Yet another quality Italian exhaust manufacturer, Leo Vince has been involved with World Championship racing in both off-road and road competition for decades. The company's exhausts can be found on many World Superbike and Moto2 machines, and it is one of the primary sponsors of the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team fielding Americans Ben Spies and Colin Edwards in '10. When we saw that the firm had come out with an "EVO II" version of its Factory full exhaust systems for the '09 Suzuki GSX-R1000 that we had sitting in our shop, we quickly rang them up to see how it would perform on the big Gixxer.
Leo Vince offers a similar system that is World Superbike legal, in that it has the rules-required dual exhaust outlets (one on each side like the stocker), but we opted for the traditional single outlet system. The 4-into-2-into-1 system is constructed from titanium, with the usual superb welds and excellent build quality present everywhere on the exhaust. As with most modern exhausts that are required to snake their way around tightly packed sportbike components, the Leo Vince EVO II is made up of eight separate pipes/junctions that slip-fit together, with multiple rubber-damped spring clasps to keep them fastened.
Instead of a wire bypass for...
Instead of a wire bypass for the stock Suzuki SET exhaust valve that requires you to muck about in the GSX-R's electrics, Leo Vince supplies this bracket that simply bolts onto the stock SET valve motor and prevents it from rotating beyond a certain point and triggering the OBD.
Most manufacturers of full exhaust systems for the Suzuki GSX-R include a bypass wire plug for the Suzuki's stock SET exhaust valve to prevent the OBD system from detecting that the valve has been disconnected/removed due to a lack of resistance in the motor controlling the valve cables. Instead of having you diving into the Suzuki's wiring, Leo Vince uses a novel method of attaching a special bracket to the valve motor located on the left side of the engine. By preventing the motor's drum from rotating beyond a certain point, the bracket tricks the OBD into thinking that the stock cables are still attached, thus preventing an error code (and causing the ECU to go into "limp home" mode until you can get it reset by a dealer).
At 27.24 pounds, the Suzuki's stock under-engine exhaust with dual mufflers is one of the heavier units around. And predictably, the Leo Vince's titanium construction chops off a big chunk of that heft; scaling in at only 14 pounds, the Leo Vince Factory EVO II exhaust lops off more than 13 pounds from the GSX-R1000. Even more appealing is the performance-although it drops a bit between 3500 and 4500 rpm (presumably where the SET exhaust valve helps maintain proper exhaust flow), the Leo Vince quickly recovers to completely fill in the stock midrange flat spot that occurs between 5000 to 9000 rpm. It then continues pulling well after the stock exhaust has dropped off, peaking at 160.3 horsepower at 12,500 rpm, more than four horsepower over stock without any fueling changes. And it does this without excessive noise; the Leo Vince's exhaust note is non-obtrusive, with none of the raspiness or roar common to some other pipes.
The Leo Vince Factory EVO II full titanium exhaust system for the GSX-R1000 retails for a very reasonable $974.35.
Details
Leo Vince Factory Evo II full exhaust system
Retail: $974.35
www.leovinceusa.com
(510)232-4040