Honda 919 Two Brothers Racing Exhaust

MPG VIDEO	MPG VIDEO

TBR Exhaust Video 2.11MB	TBR Driveby Video 3.07MB	HondaSarge's Baseline Dyno Run	Speedy's TBR Dyno Run

I was wanting a little more sound out of my 2002 Honda 919, and a little performance gain wouldn't have hurt either. I started researching various exhaust systems. With the 919 being so new, the options were limited. There were only a few systems available, and most were either too pricey, or didn't have the style I was looking for. Then I came across the Two Brother Dual slip-on system for an excellent price from www.starcycle.com . I highly recommend Starcycle as they provided excellent customer service before and after the sale.

Although the system took a week longer to arrive due to Two Brothers delaying the shipment to Starcycle, it came packaged very well. The box was well taped, and all parts inside were wrapped in cello foam and taped. There were also sheets of bubble wrap filling the box to keep things in place during shipment, as well as cardboard retainers. Rest assured that with this packaging, your exhaust will arrive without shipping damage. Seeing the care taken to package the parts was reassuring and I hoped it was akin to the quality of the exhaust system.

The Two Brothers System I ordered was part number 005-900417D. It is a C4 aluminum slip-on system with round cans. The slip-ons connect to the bike at the stock "Y" pipe using connector pipes that are approximately 1/2" larger than stock. The kit comes with everything you need to install the system including a small tube of high temp, sensor safe, Permatex black silicone. The system also came with a stainless steel brake line that is not required. I believe this is a mistake on Two Brothers part, and they are including this part un-necessarily. I believe the stainless steel brake line is only used for the single sided slip-on system that replaces the stock "Y" pipe. Two Brothers lists this stainless steel brake line at $51.98 in their catalog, and that could be taken away from the cost of the dual slip-on system making it more cost effective. The entire system weighed 8.0 lbs according to my digital bathroom scale. The stock Honda exhaust weighed in at a hefty 16.5 pounds. The Two Brothers bracket that holds the cans in place is a sturdy, 1/4" thick, machined aluminum part held in place with hex bolts under the rear fender.

Installation is very straight forward and the instructions are easy to follow. In a nutshell, you remove the seat and tail section, loosen the stock exhaust flange bands at the "Y" pipe, and remove the two bolts under the seat that hold the stock exhaust in place. Slide the stock exhaust out of the way, install the Two Brothers mounting bracket, apply silicone to the mating locations, and slide the system together on the bike. The most difficult part of the installation is getting the exhaust bands connected to the mounting bracket. They have a rubber gasket in place that makes them very tight when compressed. This part is a two person job. Remember not to tighten any bolts until everything is in place and tweaked to make everything symmetrical. The right side will protrude from the bike about 1/4" more than the left due to the way the under side of the seat is shaped. This is not noticeable by sight. I only noticed it due to my measuring to make sure everything was aligned properly.

The only problem I had during the installation was the left side connector pipe was bent a little out of round and the slip-on would not connect. A quick grip on the edge with a wrench and a little squeeze and it was round again. I believe this piece got bent when the two connector pipes were taped together as they were packaged. Once the system is installed I'd wait about 8 hours before riding the bike to give the Permatex silicone time to dry. Total install time for me was 2 hours including taking pictures, measurements, and documentation.

Now for the good stuff. How does it sound? How does it perform? How's the fit and finish? The sound is just right. Not too loud, not too quiet. Judge for yourself with the MP3 file at the top of the page. While I was at it I also made an MP3 of the 919 with no exhaust for comparison. Depending on how good your speakers are, these will give you an idea of the sound of the exhaust. For those with a little more bandwidth check out the videos.

Performance wise the bike seems to come out of corners much better than before. I'm not sure if this is due to the 3 or so ft/lbs of torque the system adds, or if it's because I can actually now hear the engine more acutely and adjust the throttle accordingly. The exhaust has gotten about twice as loud after the first 200 miles, so don't be fooled the first time you start the bike after installation.

The fit and finish of the cans is good. They are well polished, though scratch easily so be careful during installation. The rivets were well seated, and the edges were all uniform with no irregularities in any of the seams. Where the springs attach have an added insert for strength as well. The only blemishes I found on the cans were close to where the springs connect. It looked like a chroming process of some sort and you could see the welds a tad at those places. There were only two blemishes and they were negligible.

The finish on the connector pipes was good. The only places there were blemishes was where the pipes are sized down to connect to the stock "Y" pipe. These are also negligible and not easily noticeable. The left side connector pipe was slightly bent out of round and wouldn't connect to the Two Brothers can. Two seconds with a wrench quickly corrected this.

The Two Brothers slip-ons really improve the looks of the bike. They add to it's sporty nature and the sound fits the 919 perfectly. For the price they are a good deal and I give them a 8 out of 10 for looks and sound. I didn't expect a warp speed difference in power, but I do notice the bike seems to do better coming out of the turns. After I get a few thousand miles on the pipes I'll post a follow up to the durability of the construction and finish.