Quad: 1998 Banshee with stock motor.
Pipes would exceed what we had become very accustomed to.
Product:
spark arrested silencers. Chrome makes for a nicer appearance, but the shine never lasted us more than few dune trips before tarnishing. The Turbine Core II spark arresters are great for anyone racing enduro, desert or woods because USFS-approved spark arresters are usually required at these events. The ends are turned down which helps reduce noise and keep the sound output low enough for riding areas with noise restriction laws, such as those at the Oregon dunes. (Non-spark arrested Power Core silencers are also available.) The kit includes a pair of #260 main jets for the stock carbs and, depending on where and how you ride, you may have to go up or down a size or two. The kit comes complete with instructions and FMF decals. Two nickel-plated FMF Fatty pipes with two Turbine Core II
Installation: We did have a hard time fitting the header pipe to the silencer pipe, but a tight fit here is a good thing. The stock exhaust hose and clamps are used to assure a good seal. You will reuse your header pipe mounts and stock springs that pull the pipe up to the exhaust port. The silencers have their own rubber mounts built in allowing them to be bolted directly to the frame. Once installation is complete, you will find the pipes and silencers have a very tight fit. They didn't have the play that a pair of Toomey T5 pipes did on this same machine. Overall, installation was easy and didn't require any special tools.
With our new pipes installed, and napkin in hand to wipe our drool, we headed off to Glamis for some dune hammering. We immediately noticed better power in the low and mid ranges. Our Toomey's had a flat spot followed by a hard hit, whereas the Fattys smooth out the power and pull from bottom to top. This seemed to eliminate some of the unnecessary wheel spin and we didn't have to downshift as much to stay on the power either. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be any loss of power on top. Mike Fairbanks at FMF informed us that FMF dyno tested their pipes against the T5s and both peak at the exact same level. Well, we didn't have a dyno machine but we found no reason to dispute this based on our experience. Also, the spark arrested silencers didn't seem to restrict power like previous clamp-on types we've used. Most spark arresters have six interior fins that help extinguish sparks as they exit. If the fins aren't placed identical to each other, exhaust flow is disrupted resulting in power loss. Mike told us that FMF uses three sets of dual fins in its spark arresters. They are aligned with a jig before being welded in to insure optimal flow while reducing noise and spark.
Summary: