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review: Motad 4-1, GS550
Hey guys, not many people have this system so i wanted to share my impressions of the motad 4-1 for the suzuki GS550 77-79.
Looks: very aggresive at the headports. the pipes angle down into the collector very aggresively making a V shaped appearance. It does not hang low at all. The muffler section itself is not actually very long but the collector is positioned about a foot past the 2nd bend allowing the muffler to reach back nearly as far back as my stock pipes. The chome is of a good quality. Smooth no ripples, very clear. It feels solid to the touch and I anticipate that with care it will hold up well through the years. The pipe was designed with old school bikes in mind and motad really did a nice job cause it certainly looks oldschool.
Performance: well, umm.. my butt dyno says yes, there was a gain! Without a dyno i will never know but there certainly is a power increase that you can feel.! Now, keep in mind this is not a straight through muffler so i dont know how much power im missing compared to lets say.. .a Vance & Hines. Im certain a straight through will provide more power in the last few thousand RPM but I have to say that I was pleased to find that power was increased throughout the entire RPM band, even in the 1-3 range! 4-7 is where you really feel it and thats good because the GS550 thrives in that range, being a great bike in the sub 50mph twisties. Power increases are continually felt all the way to redline. Now, perhaps my butt dyno is in need of some calibration since i have not been to the track in several years, but I do have proof in some numbers, and that is top speed. Immediately prior to installation the fastest speed I could ever acheive on my GS550 on a certain isolated straightaway near my house is 101 mph. Just barely hittin the ton. Now im hiting 106 and getting to 100 much earlier on the straightaway. Is the weight loss from stock exhaust the reason for this? the weight loss was substantial, probably 15lbs or more but its probably more of a contributing factor and that both are the reason for this slight performance increase.
Sound: is it quiet? YES and that is not everyones cup of tea. But the sound is far from boring. Here is how I would describe it. smooth and controlled. The tone is deep and clean but not monotonous. There is details in the exhaust note and the motor characteristics are still able to come out in the sound. Probably the thing that most surprised me about this exahust was the lack of drone on the freeway. This thing sounds great on the freeway! Very comfortable and you only hear it when you want to. If you are after a very sporty sound, you will probably hate how this exhuast sounds. It sounded quite pedestrian compared to a friends gs1100 with a yoshimura. But make no mistake, when im smashin around town, people still turn from far enough away to see what they are hearing.
To wrap it up, I had been looking for 2-3 years for any damn exhaust for my gs550! They simply dont make 4-1's for this bike anymore!
(dont say MAC because I just really dislike that exhaust, especially for $350.00 sorry mac guys! they kinda look cool though!) So, here I am giving this thing glowing reviews, but i have nothing to compare it to besides my stock mufflers. In all honestly I would have taken anything other than a mac and if I had been given the choice I would have chosen the proven Vance & Hines system over this motad. But i do have a lot of experience from modifying and racing cars and this exhaust proved to be a very pleasant surprise. Not a single thing I can say bad about about it or was disappointed with it in any area. I have a GS550 so its not like I had a beast of a motor waiting to be unleashed. This exhaust design may not excel so well compared to other 4-1's on a gs1100 where big power numbers are more important. But if you are looking to upgrade to a 4-1 and you are a person who doesnt like loud exhausts or you rather prefer the sound of motor or intake, then dont hesitate to buy a motad. And especially for you 550 guys with no exhaust options! If you find a motad, scoop it up, fast.
Thank you for reading this lengthy review!
Looks: very aggresive at the headports. the pipes angle down into the collector very aggresively making a V shaped appearance. It does not hang low at all. The muffler section itself is not actually very long but the collector is positioned about a foot past the 2nd bend allowing the muffler to reach back nearly as far back as my stock pipes. The chome is of a good quality. Smooth no ripples, very clear. It feels solid to the touch and I anticipate that with care it will hold up well through the years. The pipe was designed with old school bikes in mind and motad really did a nice job cause it certainly looks oldschool.
Performance: well, umm.. my butt dyno says yes, there was a gain! Without a dyno i will never know but there certainly is a power increase that you can feel.! Now, keep in mind this is not a straight through muffler so i dont know how much power im missing compared to lets say.. .a Vance & Hines. Im certain a straight through will provide more power in the last few thousand RPM but I have to say that I was pleased to find that power was increased throughout the entire RPM band, even in the 1-3 range! 4-7 is where you really feel it and thats good because the GS550 thrives in that range, being a great bike in the sub 50mph twisties. Power increases are continually felt all the way to redline. Now, perhaps my butt dyno is in need of some calibration since i have not been to the track in several years, but I do have proof in some numbers, and that is top speed. Immediately prior to installation the fastest speed I could ever acheive on my GS550 on a certain isolated straightaway near my house is 101 mph. Just barely hittin the ton. Now im hiting 106 and getting to 100 much earlier on the straightaway. Is the weight loss from stock exhaust the reason for this? the weight loss was substantial, probably 15lbs or more but its probably more of a contributing factor and that both are the reason for this slight performance increase.
Sound: is it quiet? YES and that is not everyones cup of tea. But the sound is far from boring. Here is how I would describe it. smooth and controlled. The tone is deep and clean but not monotonous. There is details in the exhaust note and the motor characteristics are still able to come out in the sound. Probably the thing that most surprised me about this exahust was the lack of drone on the freeway. This thing sounds great on the freeway! Very comfortable and you only hear it when you want to. If you are after a very sporty sound, you will probably hate how this exhuast sounds. It sounded quite pedestrian compared to a friends gs1100 with a yoshimura. But make no mistake, when im smashin around town, people still turn from far enough away to see what they are hearing.
To wrap it up, I had been looking for 2-3 years for any damn exhaust for my gs550! They simply dont make 4-1's for this bike anymore!
(dont say MAC because I just really dislike that exhaust, especially for $350.00 sorry mac guys! they kinda look cool though!) So, here I am giving this thing glowing reviews, but i have nothing to compare it to besides my stock mufflers. In all honestly I would have taken anything other than a mac and if I had been given the choice I would have chosen the proven Vance & Hines system over this motad. But i do have a lot of experience from modifying and racing cars and this exhaust proved to be a very pleasant surprise. Not a single thing I can say bad about about it or was disappointed with it in any area. I have a GS550 so its not like I had a beast of a motor waiting to be unleashed. This exhaust design may not excel so well compared to other 4-1's on a gs1100 where big power numbers are more important. But if you are looking to upgrade to a 4-1 and you are a person who doesnt like loud exhausts or you rather prefer the sound of motor or intake, then dont hesitate to buy a motad. And especially for you 550 guys with no exhaust options! If you find a motad, scoop it up, fast. Thank you for reading this lengthy review!
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