New Exhaust on the 630

[jtemple]

This is the first time I have ever put a full system on a bike, and the most expensive mod I have ever done to a bike.

Leo Vince full Titanium system for the TE630. The exhaust is a work of art, and weighs in at 17.5 lbs lighter than the stock system.

With the 630 being discontinued, I thought I should grab up the system before the supply dries up.

Here's the stock system (duals):

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kskbp9tHN1A/TBuj46W3l9I/AAAAAAAAFn0/8AFoXH5nLeE/s800/P6180012.JPG

Bill over at Bill's Motorcycles Plus modded up his son's TE630 in an effort to drop weight. He swapped out the wheels, the front end, and the exhaust for a homemade slipon consisting of an FMF slipon designed for a 2008 Suzuki RMZ450 quad. His son's bike weighs about 320 lbs full of fuel. He got the pipes on closeout and offered them up for sale at a very reasonable price. So, I bought one and put it on:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-On7QlQFYzew/TmwQViQyD4I/AAAAAAAAHQc/TLRdVw6ajYc/s800/IMG_1597.JPG

I installed the Leo system yesterday, and discovered that Husky decided to run the bike's wiring down the frame, right next to the exhaust headers. The outer insulation was melted and the inner insulation was burnt. So, I wrapped it up with some electrical heat shielding:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6n-ncySPAGc/TmwQXftnZ1I/AAAAAAAAHQs/zolAM4hP11g/s800/IMG_1599.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VbpdFjAcmvw/TmwQX9FgAnI/AAAAAAAAHQw/oNMDhz3oJY0/s800/IMG_1600.JPG

Here's the exhaust installed:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b2GA1RMI7vw/TmwQYEXgWUI/AAAAAAAAHQ0/soKhPUbCTxo/s800/IMG_1602.JPG

[Corey]

Looks cool as hell. That's a damn fine bike. The only thing that I can't get over is the Leo Vince decal. It seems completely out of place and blatantly goes against everything else on the bike. Otherwise, very sweet.

[jtemple]

Looks cool as hell. That's a damn fine bike. The only thing that I can't get over is the Leo Vince decal. It seems completely out of place and blatantly goes against everything else on the bike. Otherwise, very sweet.Yeah, a lot of people are removing it. I haven't decided what I'll do. Maybe just wait for it to start peeling off on its own.

[Avatard]

Hair dryer fixes that...I agree; Lose the sticker. It's the only pimple on an otherwise sanitary deal.

Nice bike.

[jtemple]

A little TLC with a paper towel and some Goo Gone and the sticker is history.

[Tmall]

I love that bike.

[Avatard]

A little TLC with a paper towel and some Goo Gone and the sticker is history.

Win.

If it comes off reasonably clean, stick it to the beer fridge.

[jtemple]

Win.

If it comes off reasonably clean, stick it to the beer fridge.
Nah, it was a mess. I gave it to my 4-year-old to mess with. The system did include two more stickers that I stuck up under the front & rear fenders to fling mud on.

[TYEster]

I love Leo pipes. Its a shame they dont make more for the Japanese market. The only regular Leo pipe I see are on Kawi's, most everyone runs Yoshi, ProCircuit or FMF.

*granted I love my FMF, I wouldve gone Leo or Akra if money/availability were there.

[Rider]

Was that a factory dual pipe system and now it's a single? Take a pic from the back.

[Particle Man]

I so want one of those

[jtemple]

Was that a factory dual pipe system and now it's a single? Take a pic from the back.Yep, factory duals. The stock duals are 17.5 lbs heavier and run quite a bit hotter than my new system. Here's a pic of the OEM exhaust. I don't have any decent shots of the whole stock system. Here's the best I've got:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rDBTX8dzA9c/TC_isq_RhGI/AAAAAAAAFs4/vPT66Jr8KsQ/s800/P7030016.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-omTjkAk94fo/Tm098rsB2UI/AAAAAAAAHRE/nqdtLTyAr9k/s800/IMAGE_1000001356.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5h8FRzhEwCk/TBuj4P8ocjI/AAAAAAAAFnw/ocsVC8-iRSM/s800/P6180011.JPG

[jtemple]

I so want one of thoseThey're getting hard to find now. Husky dropped the price to something like $6700 and everyone has sold out of them. They aren't coming back for 2012. Rumor is that Husky has something new in the works. But, people are expecting it to be a heavier adventure bike, not a big bore plated dirtbike.

[TYEster]

They're getting hard to find now. Husky dropped the price to something like $6700 and everyone has sold out of them. They aren't coming back for 2012. Rumor is that Husky has something new in the works. But, people are expecting it to be a heavier adventure bike, not a big bore plated dirtbike.

The 900...

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1009461


BTW what are the odds, a buddy of mine is going to look at an '11 closeout 630 SM this weekend.

[Tmall]

Tye, Jtemple...


I broke my hand this summer, and haven't been riding my Kx at all. So, I'm thinking since I didn't ride it much (11hours) I'm going to throw some money at it.

What is the best bang for the buck pipe? Full system? Could you suggest one that offers a bit of power and a little less noise?

What about springs? Are they expensive? Hard to replace on your own? I'd love to get the suspension sprung for my weight, but the local shop wants way too much money. I was thinking of doing it myself. I see the rear shock as no problem to re-spring. What about the forks? Is it worth doing it myself or just dropping it off to the pros?

Tye, What kind of tires would you suggest as an all around off-road tire/mx? I'd like to specify exactly what I ride, but it's a mix of hard pack, rocks and sand. To try and pick a tire for one, would leave me lacking in other areas. I don't race, but when I do ride hard and hit jumps it's usually in soft dirt or sand.

Hope I didn't side track your thread too much Jtemple.

[jtemple]

Tye, Jtemple...


I broke my hand this summer, and haven't been riding my Kx at all. So, I'm thinking since I didn't ride it much (11hours) I'm going to throw some money at it.

What is the best bang for the buck pipe? Full system? Could you suggest one that offers a bit of power and a little less noise?

What about springs? Are they expensive? Hard to replace on your own? I'd love to get the suspension sprung for my weight, but the local shop wants way too much money. I was thinking of doing it myself. I see the rear shock as no problem to re-spring. What about the forks? Is it worth doing it myself or just dropping it off to the pros?

Tye, What kind of tires would you suggest as an all around off-road tire/mx? I'd like to specify exactly what I ride, but it's a mix of hard pack, rocks and sand. To try and pick a tire for one, would leave me lacking in other areas. I don't race, but when I do ride hard and hit jumps it's usually in soft dirt or sand.

Hope I didn't side track your thread too much Jtemple.

Let's see, pipes...

The stock pipes, at least on my bike, sounded great. The problem with them is that the system ran very hot (due to the catalytic converters stashed inside the mufflers) and weighed 30+ lbs. The heaviest things on the bike that you can quickly swap out to shed some fat are, in order of weight savings, exhaust, battery, passenger pegs.

I never ride 2-up, so the passenger pegs were removed right after I got the bike.

You can shed 7-8 lbs just by switching to a lightweight battery. I haven't done that yet.

Bill over at Bill's motorcycles plus has a son that has a TE630. The two of them set out to shed as much weight as they could. Bill had some FMF slipons that he picked up on closeout that were made for a 2008 RMZ450 quad. As it turns out, they were the perfect shape for the TE630. He fabbed up a slipon collar that fit the 630 and offered the pipes up for sale, with carbon heat shield for a hair over $400 shipped to my door. I bought one:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mWjhaPMysYo/TfwJFrEevbI/AAAAAAAAGns/OIYYfs9cdpE/s800/IMG_0871.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tTeTvAcmR2U/Tf0Pt1FGnWI/AAAAAAAAGow/9tBpDCROnag/s800/IMG_0877.JPG

That saved me about 10-12 lbs. The FMF was louder than the stock exhaust, but I didn't mind. It wasn't obnoxious and the sound was easily controlled by my right hand. I liked it a lot. The bike felt lighter and more responsive, and ran cooler.

However, what I really wanted was that Leo Vince Ti system. 17.5 lbs lighter than the stock system and just a thing of beauty. But, $1100+ MSRP was mind boggling. I know you get what you pay for, but I had recently bought the bike, a whole buttload of riding gear, and had 2-3 road trips planned. I had already spent a ton of money. So, I went with the FMF kit from Bill and bought my own iBeat so I could tune my own ECU. The iBeat will also troubleshoot fault codes, so that's an added bonus, especially when there's no Husky dealer within 450 miles of me.

When news got out that the 630 was being discontinued for 2012, I knew the aftermarket was going to dry up. The 630s were marked way down to unload dealer stock. People were now buying them up left & right and buying up the add-ons. So, getting the Leo system was a now-or-never thing, and I decided to go for it. I got 3 price quotes on it, and Bill's was the best, at $925 shipped. I bought it.

Anyway, back to sound. The Leo system is a little quieter than the FMF, and this is without the db killer installed. It falls somewhere between the stock exhaust and the FMF, as far as sound is concerned.

Bill is out of the RMZ450 slipons, but FMF has an official single sided slipon for the 630, but it's priced in the $650 range. Leo Vince also makes a pair of dual slipon cans for it. Neither of those options will get you the weight savings that a full Ti system will. When you think about it, the full system really isn't that much more money.

I haven't done any suspension work on the bike, except for setting the preload on the rear shock. The front is rebound damping adjustable only. You can't set preload. You can get some compression damping adjusters pretty cheaply, but I haven't had the need for them.

I have done fork work in the past on mountain bikes (MTB suspension is almost identical to motorcycle suspension - just smaller), and on my SV650. It's not all that hard.

Being a DS rider, I need tires that are decent off road, but will still take some highway punishment. So far, I've settled on Pirelli MT21s.

People that ride 90% off road seem to like Motoz tires a lot, though they're hard to get in the states.

I tried some, and they barely lasted 600 miles. The pavement eats them alive, but they're awesome off road. Here's where I got mine (http://www.motosportz.com/HVA-SS/Motoz_details.htm).

There's also kind of a cult following on some other forums of running trials tires, specifically the rear tire. I haven't tried it yet.

[TYEster]

Tye, Jtemple...


I broke my hand this summer, and haven't been riding my Kx at all. So, I'm thinking since I didn't ride it much (11hours) I'm going to throw some money at it.

What is the best bang for the buck pipe? Full system? Could you suggest one that offers a bit of power and a little less noise?

What about springs? Are they expensive? Hard to replace on your own? I'd love to get the suspension sprung for my weight, but the local shop wants way too much money. I was thinking of doing it myself. I see the rear shock as no problem to re-spring. What about the forks? Is it worth doing it myself or just dropping it off to the pros?

Tye, What kind of tires would you suggest as an all around off-road tire/mx? I'd like to specify exactly what I ride, but it's a mix of hard pack, rocks and sand. To try and pick a tire for one, would leave me lacking in other areas. I don't race, but when I do ride hard and hit jumps it's usually in soft dirt or sand.

Hope I didn't side track your thread too much Jtemple.

Alright...

Pipes - you're going to have to choose power or sound. Even with a FI bike, loudness means power. Its just the way of the mx world. BUT being FI you'll have an easier time having both. Try to find a pipe that has a dB killer included. ProCircuit, FMF, Yoshi and Leo should have them. I like Bills pipes also, but I noticed they only made stainless for my bike and I dont want to replace a factory OEM titanium system with a stainless one adding weight.

Suspension - I have someone do all the work on forks and shock. I dont understand the mechanics, all I understand is how soft or stiff it needs to be depending on the track conditions and jumps. I would DEFINETLY get it sprung for your weight, stock springs are for a broad range of weights and they try to get the valving to compensate for all they can. Ultimately I would see about getting it all re-done but springs are a good start. I LIKE my ProAction setup, but I would prefer a RaceTech or Enzo setup better. Anything to smooth out the chop on corner entry and exit is something I look for, but knowing how to set up suspension will be the bigger factor. See if you can find someone who can do springs and a setup, or if your mechnically inclined, just the setup. The more comfortable you are, the faster you can go safely. Going fast and getting all out of shape with your bike bouncing around isn't optimal.

Tires - easy, get a tire that suits whatever terrain will be hardest on them. I run Maxxis ITs, they're an Intermediate compound tire with a Hard terrain tread pattern. Most tracks here are soft deep prep but the jump faces are as hard as concrete. I use the throttle up until the lip of the jump which really eats the knob edges, and it seems to work ok. Granted I have a 250 but I use as much throttle as possible being a heavier rider. If you ride alot of loose rock areas vs hard pack rock, I would look for an intermediate tire with more of a paddle shape to the center tread. Dunlop MX51s have sort of that tread but I tend to rip the knobs off easier down here.

[TYEster]

When I get home, I will PM you some links to more specific parts. Its hard typing up what I need to say on my phone. Lol

[Tmall]

Excellent info. Thanks a lot to the two of you!

[TYEster]

Also you're going to need this!

I'm not sure where to find the calibration kit, but this WILL help your pipe/loudness/power situation. You can keep the stock pipe and remap the bike currently...

http://motocrossactionmag.com/Kawasaki/News/HOW-TO-REPROGRAM-YOUR-KX450F-FUEL-INJECTION-SYSTEM-1481.aspx

OR swap your pipe for this bad boy, however I can't say what kind of power gains if any you make for having a decibel killer.

http://www.btosports.com/p/FMFTIQ

OR if you can have the extra dB(and $$$) I'd opt for this bad boy

http://www.btosports.com/p/PCTI4FSRES

But that's really personal preference. But either way, mufflers touted as quiet in their ads, generally are very quiet in comparison. Also the dB might be measured at idle, and not WOT if that alters your decision.

Suspension - I only found this stuff... The RaceTech kits are sweet, but I thought they came with springs. Factory Connection has springs, but I'd opt for ProAction or ProCircuit springs.

http://www.motosport.com/dirtbike/Fork-and-Shock-Springs?limit=60
http://www.motosport.com/dirtbike/product/RACE-TECH-G2R-FORK-GOLD-VALVE-KIT/?id=124762&sMMY=KAWASAKI;KX450F;2010
http://www.motosport.com/dirtbike/product/RACE-TECH-GOLD-SHOCK-VALVE-KIT/?id=124763&sMMY=KAWASAKI;KX450F;2010

And attached are the 2 Intermediate Terrain tires I like run in Texas. Like I said previously, we have a fair mix of conditions on each track. These generally work best in harder rock/loose dirt situations. If you can pin down what you ride 75% of the time, get a tire that's optimal for those conditions. Better to compensate for your tires behavior over small areas of land than trying to compensate for greater areas of land.

**Maxxis IT on the right, Dunlop MX51 on the left and used every weekend for about 5 months**

[TYEster]

And my apologies to Jtemple for completely hijacking this MF'er up... Once I got all this typed out I forgot I was supposed to send it via PM

[jtemple]

And my apologies to Jtemple for completely hijacking this MF'er up... Once I got all this typed out I forgot I was supposed to send it via PM

no worries; I'm reading it too :)

[Tmall]

Wow guys. Thanks a lot. I couldn't have asked for any more info.