PipeWerx GP3 SL Custom Exhaust - Review http://www.bikechatter.net/media/reviews/photos/thumbnail/320x320s/9d/3c/d9/1043_gp3-sl-1329919487.jpg Hot

Following the review of the Pipe Werx Street legal can, Leigh wanted to get a load of the GP3 (race) exhaust but being a good boy had to keep it legal. Going for the GP3 wide outlet in street legal length seemed a perfect compromise - a custom GP3 SL was born

Initial Thoughts

I was blown away by the overall quality and pricing of the previous exhaust that Pipe Werx supplied for the ZX636 so when the replacement for the ZX10R came up they were the obvious choice as I was keen as mustard to see what they could come up with based on their freshly launched GP3 silencer. The only problem I had was the GP3 is a pure race can, unstamped and officially illegal on UK roads, as a normal road user perhaps this would not have been an issue but as I have to do a lot of official miles I didn't want to leave myself open to a butt load of tickets so had to insist on a road legal length.

Construction

Actually the road legal length does not pack on too much, you obviously cannot get 250 or 300mm stubby options with a stamp but Pipe Werx cans are not massive to begin with anyway, especially in comparison to some other brands. In order to get the full custom experience I rode down for the day and watched them measure, bend, tack and weld the can and end pipe specifically for me which was an excellent experience, choosing the angle the can came up at might seem trivial but it can really improve the look of some bikes.

Pipe-Werx don't really advertise their custom service so actually this review is perfect to do so, like so many others, I am told that the GP3 outlet is very popular, it is a proper slash-cut, wide opening race spout and looks ace compared to the standard spout. The sleeve itself is no different from their Street Legal range so essentially it makes no difference to them if they put a GP3 outlet on or a SL model. For this version I decided on the round, Carbon Fibre sleeve, the actual material used for the sleeve is lovely stuff, semi-matte in appearance and a chunky weave on the fibre it looks way higher priced than the purchase price would have you believe and re-enforces what I said about the previous PipeWerx review, they are just excellent value!

Fitting to the bike is a painless affair, the link pipe supplied is millimeter perfect and comes with some nifty pipe clamps which are clearly high end and top quality, when I first struck up the ZX10R I was surprised by the lack of noise though compared to the 636 sporting the SL model sat next to it, the same deep throaty boom was missing and only after a bit of chatting with those clever bods at Speedycom Performance did I find out that the exhaust valve in the titanium header was the cause - 1 servo buddy and a few minutes later and the bike was lighter to the tune of a servo motor and cabling and the exhaust note was back!

I would probably go as far as describing the note on full throttle as insane! Those that have ridden with me have often commented on the sound of the 636, to say the ZX10R at higher revs was more in your face was going some really, lower down the bike must output the pressure a bit differently as although the sound is there it is not as 'in your face' from the riders perspective. With the exhaust valve gone I have found a few flat spots in the rev range, not particularly the fault of the exhaust itself but a byproduct of trying to open up the full potential of that awesome sound, you get the rattle of a thousand gattling guns on the over-rev and the authentic race bike tingle down your spine as standard when letting loose.

Lets get to the real selling point of this exhaust over just about any other, the price. Ordinarily you would be expected to shell out big bucks from other brands, producing high end carbon cans with great looks and a sound to die for is really what the all hope to achieve and with that the cost continues to creep to ever more premium levels. Consider that this is a custom made can, with link pipe cut and bent to spec before sending off for plating and you would expect that price to take a huge leap forward and yet the Pipe-Werx GP3 SL Custom (as I have named it) has an off the shelf price around £205.00, that is less than half the price of some lesser known models and certainly much less than your more regularly sought out brands.

Paying more for a similar product then, seems an insane waste of money, in difficult financial times companies like PipeWerx remind us that we can afford to buy British, it makes sense to buy British and by doing so we can save a right old bundle of cash too. You might find yourself bolting even more trick bits on as I have, Servo Buddy for exhaust valve removal and now the Dobeck EJK to tune out all the fuelling spots that are not quite right, everything included for less than you might pay for a single, premium end can elsewhere.