SUZUKI GSX-R750 SRAD
Our Scottie finds himself utterly exhausted simply by trying to sort out the pipes and end-can on his SRAD!
Scott Redmond is exhausted this month. It’s an end-can thing.
Doing a project can be exhausting work, not just because of the time you dedicate to those ‘just popping out to the garage, won’t be long,’ moments, but even sourcing the parts you need (or think you need) can suck up hours of your life that you won’t get back. I’ve all but exhausted my options for sorting out the particularly sorry-looking zorst on my SRAD. The standard can that it wore upon its arrival was never going to stay; the last owner had only fitted it because certain track days he went on run to some rather stringent rules on noise. Aftermarket race cans might sound and look the part, but more often than not in these ‘wrap-us-upin-cotton-wool-and-restrict-our-fun’ times, these loud cans won’t get you trackside on more and more track day sessions: which is a bit of a shame as sometimes the fun is also in the sound. Now, I am not a fan of carbon-fibre cans, in fact I don’t really like carbon-fibre full-stop. For me it’s got be a nice metal silencer, I just think that polished alloy silencers look so correct on 1990s race reps. As I have no plans to go on any track days, I do like the idea of an end can that isn’t overly offensive noise-wise. I think I’m finally getting old! My next thing to consider before gazing at ebay on my phone for an age, searching and narrowing down my possibilities, is
the fact that my exhaust downpipes look pretty crap. They appear to be solid (so that’s a good thing) however they do have lots of surface rust. I could tart them up but I have a much better idea! The great thing with older Suzuki models is just how much interchanges between the models, if you’ve ever mucked about with Slabbies and Slingshots you’ll be aware of just how many parts from later bikes can be retro fitted, everything from calipers and wheels, to forks and swingarms can all be swapped back and forth. There’s an answer to my downpipe prayers in the shape of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 K1 titanium headers. These lightweight beauties are a direct replacement for the crusty, rusty, musty old SRAD steel items. Even better is the fact that the GSX-R1000 K2 came with a titanium link pipe which goes all blue with years of use so it even looks ‘hot’. Like, literally! So, it looks great, saves weight and won’t rot away and it also slips straight on the K1 collector box outlet. I love it when a plan comes together! After trawling ebay on and off for a few weeks only one set appeared for sale; I would’ve bought them but they were heavily damaged across the downpipes, in a way that indicated the front wheel had ended its life buried in them after a crash. Always take a good look at the pictures when buying second-hand parts: yes I know it’s obvious, but it’s all too easy to blunder in – especially if (like with these pipes) our favourite auction sites aren’t awash with choice. Like the old adage ‘measure twice, cut once’ I suggest ‘look thrice, buy once!’ Thinking about it, they could’ve been repaired I suppose, but sticking to my rule, I decided to keep on looking. This is where I got bored and ended up buying a really clean aftermarket alloy end can for a bargain price of £40! That’ll do for now I thought, just slap some paint on the existing headers and move on to the next job. The can arrived and sat unwrapped in my garage for a week, why do we do that? Buy stuff, pay for premium delivery and then not open it for days? Or is it just me? The upshot was the can was in excellent condition, but it wasn’t for an SRAD, it also wasn’t even alloy! It was a highly polished stainless steel item. How I laughed. The bolt up pattern was the same at first glance, but it doesn’t match up with the three holes on the headers, by now I had lost interest in my £40 bargain. I’m thinking it will go back on the Bay soon… With all this to-ing and fro-ing, I have decided to stick with plan A and keep an eye out for some GSX-R1000 K1 items and to heck with any other bright idea! See? I did tell you that this project lark can be exhausting.