Jtemple, I think you will require a JD power surge with the Leo.. from my side by side comparison testing against a stock powered-up bike that my friend has it seems to be running lean on the upper end of the RPM band with the leo. I have a JD Power surge on the way and my friend has told me of the dramatic improvements with his. He installed his FMF slip on, rode it in standard power up mode, and then installed the JD power surge noting huge improvements in performance after tuning. His bike was running lean with the FMF slip on before installing the JD power surge.
I put a pair of muffler sliders on mine tonight, to act as a heat shield for my Giant Loop. I didn't want to mark up my pretty can with GL's heat shield.
+1 You definitely need to richen it up when running the Leo. The JD, in combination with the Leo, is money well spent.
Yes, it runs a lot cooler. I can't remember where I read it but someone said they spent the day with a Giant Loop mounted up and no heat shield and the bag never melted. I commute on mine, which is about 10-15 minutes of highway riding. When I get to work, I can put my bare hand right on the can. It's warm; I can't just leave my hand there forever. But it's not going to burn me.
My Leo twins run unevenly. The right one is touchable -- can hold my hand on it when it's fully heated. The left one is hotter -- have to pull my hand back off. With absorptive mufflers, heat=noise suppression. The hotter a given muffler gets on a given bike, the quieter it is. The noise is converted to heat. I have the longer db-killer spark arrestors in mine. They didn't come with it; Dan at MotoX ordered them for me from LV. They are a lot quieter than the LV's with the short spark arrestors. My butt-dyno can't tell any difference in performance.
I just have the single, no db-killer installed. I started to put the db-killer in out of curiosity; when I discovered how tight of a fit it was going to be, and how difficult it was going to be to remove once installed, I just went with the short spark arrestor. The full Ti system comes with both inserts.
My opened up flow-through stock cans are touchable after a long ride as well. I can imagine as the packing breaks down after a while they won't be quite so cool, but then it's time to re-pack anyway.
I took my SM630 on the freeway today for the first time since installing a Leo Vince Full Ti and adjusting the JD settings. I must say that the bike somehow sounded, and felt, significantly less 'buzzy' running at 70MPH and turning 5800RPMs. I don't know how to describe it except... The motor just seemed to be more "relaxed" at the higher RPMs for a couple miles. I even hit 92MPH near the end of the on-ramp trying to get ahead of a semi. I was really surprised to see "92" on the speedometer with the 14/40 gears I'm running. Before today that 'buzzy' engine sensation would have alerted me to slow down well before I hit 92. I know the Leo is really expensive and the improvements may be fairly small. But for me, it's made the difference between liking the bike, and loving it.
I noticed the same thing when I emptied out my stock cans on my SMS and converted them to flow-throughs. (I've clipped 100 btw, but with stock gearing) High speed will wear you out before long with no fairings...
I got two half sliders with an extra piece of heat shield tape for each one. The extra tape is probably overkill. But, it was cheap to throw in there. Better safe than sorry.
Mounted up the JD power surge with my full Leo Ti exhuast and went with all the recommended settings except to #5 on the red setting (high speed WOT setting) which is one step richer then recommended. Compared it to another TE630 in multiple side by side runs that I've previously run with, it is night and day faster than before the install. You will be lean at WOT with the full Leo Ti without the JD tuner just as I suspected. I'm also running the large diameter sparky in the Leo for compliance with US forest riding.
I don't agree with your assessment. I think that there is a market for a 650 thumper adventure bike. If you look at the truly knarly adventure riders they don't ride GSA's, they ride KLR's and GS650 Dakar's. BMW brought back the 650 thumper after taking it out of the lineup briefly. I never could understand the logic of spending $15-20K on a bike that is over 500 lbs. only to drop on a rocky muddy road somewhere. I suppose that the real "adventure" for those big machines is finding help to pick the damned thing up after you've dropped it. For me, the TE630 is perfect. Comfortable enough to ride the interstate all day if needed, yet agile enough to ride any forest service road and even some trails. It is definitely not a "trail bike with lights", nor do I want it to be with the increased maintenance levels and decreased reliability. For what it is, it is the perfect bike for me and I don't think that Husky will abandon this market.
I think if you read more carefully, you'll see that we really do agree. I did not say there was *not* a market for thumper adventure bikes. I said it was *small* relative to other markets. If you're a big company trying to make money, a market that is too small might as well not exist. I, too, think Husky/BMW will not abandon the segment. I just think they need to figure out a lower price point at which they can still realize the required return on capital. $8k and under is the price point for reasonable sales volume for this type bike. $9k+ and it's a niche bike appealing to a small market. It's not about the market segment -- it's about price. At the right price, all market segments are big.
Just bolted on my FMF Q4 exhaust. Fit was typical FMF (pretty damned close) and the bike is still very quiet at low rpm. The heat shield on the new mid-pipe isn't exactly a work of art, but seems functional enough. I'm going to seal up the slip fittings and wait a day before I ride. I did have to fabricate a small spacer due to the mid-pipe using the rear foot peg mount on the subframe. I had removed the rear pegs. No biggie.
Just spent the afternoon installing the Leo Vince Ti full exhaust and the JD Power Surge 6X. I went from the stock exhaust and PU kit. The difference in both weight and performance is dramatic! The JD is plug and play. The hardest part was figuring out how to take the tank off to route the wires and make the connections. My mild mannered dual sport has suddenly developed a nasty attitude. I love this bike!
I have a 630 and want to know what the LOUDEST exhaust set up is ??? I race motocross and can't stand the fact I'm on a 600cc motor and yet it sounds like a Yamaha TT-R 125 ! Where's the ROAR!? PLEASE HELP ME
