Allspeed Q&A
CMM: With the large and the small can design, other than appearance, is there any difference in performance between the two? Tony Greenslade: “Small can was the original size. The large can was designed when the new BSAU 193 regulation came into effect in 1984/5, so Pete made the can larger to make them slightly quieter. It’s more of a visual thing, as it’s not much quieter. Performance-wise, the theory is the large can should work better. However, the couple of times we have done a back-to-back on a bike, the small can proved to be better. We are talking a one or two bhp difference. We have recently produced some ‘Micron’ small can-style pipes. If you’re a Micron fan we can make a pipe for you as well.” CMM: Roughly how many hours does it take to fabricate a single Allspeed pipe? TG: “Tough one, as there are so many parts to make. If we had all the parts of the jigsaw to make at once, I would say it is a day’s work. We normally make the components in bulk and have them on the shelf ready to go. You would not believe how long it takes to make a baffle tube. You cannot buy perforated tube in the diameter we need, so we have to cut it out from sheet, then roll it in a fly press (two procedures), then weld to make the tube.” CMM: Who else around the world likes Allspeeds? TG: “We sell quite a few pipes in Europe, and a lot in Sweden/norway at the moment. Australia and New Zealand are popular also. Best one this year was an LC set to a customer in Japan. Sadly we cannot sell in the US or Canada, as insurance companies will not cover this. Their ‘Sue U’ culture has killed this!” CMM: What gems were unearthed when you purchased the business? TG: “We have all of Pete’s old exhaust designs, and a lot will come into use as the bikes get older. All his old race stuff for ZXRS, R1s, etc. We found an old order book, which had some great names in from the past: famous riders and team managers that all used Pete over the years.” CMM: Are there any two-stroke models that you avoid making exhausts for? If so, why? TG: “Kawasaki Triples. We have made them in the past and we are looking at some at the moment. What we always found was that there are too many variations to make a jig for them. We have had two KH500S in the workshop: same year, colour, everything. However, they had completely different centre stands on them!” CMM: What other Allspeed merchandise is available? TG: “We sell the exhaust stickers, so if you have an old set of pipes that need a sticker we have them in stock. We did have some thermal mugs that were limited edition! These went out with orders to some lucky customers. We are looking at T-shirts and other items this year.”