responsible, practical, and economical muffler replacement

[gremlin]

................Without the cat. conv., what effects occur to the bike, re. speed, power, noise, and pollution?  What about engine longevity?

no empirical data exist for the UCE 500 sans converter......

[Ducati Scotty]

I think it depends on what muffler is used and the character of the bike.  I put on an Emgo reverse cone.  $65 muffler with no cat.  The bike behaves perfectly, no dead spots in the power curve, about the same noise level as stock, same top end, BUT fewer vibes.  Others have put on other mufflers and had poor results.  Someone else may have used the same muffler and it was fine.

Without a cat you will definitely get more emissions.  You may get a little more power from less back pressyre but it seems the major restriction is the header pipe.  Without changing that you're still largely choking the motor.  If you do change that YMMV.  Depending on how your bike is set up and how it was built, it may work well it may not.

All that said, the D&D full system which is a low restriction muffler and header pipe combination seems to have given good results to those few that have installed it and reported it.  I would guess it was also the only one developed on a dyno by a manufacturer just for this bike.

Scott

[barenekd]

The catastrophic converter changes the exhaust gases into something else. I forgot what. But getting through all that platinum and stuff makes it more difficult for the engine to breathe. The converter reduces some of the pollution. They will run on an older motor, but why bother? They certainly aren't going to improve performance. Putting some non-cat mufflers on a new bike that came with them will improve performance. However it will lower the clean air signature a bit. And they are a lot heavier than after market stuff. We don't have to get motorcycles checked for smog in CA, so the argument is somewhat moot. However, I will hang onto my stock muffler just in case! It certainly doesn't take that long to change over!
Bare

[gremlin]

The catastrophic converter changes the exhaust gases into something else. .........

.........Broccoli farts

[Gypsyjon]

It the cat conv. the reason the OEM muffler weighs like 30 pounds??

I put on a Goldstar that I can see from one end out through the other...nice bark now ;-)

[Ducati Scotty]

Yes, partly.  It's extra stuff that has to go in there and it weighs something.  Also, OEM mufflers need to meet strict noise standards for EU and the USA, so they tend to have a lot of baffling.

Scott

[Bullet Bill]

The catastrophic converter changes the exhaust gases into something else. I forgot what.

When the fuel mixture's too rich, you get unburned fuel (hydrocarbons) and excess carbon monoxide.  When it's too lean, you get singed fuel (nitrogen oxides).

Long story short, you take unburned fuel and two poisonous gases (HC, NO2, and CO), and you turn them into something less harmful (H20, CO2, and N2; aka water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen gas).  Hooray for my old tech manuals.

[barenekd]

Actually the stock muffler only weighs about 11-12 pounds. I've forgotten exactly, but I did weigh it when I took it off the bike. The EFI muffler was 5 or 6 pounds. And did everything better.
Bare