New cans!

Finally they arrived! After over a month Termigoni finally found enough Kryptonite, or whatever other incredibly rare metal they use to build the damn things, and sent my exhausts off! On unpacking it becomes clear how light they are compared to standard (also how easily oily finger marks show on matt black!

First job, remove old exhausts. They came off easy as pie, for once Ducati had not tightened the bolts to 300nm, hadn’t used superglue and hadn’t used stupid torque bolts made of toffee.

Next job remove old ECU and replace with new one, easy unclip and clip, no problem. Next, undo the tank and disconnect the fuel pump and fuel lines ensuring no petrol in the tank. Damn I have a full tank of fuel and no pump. Ok ignore that entire section, loosen fuel tank, lift up around 12 inches and balance precariously on a can of WD40 to give you access to the airbox cover. See WD40 really does fix any bike related dilemma. Remove the old airbox lid and replace it the new one (which is exactly the same but with a great big hole in it, totally worth £900!!). tell you what Termi, how about you sell your cans for £600 and I’ll just drill a hole in the airbox!

Remove can of WD40 and tighten up the tank. Now remove the baffles from the exhausts before fitting them. I can not emphasise how important that is! Termi must have cleverly built the silencers around the baffles as no human could insert something so tightly! After trying pliers, heat, mole grips, swearing, throwing stuff and shouting the damn things were not moving. Well not exactly true. To make it more frustrating one had come out, the other was not going ANYWHERE! Eventually I got it about 5mmm out and managed to slide a flathead screwdriver up the bolt hole and lever the baffle out! Wahoo, success!

Fitting the new silencers was a doddle and all tightened up nice and easily. Right for the sound test… hmmm enclosed garage and 2 cans that have holes the size of coffee mugs… best wheel it outside me thinks. Well on starting, the sound has to be heard to be understood. Loud is not even close, the best word to describe it would be Armageddon!! So so loud. Took it for a test ride to the shops and back around Southampton to see how loud it was when ridden, maybe it would be better. Nope it was even louder! Swiftly back home and refit the baffles (WITH copper grease this time!). Ok now it appears to have the sound of a small hoover…. Hmmm.

As all the best solutions involve destruction it’s time to get the hacksaw. Half an hour and 15cm lopped off each baffle later and it sounds fantastic! Best of all it looks road legal and sounds reasonable when idling but under acceleration it sounds amazing! Deep and throaty with a good growl.
So now it’s just awaiting the wheels from powder coaters and the custom brake discs and the final stages of the project should be underway. Oh and those horrid mirrors must go for bar end options too!