The temps were above freezing for two days in a row. The roads are clear of ice. It was time for a proof of concept ride with the Arrow Pro-Race slip on.
First up, a driveway check. She rumbled quite loudly upon being awakened cold. She seemed displeased. I let her idle to one bar on the temp gauge, and she now had a much mellower growl, one that wouldn't unduly scare the neighbors but yet sounded much more powerful and purposeful than stock. I checked my work and saw a whiff of smoke where the slip on attached to the header. So I ran a short errand with the car to let Ninjette cool down before tightening the clamp just a bit more. That seems to have done the trick.
Next up, we went for a ride. Ms. Noire's Arrow doesn't sound rude while underway, but she now gives the impression of a bike not to be trifled with.
My first pleasant surprise was that some of the jerkiness at low throttle in first gear seemed to alleviate. Dunno whether this is all in my mind or not, but I liked it.
The second pleasant surprise was how she seemed to vibrate less at high highway speeds. Again, maybe it's all in my mind, but she seemed a lot smoother in the 80s and low 90s mph (on a closed course with a professional rider
).
There was a third pleasant surprise. The indicated mileage looked to be the same as stock under similar conditions. My range anxiety is satisfied.
Altogether I'm very pleased with the results. And more importantly Ms. Noire also seems to be pleased. A well sorted bike will take care of it's rider.
Edit: I put on about 120 miles today, and everything was consistent with my initial observations above. Also, the exhaust doesn't drone annoyingly on sustained highway stretches. And keeping the rpms in check while in town or the neighborhood seems to be all that is needed not to annoy pedestrians.
Second edit: I now have 350+ miles with the Arrow exhaust and Hotbodies levers. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon riding in Milwaukee neighborhoods and downtown with no more jerkiness at low throttle. I think the combination of both these items has worked out very well for my Ninja 400.
