FMF Q
Rick,
I should have mentioned the reason I didn’t keep the Q was because it fell apart. The rear hanger they use is a strap that cradles the can, as opposed to a fixed mount welded to the can ala stock or PC T4.
I think this would be a perfectly acceptable design if:
a) They used springs to hold the can firmly into the collector, resisting movement and vibration, like Yosh does.
b) The can was not so long and heavy. As designed and mounted on a YZF the bulk of the can is actually aft of the rear hanger. This causes the can to put stress on the four small (~ 4 mm) bolts that secure it to the collector since the can will rock to and fro about the axis of the strap-type hanger.
In my case this caused the four little bolts to come lose. I kept an eye on them and had to retighten after every few rides. At any rate perhaps I wasn’t vigilant enough because I guess the bolts ovalled out the holes in the collector to such an extent that it came completely apart during a race, even though I checked it all over the night before and applied loctite and snugged all fasteners. Since the rear hanger isn’t affixed to the can the whole thing just flopped off in a sand wash somewhere in central NM after the four bolts got ripped out of the collector and that was the end of my race day (and the end of my $300 pipe).
I’m thinking they designed it this way (no fixed rear mount) so that one silencer would fit many different bikes, which is good for Mr. Emler but was bad for me. The Q silencer retails at around three honey I think, and IMO it isn’t even close to being worth that. The only other system I know of that is as quiet or perhaps quieter than stock is the Arrow system, which comes w/ or w/out a header, is also very expensive, and last time I checked did not have an S/A. Also, I have yet to see one, much less hear one so I don’t know how quiet they really are.
Oh, I almost forgot, yes, the FMF Q is quiet, not as loud as the stocker and almost as quiet as a stock KTM 520 (at higher RPMs/loads/throttle settings my YZ w/ the Q was only a little louder than my pal’s stock 520 EXC). As for power it seemed to lose a little down low, but revved very well, as good or better than stock and much better than any aftermarket system I’ve tried.
Hope this helps.