| Author | Message | ||
     Ds_tiger |
Just sent OEM pipe to Kevin (a year after I bought the bike!)> looking to get the "Original Drummer". I have read and re read the exhaust shootout from last year. I am asking for thoughts and opinions from as many Bad Webbers I can- every day use observations- not the "hey dood- go look at the shootout details" (AKA link to the same article) Thanks ! | ||
| Ejiii |
I had a Buell race muffler and did not really like it. Power came on strong but to high in the rev range. I switched to the old Drummer, it was great. Lot's of low end pull right off the line. What makes it great is in the hard core twisties you can run one gear higher so after you are set into the turn you can give it a fist full of throttle and it pulls great as you squirt out the exit. I later switched to the Drummer SS. The bike still pulls like a train, the muffler is really robust, looks great and the build quality is second to none. You will love it! | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I swapped from the race kit muffler to a drummer as well. Best 'extra' money I've spent on the bike. Much better tone performance on the low end. It gets rid of the powerband feel of the race kit pipe. No more all of a suddden it jumps up and starts shredding pavement feel. | ||
| Tx05xb12s |
I really like my race can. When I'm just cruising around town at low rpms, I don't need the extra power. When I want to do a roll-on wheelie or pass a car, I drop a gear and hammer it into that powerband effect you guys talked about from about 4,500 to redline. I love the way the race can sounds when I do that, and I love the feeling of being literally pulled back in the seat. I think it does what it was designed to do very well. However, I am also pleased with its off the line power too. It even sounds tough when rolling on from about 2,500 to 3,000 rpms. That's when it really sounds like a Harley. I for one am very sorry they don't make them anymore. | ||
| Kmfw160 |
I bought an Econo due to budget restraints (and cut my airbox/snorkel and added a K&N) I love the sound and performance. It's close to the performance of the higher priced pipes and for the money it worked out great for me!  | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I switched from a Buell race can to an Original Drummer on my old XB9S. I agree entirely with Kowpow225 and Ejiii, as well as many other "Drummer boys" who have previously posted. I found that the Drummer provided more torque low down, and a more even spread of torque over the whole range. The race pipe is more of a top end pipe with a definitely narrower power range. The result is that the Drummer equipped bike seems to be more useful on the street. And it sounds better.  | ||
| Nsbuell |
I had the race can and switched to a Latus out of curiosity. The Latus has much more low end power like the drummer but I miss the high rpm surge of the race can. Plus the Latus is going to make me deaf if I keep it much longer. If you like to rev the bike you won't miss the lower rpm power much anyway. (Message edited by nsbuell on May 07, 2007) | ||
| Thespive |
I had the race pipe and removed it. Coating quality was awful, I lost tons of power where I rode, cops and dogs followed me, and I thought I was going to have blood stream from my ears after each ride. I want a "Quiet Drummer". One with great sound but not alot of extra noise. Guess I'll go out back and feed my Unicorn now. --Sean (Message edited by thespive on May 07, 2007) | ||
| Nuerburgringer |
I lived with the XB9 Buell race can for a coupla years. The midrange hole is massively annoying. The Drummer's midrange is a good deal stronger, but its notably louder on-the-throttle. (albeit, less noise than the other aftermarket choices.) I own both the standard Drummer and the quiet version. Pretty hard to hear a difference between the two, likely a single decibel. Contrary to popular belief, there is no "additional chamber" on the quiet version. Kevin'll warn you in advance that there's not much distinction in noise between the two versions. But of course, every little bit helps, especially in sensitive areas. Performance is the same. By the way, in actual use, the power curve produced by the XB9 Drummer is considerably more linear than indicated in the Shootout dyno charts. Regarding power delivery, it is a big improvement over the race can, although the improvement is not evident in those charts for some strange reason. I was pleasantly surprised. Ping me off-list if you have more questions. I have pretty deep experience with both the Buell race can and the Drummer, on the track and off. Gonna list one of my XB9 Drummers in the classifieds soon, in "as new" condition. Stay tuned. (Message edited by nuerburgringer on May 08, 2007) | ||
| Bueaddicted |
I've tried both "race" exhausts sold by 2 sponsors here, and both were great; I just hated having my ears ringing for days afterwards! Now I'm back to stock, sounding like I'm riding a lawnmower, but at least I'm not going deaf.  Can't anyone make an exhaust that sounds cool but is not deafening? WHAT I HATE IS THE UNAVAILABILITY OF AFTERMARKET PARTS FOR BUELLS! I have friends that have Remus and other exhausts that sound great and are not deafening... Well, I guess I just have to continue riding the best "scooter" ever made with my "girlie" exhaust.  | ||
| Spike |
I installed the full race kit on my '04 XB12R back in '03, but the race pipe only stayed on the bike for a few weeks at most. At first it was fun to have a big hit of power a 4500rpm that would loft the front end in 1st gear, but I realized that when riding hard I had to keep the bike above 4k to avoid feeling like I was out of the powerband. I ended up replacing it with one of the early drummers and now I'm running one of the new drummers. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Having somebody still making the Race Pipe for those who will be taking their XB to the track would be a good thing. Spec wise it appears that the only other pipe that out performs the stock pipe on topend (on a 12) is the Micron at a much higher cost. The Drummer and OPS pipes appear to be better street performance pipes. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Buelladdicted: take a look at our european friends for aftermarket Buell parts if the vendors over here don't have what you want: Trojan Horse ( http://www.trojan-horse.co.uk/ ), trojan on badweb and Hillbilly motors ( http://www.hillbilly-motors.com/html/porteng.html ), Jens on badweb Both are badweb sponsors, and these guys both have larger selections of exhausts in particular. Even if you have to have Jens translate for you on some of the German pages  He's a good guy to talk to anyway as is Matt at Trojan. | ||
| Nell |
IF ANY OF YOU GUYS WANT TO SELL YOUR RACE MUFFLERS, EMAIL ME AT ENGLETONS@YAHOO.COM | ||
| Bueaddicted |
I've looked at them, but with the exchange rate, the mufflers are pretty much out of my reach...  I wish they were sold here!  | ||
| Ejiii |
I wear earplugs on every ride. If I didn't I would be deaf in 1/2 an hour with my Drummer. So, get a Drummer and a set of ear plugs and go rip it up! | ||
| 07xb12scg |
Ejiii: Is it really that loud? | ||
| Skarecrow |
Nuerburgringer, Pm'ed you about your drummer exhaust. | ||
| Bueaddicted |
Ejiii: I did have a Drummer, and I always used ear plugs... at night my ears were ringing badly still... | ||
| 07xb12scg |
Really? I'm looking at the Drummer SS and Micron and it worries me if you need to wear ear plugs because of the noise! | ||
| Bueaddicted |
Don't get me wrong, the Drummer is a beautiful exhaust with a great sound, and so is the Special Ops, but just not right for me. I do miss the sound though... | ||
| 07xb12scg |
See I want a louder exhaust that sounds good. I just don't want it so loud that it annoys people and hurts my ears during normal street riding conditions. If it gets loud at WOT it's not big deal. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
The "problem" with the buell exhaust is it exits right under you and reflects off the pavement right into your helmet. It did seem too loud. I have the race exhaust and was worried about how loud it was till I heard it as the service guy take it for a test run. it is not loud at all compared too say a typical Harley. | ||
| Metalstorm |
+1 what Lost_in_ohio said. Same exact thing happened to me. I thought the race can was loud until the service guy took it out for a test ride after resetting the TPS. I could barely hear it a half a block away  On the bike riding, wearing my Scorpion EXO 700, it sounded LOUD! After running out of contact lenses and being stuck with eye glasses again I switched to a Nolan N102 flip up lid and it does a decent job of blocking the noise reflection. Better than the Scorpion any way as I don't need to wear ear plugs while riding. Then again, maybe I'm a little deaf to begin with from running jack hammers and being around loud equiptment all day | ||
| Xbswede |
Find someone with a Drummer and test ride it. I don't think anyone can really tell you if you need earplugs or not. I have put 3000 miles on my Drummer SS and never once thought I needed air plugs. A riding buddy of mine bought ear plugs after the first ride on his. maybe it has something to do with age!  | ||
| Firstbatch |
It definitely has something to do with age age....hearing loss and sensitivity to noise and ringing in the ears are all indicators to long term noise exposure. YOu can get away with exposure to high Db's when your young and it will seem like no big deal...your hearing is muffled for a few hours after exposure or some ringing....when you reach about 50 it all becomes more permanent, for some people but not all. Wind noise alone in any helmet is around 100 Db. | ||
| 07xb12scg |
Yeah the wind noise does kill my ears some days. I figured the wind noise would block out most of the exhaust noise anyway. I guess I was wrong going by what you guys are saying. | ||
| Nuerburgringer |
Had several XB12 replies to my soon-to-be-for-sale XB9 Drummer mention. (which isn't actually for sale at the moment.) For those who don't already know, the XB9 Drummer and XB12 Drummer are NOT interchangeable. Kevin Drum tuned the different versions specifically for the different displacements. | ||
| Ds_tiger |
Thanks for the opinions To follow up.... The Drummer exhaust has transformed my bike 1 year on the bike with the race exhaust on it, basically from day 1.... The bike NOW lugs along like an inline 4 low rpm's wheras the race pipe needed revs to feel smooth. It feels like the Drummer pulls like a liter bike up to about 4500 rpm, big torque The Drummer is really well turned out. This post is not an ad for Kevin Drum/ Drummer. But his pipe WORKS. |
