*Much* better

I finally installed a stock exhaust on my 2006 ZX6R. My ears, my neighbors, and the sedans next to me on the highway all rejoiced in response to my properly-muffled maiden voyage. A sort of sensory salvation.



A while back I landed a Craigslist deal on the parts I needed to replace a deafening aftermarket tin can on my Kawi. But the parts sat in the basement for months until recently. A few short stints tinkering, buying hardware, etc. and:

purrr...

Yeah. That's how is sounds now. Instead of an obnoxious, raspy smoker's voice of an exhaust, my flat blue, two-wheeled road jet now sounds civilized, tuned - almost perfect. And I can already feel a torquier low end. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

All's not awesome, though. I had no solution to the missing stock fender that would hold a license plate. And the previous setup was all bent up and stupid. I didn't want to buy a - dare I say the gross phrase - fender eliminator, so I used spare hardware and angle aluminum I had in the basement:



So here we are. How do we look? Cuz I already know we sound frackin' awesome.

Stocking up...

Or stocking back? Well, whatever phrase sounds more marketable, I'm on the return my bike to stock bandwagon. There are lots of reasons why, like failed aftermarket tail lights and painfully-loud exhausts. The latter is my current inspiration.

I was lucky enough to find a Craigslisting in my area for a stock 2005 Kawasaki ZX6R exhaust. It should be the same piece that was originally fitted to my 2006. The buy even included the stock cable pulley that mounts to the exhaust servo motor under the pilot's seat. So I should have all I need to return my exhaust to stock.

Why would I want to bother? Well, first and foremost, because the Cobra aftermarket can that's fitted to my 2006 is annoying. It's way too loud and fitting an aftermarket exhaust for sound is just not reflective of who I am, so I want it off. Second, it's ugly as heck now that I had to put the stock rear blinkers back on. Third, there some voices on the forums that say nothing performs as well as the stock 2005/2006 ZX6R exhaust with the exhaust valve and servo motor working (taking this with a huge grain of salt). So it seems like there's little (if anything) to lose.

Kudos to Megan's SV and the Pelican 1550s for being able to fit a stock 2005 ZX6R exhaust. That thing is much larger than I anticipated...