kz550 sound&performance

Howdy...

I just pulled my '82 kz550c3 ltd out of my dad's garden shed after some 15 odd years of storage.

Man....I do love the classic lines of that bike.

Way back when I was riding it I installed some k&n pods and jets for a noticable gain but left the exhaust stock just 'cause of money. One of my mufflers has got a good dent in it and I'm considering an upgrade. I bought a used stock system off ebay some years ago for $75...but am thinking about a new system.

Dunstall mufflers seem to be popular. Anyone use these on their kz's? I like the quiet stock sound and 4-2 look, but maybe a little grunt would be cool..along with some more kick..any feedback on any replacement systems would be appreciated....4-2,4-1,just mufflers....thanks....Dale.

for the most power/weight savings, go with a 4-1 without the baffle and re jet accordingly (yes, its loud, but I like my bikes like thatB) )

Here's a clip where you can kinda hear my Kerker K Series canister. It pretty much has the ubiquitous sport-bike sound, but is not too loud until you really get on it.

home.att.net/~sherri2000/WackerExit.mpg

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/05/11 02:01

The can sounded good LOUDHVX.By the way are you from the CHICAGO area or were you visiting when you were on Waker Dr.

I've lived in or around Chicago for almost 35 years now. Spent a lot of time on Lower Wacker. I know a few people who have lost vehicles down there goofing off (me included). It get's unexpectedly slippery down there...rain never washes the oil off. Any mistake puts you into a concrete wall or a pillar. (Mine was head on into a pillar in a 260Z.)

It's a lot safer now that they moved a few of the pillars out of the way and re-surfaced the road. (Watch the "Blues Brothers" to get the old-school feel... creepy, but fun.)

I'm editing the rest of that video. There's a part where a homeless guy takes us on a video tour of his "house".

sorry, didn't mean to jack this thread.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/05/11 18:25

77kz650...yeah...a 4-1 is probably what I'm looking at...I've still got the bigger jets that came with my k&n state 3 kit that I installed eons ago...as far as my research tells they don't even sell those for 550's anymore...but I got it in '88 or so with multiple jetting options and pods.

loudhvx...cool vid man!.....the kerker pipe is cool but hard to find....there are mac 4-1's on ebay on now and again but I lean toward the vance&hines 'cause they're all crome.....in the 550 gallery on this site there's a dude with some crazy crossover headers that I think are supertraps but not sure......cool stuff.....thanks for the ride!

Thanks!

Dennis Kirk still sells the K series muffler alone(or at least a year or two ago they did). They cost a fortune and then you still have to buy a 4-1 pipe. I think I might try adding one onto a Mac pipe.

Also, I've made small mufflers before. It's not real hard. I think you could make an aluminum fire extinguisher into a Kerker type muffler relatively easily. Maybe I'll try it when I have 2 or 3 days to kill.

My bike came with a yoshimura header and pipe, and without the baffle, it is loud, but sounds as good as any pipe I have ever heard! My old spectre sounded and looked good with a mac 4-1 header and a newer yoshimura canister custom fabbed on the end...

re's a clip where you can kinda hear my Kerker K Series canister.

Hey, that video is cool! It looks like you just strapped the camera to your back seat? Was it an actual video cam or a still camera that can take videos?

Here's the camera. It's dirt cheap and works great. There's no moving parts to get messed up by vibration. (I had mini vhs camera that got scrambled by vibration.)

Pic of camera

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/05/12 12:40