TSR Chrome headers from Takahashi

[darmahman_imp]

'Here is the link: http://www.samurider.com/?p=13754

Now here is the story.

Some of you may know I was planning on selling my 1100 to buy a new BMW R9T.( A BMW in the same mold as our 1100's.)
Well, shortly after putting it up for sale on this site's pages I did a dumb thing and dinged one of the header pipes. A good size ding that didn't seem to make a difference in performance but I needed to get it fixed in order to sell it. New OEM headers are $1400 at least and I missed out on a used set on these pages for $350. Tried to low ball him.
So I emailed Takahashi to see what he had. Preferably w/o a cat but with the o2 sensor. The above set he has available and would mount up fine with my Staintune muffler. It did have a cat and o2 sensor tho. $680.00.
I received it in about 10 days, maybe less. It comes with the 4 chrome pipes separate and the chrome cat/ collector separate. Also comes with new header clamps and gasket rings as well as a small tube of "muffler grease".
Install was straight forward with good enough instructions in Japanese... Actually the pics were all that was needed. I did have trouble getting the gasket rings to collapse( seal) as they only go on one way. ( smooth side out) and require more cranking down than I would have thought was needed.
But once installed correctly what a sound. I thought it sounded good with the Staintune and stock headers. It now sounds mean. The headers are a larger size diameter than the stock ones, but most of the change is in the tiny and I do mean tiny cat conv. Maybe 20% the size of the stock one.
And the performance is startlingly better than with just the Staintune. I can't say I noticed a diff with just the Staintune, but with these headers it is self evident. Acceleration is much more instantaneous. I always felt the motor was lazy before but no more. It winds right up to redline and much quicker. Lots of fun.
Bottom line is the bike is no more for sale...

[lola_imp]

thanks for the review.. It looks Good it must be lighter as well.

[darmahman_imp]

thanks for the review.. It looks Good it must be lighter as well.

Yes it is. Seat of the pants is 5-6 lbs.

[the Ferret]

Pipes look great Darmahman

[Guth_imp]

Thanks for sharing darmahman. How about a few more pics from different angles? (Hey, it never hurts to ask.)

[flynrider]

Thanks for the tip on the R9T. I hadn't heard about it, so I just Googled it. Wow. That is an amazing looking bike. Besides the CB1100, that's the only new bike I've seen in the last 10 yrs. that I'd seriously considered shelling out cash to buy. How they got all that power and torque out of an 1170cc twin is a mystery to me, but if it works, more power to them (pun intended).

I've only got room for the CB1100 and CB750 in the garage, but now you've got me seriously thinking about maybe replacing the old 750.

[The Spaceman_imp]

This is really informative. My biggest, virtually my only gripe with my bike is the way the factory headers stain every time I ride in the rain. I like cleaning my bike, but constantly Semichroming the headers gets old.

There are chroming shops here in town that will plate the factory pipes, but they take weeks and the prices are high. And if the parts you bring are used, they hedge on the warranty. I'd really like to know if your new chrome headers solve the staining issue. I'm pretty sure they will, as I never had staining on the chrome headers and pipes on my HD. All they needed was a wipe down with a soft cloth, or an occasional touch up with mild polishing ccompound.

[the Ferret]

If they are not double walled they will permanently blue

[Lord Popgun]

They do look good! And that write-up makes them sound like a desireable item. Like Guth, I'd like to see some more pics from different angles.

[CB4ME_imp]

If they are not double walled they will permanently blue

The stainless TSR headers are single wall. I hope Darmahman reports on what extent they blue. Personally I don’t mind a little bluing as long as it’s contained to the first few inches. The TSRs are 100% better looking than the stockers.

I'm thrilled that Darmahman made the purchase and provided an outstanding review. These headers are now most definitely on my list of accessories to buy.

I also have a Staintune. I wonder what a set of K&H filters and a Power Commander 5 in combination with the TSR and Staintune would do to the already sizeable performance gain Darmahman is reporting?