Yamaha FJR1300 Exhaust Modification – FJR Trooper Mod

Yamaha FJR1300 Exhaust Modification

Here is an easy and inexpensive modification you can do to your Yamaha FJR1300 to make the bike sound a little more like a sport bike and a little less like a touring bike. (exhaust mod, trooper mod, FJR, Yamaha)

You have all probably heard the saying, “Loud Pipes Save Lives”.  I am not totally sure that I believe ALL the hype surrounding that phrase but I also think being heard on the road can never hurt.  So I wanted to make my ride a little louder on the road with out being too loud.  I recently bought a new to me 2008 Yamaha FJR 1300. It was a sweet deal with only 1800 miles on it when I got it, I now have over 6K on the odometer since I bought it 4 months ago.  I have really enjoyed the bike so far, smooth power, tons of torque, comfortable, and I am really enjoying the added wind protection for the winter months.  But, like all Sport Touring bikes the FJR has a very muted sound.  In fact, you could barely hear the 1300cc beast with or without ear plugs.  If you have priced aftermarket pipes you know how expensive they are.  You can lay down a load of cash on a set of exhaust pipes for the Yamaha FJR1300 if you buy some Two Brothers or Vance and Hines slip ons.

So I wanted to make the bike a little louder and not break the bank when I stumbled on a post over at FJRforum.com.  The guys over there were discussing the “Trooper Mod” they had performed on their own bikes and I thought it sounded like a great idea.  So I went to Home Depot and got a 1 1/2 inch Metal Hole Saw bit and some reinforced cutting disks for my Dremel.  The grand total cost me about $20.  Following the directions and feedback from other posts on the FJR forum I proceeded to cut in to my pipe and see what happened.

The steps are pretty simple to complete the “Trooper Mod” on your own Yamaha FJR exhaust:

1. Use the Hole Saw bit to cut the weld from the inside of the can.  This weld is holding the end of the pipe you will remove in a later step.
2. Use the small reinforced cutting disks to cut about 1 1/2 inches of pipe from the inside of the can.  You may need a few disks to finish the cut as the pipe quickly grinds them down when cutting.
3. Remove the small section of the pipe once it is cut free.
4. If you want you can remove the pipe and shake out the fine powdery debris left from cutting or you can shoot it out the back with a brisk run down the highway like I did.

I am really happy with the end result.  The bike is louder as you can tell from the video but it won’t wake my neighbors when I leave for work in the morning.  One thing I really like is I can not tell a noticeable difference in sound when going down the highway.  I used to own a screaming loud Harley and I did not want to listen to the drone on extended rides again,  this mod only seems louder at idle and under acceleration.  All in all for $20 and a little elbow grease it was a great addition to the bike.  It took about an hour to complete and is pretty simple if you have any experience with power tools.

Thanks to all the guys over at FJRforum.com for the tip and to Trooper (a fellow Texas native) for starting the thread.  I created this video for some of you who are sitting on the fence about doing this mod to your own bikes.  It is an easy task and is a cheap alternative for those who want a little more sound from their FJR1300.

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