full pipe.
Were there any mods to the air box? I know some grind out the extra weld material on stock header pipes to open them up for more flow. How about XRs only muffler, did it make a worthwhile difference?
Great video as always and I really enjoyed watching the XR getting bigger lungs. I live in Australia so unfortunately we don’t have the XR but we have DRZ400E models that are healthier than the S models sold in the US. I reckon you guys should get an S model and see what can be done. Perhaps start with the higher comp piston, cams and FCR carb and then once you have it breathing properly go and do the 434cc big bore on it. It would be really interesting and with so many DRZ owners out there it would be hugely popular. I know what a great idea hey. Thanks guys Ithink I have watched nearly every vid you guys have done now. I’m an old KX500 owner along with numerous CR’s in 250, 125 and 80 and absolutely love watching you wheel out the old MX bikes.
I have the last production year XR600r In great condition. Also a XR400r in great condition. and a 1997 XR 200. Needs work. The RFVC motors in these bikes are top quality design. I found adding an external oil cooler really helps.
Great series !
FMF makes a Powerbomb header with something that looks like an expansion chamber at the midpoint.
It feel like it accelerates better in the mid range, but it would be nice to see if there is really anything there !
Maybe a step header will help..
Curious about thermal barrier coatings as well to keep up flow velocity..
A ceramic coating could help the stock headers.
TEST the FMF Stainless Steel header (with FMF Q4). I have one on my 2008 XR650L, bought new, only owner. As you guys CORRECTLY stated, I run from extreme technical "A rider" trails to fast two track "Baja style". MOST of the RPMs are from JUST OFF IDLE to about 5k-ish. The bike DOES NOT like to run in the high RPMs. HOWEVER, I can "crawl" up nasty tech single track, just above idle to get through that nasty section on many Western Colorado trails. Butterknife (which should have been named Steakknife), Second Thoughts, Windmill Trail ("5 Miles of Hell" type stuff) outside of GJ Colo (4800ft elev.).
ALSO, I have used a setup for the XR650L called "Dave's Mods"(carb setup), designed and tested specifically for the XR650L, since the bike was new. From idle to top RPMs, excellent pull, for me, and the way I ride.
Thanks in advance!!
Ok thanks for the great video, so we run the stock headers but what is the best tail pipe to use, the lightest and best sounding. any thoughts? ?
What about an Lectron carb. I have A new one Iv'e offered to lone, just send it back.
Yes I'd love to see this. See the power difference and efficiency
The “wizard” is awesome. Thanks for these build videos!
Put a Big Gun complete system on an old old original KLR650. Little jetting work. Gained so much low and mid. Short shift all the time abs ride the torque. Those stock systems were pretty restricted. The stock Honda pipe must be pretty spot on.
To have that pipe effective at low mids a torque valve like the kedo one of the Yamaha TT 500 is needed for each of the exhaust valves
You guys did some awesome work on the engine. I wonder if your mods are outside the specs of the XRs only pipe. Do you had a stock engine bike to test the pipe to see if it increases the hp for stock? Would be worth seeing.
Worse stock
I'd bet the fmf power bomb clone headers would make more bhp lol and they dirt cheap on ebay , I think its time you upgraded the carb to a mukini tm40 or mukini tm 42 to wake that motor up with a decent performance filter and drill some holes in the air box door it will get more torque and bhp ... the older XL600r ran big bore headers than were same diameter as the old fmf power headers before they went with the power bomb design.
I wish you would do this test with all after market pipes
As far as slip on's go I'd recommend the Arrow pipes made in Italy, Yamaha contracts them to build pipes for Yamahas sold in Europe, beautifully welded stainless steel with removable core for awesome sound. you can't get any better!
Moriwaki is the Japanese aftermarket exhaust and parts manufacturer Honda used to build the "HRC" pipes for the late model XR650R.... I've also run old custom Moriwaki full exhausts on my old CB750's....(and a full, hand made and bent titanium TSR exhaust on my CBR-XX), two companies who built specific exhausts for the Honda race bikes....not sure Arrow, who does make nice exhaust, ever built anything specifically for Honda or their race bikes themselves... aftermarket, yes, but not for Factory racing. Personally, I like sticking with that type of lineage myself, like Yoshis on Suzukis....but I'm a bit OCD 😅
Thanks for filling me in on the Moriwaki pipes I'll look into them, one of the reasons I chose the Arrow was their factory involvement, they make pipes for the Yamaha race teams.@@johnnygeorgopoulos4072
Love these dyno videos! We can actually see specific numbers of what these bikes are putting out...
There should be more tests like this one - thanks for sharing!
Truth. Justice and the Kaplan way!!
I'm guessing it has something to do with it being a larger diameter header if it is? If so then it's losing exhaust velocity lower engine speeds?
Great video, I also love these dyno videos. Would like to see Jeff work on a DRZ400s.
1 tooth up on the front sprocket will reduce your RPM approximately 500 rpm . With all the torque and extra horsepower you probably would never notice it and increase you top end other 5 + mph . It’s a win win !
Wow....I saw the first video and thought that was huge enough improvement. Quite amazing and first time viewer by the way 👍
Maybe a pass on this pipe. Would the same issue be there with a totaly stock bike? Top end gain but lose low/mid range? 🤔
Cool video !
I run a XR650R. It would be cool to see the comparison using different head pipes on that machine.
so that leaves the question did the pro-circut actually help jonny campbell win
650R is a totally different animal, with even more room to grow for max performance
Do you think that it would be a similar outcome for the XR400? Or anyone in the comments with experience? Thanks.
Soon as I threw mine on I felt this. This just clarified it for me. You guys were about a year too late for me. Now my resale value went to shit lol
Thanks for letting us know!!! Gotta love the hammer of truth!!
So what is the difference in performance between the stock muffler, and aftermarket muffler, using the stock head pipe ?
If that header was put on a stock bike and jetted to recomendations, would it performe as bad as with this tuned bike?
Worse
The truth shall set you free. Thanks man