Power Commander waterproofing issues.

[Spathodea]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. There are a few places here in NZ that do a good job on the dyno but it can be expensive, as you say. I'll give one of the standard maps a go first.
Comberjohn, you mentioned removing the cat from the exhaust - how do you go about that ?
Cheers
Chris

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. There are a few places here in NZ that do a good job on the dyno but it can be expensive, as you say. I'll give one of the standard maps a go first.
Comberjohn, you mentioned removing the cat from the exhaust - how do you go about that ?
Cheers
Chris

Buy a set of decat headers like remus or akra to name a few or cut the end of the cat, cut all the guts out and weld it back together. It's the one thing that makes a big difference along with a pcv. Cans and airfilter meh! Getting rid of the cat though makes a nice improvement.

 

[comberjohn]

As Mark says, it is worthwhile removing the cat. Seems to allow the engine to redline much easier. Along with a PCV or a remap or maybe even an AF-XIED(?), It changes the bike totally. Much nicer to ride.
You can buy a set of de cat headers from about £200 new or modify the originals.
I didn't like the idea of modifying my originals in case the mot test for bikes started to include a co2 test. A new set of fronts would cost about £1200!
Being tight, I picked up a set of slightly damaged fronts for £25 from eBay. They had a couple of dings on the underside of one side. Seems to be a common thing and difficult to spot once on the bike.
Bought a cheap disc cutter(£17) from a local diy store and made a cut at the back of the cat along the welded seam. Neater for rewelding.
The cat is in the large diameter pipe underneath the engine and when you cut it, you'll see the metal honeycomb which is the cat.
A bit of digging with a large diameter drill and it's not difficult to dig it all out. Get it as clean as possible.
A tip would be to mark with a felt tip maker along the cat canister BEFORE cutting so that the pipe is in the correct position when being re welded.
A local engineering firm did a great welding job on mine for £20. Looks completely standard.
The exhaust note sounds very slightly deeper in a pleasant way.
Whether spending a lot on a set of headers from Akro and the like, depends on you. Doubt if it makes that much difference to the performance. Bit like louder exhausts.
If you are going for after market headers or second hand originals, make sure you get the right ones. The TC ones are slightly different due to the flappy valve and won't fit your silencer. TC's are usually 2010 onwards. Earlier are all the same.

 

[Bendy toy]

You can get some very nice aftermarket headers at reasonable price. You can then put the bike back to standard when you sell it on and get some money back when you sell the new headers. On the GS, it's not possible to tune the header lengths so they wont hugely affect the performance. Saying that, Akaraprovic headers do give a top end power boost for a price.

 

[Spathodea]

Thanks again guys. I'll see if I can find some second hand headers and start from there.