New Staintune fitted

As some of you will know from my intro yourself comments, anything mechanical is way way beyond my ability and just the thought of thinking or doing anything technical makes me dive for a headache tablet. Ordered a new staintune for the GSX1250FA from Adam direct at Staintune. He assured me it was so easy so I went for it. Waited the 4 days for delivery and shall vividly remember every second of those days!!! Anyway the new arrival finally gets here yesterday and a mate reminded me I'm likely to blow myself up if I do it and offered to fit it. Well, bugger me, late yesterday night in the garage the b*&^^5y thing wouldn't fit over the pipe sticking out the bike after the massive old thing came off. Not happy Jan is an understatement...... 

By this morning I'd calmed down and phoned Adam at Staintune. I'm not a rude bloke but did want to let him know just how frustrating that had been. Anyway, Adam has to be the easiest going bloke I know and manage to settle me down quickly  ( I have no patience hence the lack of mechanical skills). After half a day of twoing and froing with photos and advice we worked out (sorry Adam and my mate worked out) it was a gasket that normally isnt spot welded but was on mine that was stopping the exhaust fitting. Adam offered to return the original, send a new one, show me pictures of the Jig (nope no idea what that is but he did explain very nicely but it went in one ear and straight out the other as nothing in between to stop it), I think at some stage I'm sure he even offered to come and do my housework for a month but I may be wrong. Anyway, second round tonight and all fitted in 20 minutes. Great result and looks slick and sounds cool. Can't wait to ride to work tomorrow. Well done Adam and Staintune. He was pretty good at assuring me that he was pretty ready to do anything to resolve the issue for me even though the issue was at my end (or the bikes end). 

I will post a photo when I work out how to do it............ in the meantime, its time to look through the stock and find the special celebration brew I made:king:    No i have no connection to Staintune other than being inspired by their support.

Good result pd.  I know the frustration you talk of when you wait for something and when it arrives it doesn't fit.  Staintune are a good company and have a good reputation. Enjoy your ride tomorrow.

My Yoshi was fitted many moons ago soon after I returned to biking and with no great confidence to do anything myself.  The mechanic who fitted it (cost $80) handed back the original can and a gasket that he said wasn't required with the aftermarket can.  I'm wondering if it was that gasket that you found yourself having trouble with.

Yes the Suzuki gasket is not used on a Staintune either. Though its not usually spot welded on.

PD are you running it with the baffle or without it?

Apparently the gasket isn't needed but as it was welded to the other bit that sticks out the pipe wouldn't fit over that section with the gasket on and therefore wouldn't be far enough forward to fit to the rear peg bracket. When the gasket was pursuaded to come off the pipe fitted perfectly and took no time to fix to the bike.

Took baffle off straight away and "lost it" somewhere!!!  Think I saw a post (maybe here) that someone said best without baffle in. Sounds nice but don't think it will scare the neighbours. They have all come back home now as I have finished doing mechanical things in the garage.

pdrider wrote:Apparently the gasket isn't needed but as it was welded to the other bit that sticks out the pipe wouldn't fit over that section with the gasket on and therefore wouldn't be far enough forward to fit to the rear peg bracket. When the gasket was pursuaded to come off the pipe fitted perfectly and took no time to fix to the bike.

Took baffle off straight away and "lost it" somewhere!!!  Think I saw a post (maybe here) that someone said best without baffle in. Sounds nice but don't think it will scare the neighbours. They have all come back home now as I have finished doing mechanical things in the garage.

I'm sure the cat in the GSX header keeps the noise down quite a bit anyway. I took the baffle out because it rattled at idle

madmax wrote:

pdrider wrote:Apparently the gasket isn't needed but as it was welded to the other bit that sticks out the pipe wouldn't fit over that section with the gasket on and therefore wouldn't be far enough forward to fit to the rear peg bracket. When the gasket was pursuaded to come off the pipe fitted perfectly and took no time to fix to the bike.

Took baffle off straight away and "lost it" somewhere!!!  Think I saw a post (maybe here) that someone said best without baffle in. Sounds nice but don't think it will scare the neighbours. They have all come back home now as I have finished doing mechanical things in the garage.

I'm sure the cat in the GSX header keeps the noise down quite a bit anyway. I took the baffle out because it rattled at idle

Madmax, that is so true. It rattles at idle as if its not in properly. Not sure what a cat is but hope there isnt one sitting in my pipe as all that fluff would definitely make it quieter:D

pdrider wrote:

madmax wrote:

pdrider wrote:Apparently the gasket isn't needed but as it was welded to the other bit that sticks out the pipe wouldn't fit over that section with the gasket on and therefore wouldn't be far enough forward to fit to the rear peg bracket. When the gasket was pursuaded to come off the pipe fitted perfectly and took no time to fix to the bike.

Took baffle off straight away and "lost it" somewhere!!!  Think I saw a post (maybe here) that someone said best without baffle in. Sounds nice but don't think it will scare the neighbours. They have all come back home now as I have finished doing mechanical things in the garage.

I'm sure the cat in the GSX header keeps the noise down quite a bit anyway. I took the baffle out because it rattled at idle

Madmax, that is so true. It rattles at idle as if its not in properly. Not sure what a cat is but hope there isnt one sitting in my pipe as all that fluff would definitely make it quieter:D

LOL, where you see a bulge in the pipe just forward of where your staintune connects that is the catalytic converter its there to cut down exhaust emissions.

catalytic converter

Does the car have to stay in it?

Good old wiki!! I know where it is now thanks Madmax.

pdrider wrote:Does the car have to stay in it?

I guess you mean cat? legally yes, however there are a few members on here that have smashed the centre out of the cat. Not an easy job but at least the cop wouldn't be able to tell. A couple of others have changed the headers to aftermarket ones that don't have a cat.

Pd between your cat and Gus's Dog Bones we may as well be on Dr Harry's Forum. 
Staintune are a quality product and Aussie, well done and great to hear about some terrific customer service.

madmax wrote:

pdrider wrote:Does the car have to stay in it?

I guess you mean cat? legally yes, however there are a few members on here that have smashed the centre out of the cat. Not an easy job but at least the cop wouldn't be able to tell. A couple of others have changed the headers to aftermarket ones that don't have a cat.

Woops meant Cat yes. Staintune recommended not to faff around too much with Cat's and header pipes etc and I'm not sure how much difference it would make. Nice pipe and great service but just think I should've gone for the yoshimura pipe and done with it. Not much I can do about that now but this is way better than stock for sure maybe just not what I was aiming for. Such is life

"jimmy the boy" with my technical skills wouldn't look out of place on Dr Harry's Forum either!!!!

Don't be too hard on yourself mate, we learn as we go. You'll be amazed at what you can actually do yourself and save yourself a fortune along the way. This is a great site full of questionable, sorry I mean knowledgeable characters.

Nothing wrong with Staintune. I've had 2 bikes with them on. Great qaulity and sound. Keep the baffle. If you ever trade the bike they will want it. As for headers and cats. Wait till you take your headers off some time and feel the weight. They weigh the preverbable Ton. The cat is well named. Just sits there. does nothing ( in my opinion ) Won't even catch mice. Most bikes, like most cars these days are so restricted in the engine department that they never run to their full potential. Some of us novices just like to unleash that potential.  . Just the Rebel coming out.

So, would header pipes work well for extra kick and noise and if so who provides them for the GSX1250fa? Anyone fitted them before? Would I need to do engine refinement or Dyno etc I may just sell the staintune and get a yoshi. I have no issues with Staintune quality just looking for something a little more obvious than the noise of the staintune. But, I may well be shooting myself in the foot if I change. I presume header pipes would increase the cost a fair bit?

As far as I can tell nobody makes them specifically for the GSX. Some have fitted GSF headers but had to cut away part of the fairing to accommodate them.

Yes they would improve performance, yes they would increase sound, and yes you would have to pay for them.

At this point I don't see it as worth it, at least until someone makes a set for the GSX.

I have seen a post about Delkevic pipes fitted but there was some fairing grinding that was needed. The Delkevic does indicate that it is for the GSF and GSX but suspect that is a broad statement. Will decide if I keep or try and sell. Should prob just keep it but I know from experience it will bug me over time.

Time for the decision making brew again  

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Staintunes. They would be on par with the likes of Yoshi in terms of sound and HP gains. It is all a matter of taste. Headers will gain you more HP, sound slightly better, save you heaps of weight, look better, but.......  You will have to install some sort of power commander and have the system remaped to suit the new air supply that all the changes will make. The basic onboard cpu is ok with just a new can added but when you derestrict even more by adding headers then the engine will run too lean and too hot. Before you go down the headers path think about the airbox mods and the secondaries removal.  You see its no use letting the air out freely unless you let the air come in freely as well.  Make sense ?  The learning path is long Grasshopper and there are many twists and turns.  But the rewards  are well worth the journey. 

Pd, Listen to the wise old owl ( Hammy ), his previous post says it all. Staintunes are a fantastic pipe, don't waste money on a Yoshi or any other, it won't be any louder or better quality. Don't worry about headers at the moment. Get your air flow right and your fuel right to accommodate it. Theres plenty of older posts on what you need to do here. Reardo's posts are very good on this If I remember correctly.

Forgive me Master's I am weak........ I have taken a drink from the fountain of all knowledge and seen the light!!! The Lady of happiness came to me in my dream and said... "PD bad things will happen if you continue on this path of hopelessness". I thank you all Master's for your words of wisdom. I will seek Lord Reardo's word and take the path of sensibleness!!

Thanks gents. Good words Hammy. I jump too often and do need to slow down sometimes. I will take some time to search posts on your points. I do need to be sure I don't screw anything up and am not great at sorting out things I do screw up but I am keen to learn that's for sure.  

The Staintune is Staininplace

Mines got a remus pipe, and a k&n airfilter and it goes plenty good, if i wanted a sports bike id have bought one

Me too jimcoleman. it was only sound for me and pushing the sound of the engine as good as I can get it. Will be looking into other airflow topics.

Jimcoleman wrote:Mines got a remus pipe, and a k&n airfilter and it goes plenty good, if i wanted a sports bike id have bought one

James you'll be happy to know the TL was as uncomfortable as shit when I got on it this morning and I wanted to get back onto my " cargo ship ".  sorry for the thread hack. Pd go and buy a K&N aiir filter and put that in. ( easy ) but check it hasn't already got one first, while your checking pull out the snorkel in the air box that will increase the diameter of the intake hole by about 25mm. That's a good start and standard proceedure.

Thanks Jimmytheboy I think they are definitely my next options when the finance minister isn't watching. Will I need to make engine alterations etc once the filter and hose are done?