2003 Z1000 EXHAUST

[Chitchats]

Dam thats a nice lookin Zed Mattjin.

[KawiNut]

Hi all, I am having a bit of trouble with my Zed exhaust build and was looking for some advice on what to do. I pulled a R77 off of a GSXR 1000 and am wanting to put in on my '03 Z using some '01 ZX9 headers a friend had lying around. The trouble is, the GSXR mid-pipe is NOTHING like the one I would need to go from the ZX9 headers to the R77 (not shocked). I was curious if there were any Yoshi mid-pipes that were even close and what modifications would have to be done to them to get them to fit. IM STUUUUCK!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!

[Gosling1]

good luck mate - mixing'n'matching exhaust parts is a world of pain.

What you will need to do is fit the headers to the bike, take the bike and the muffler down to a local muffler shop, and get them to bend up a mid-section pipe for you.

[Mattjin]

Sorry the pic of mine is down. Between website hosts ATM.

All we used to put the R77 on the ZX9 headers were 2x pollished 2.5" 45deg stainless bends. Cut the headers right on the weld where it becomes a single pipe. Interestingly the headers look like 4-1 but are actually 4-2-1 and you will see what I mean once you cut the pipe off. There is a divider inside the pipe.

Anyway, and little cutting and welding and on it goes. Mine was from a 1250 Bandit which was chosen for the longer length. I got it very cheap on ebay from a store close-out sale at a fraction of the normal price. It came with the pipe but the only thing I used off that pipe were the metal tags for the springs which were carefully cut off, and this was only done because I could not find stainless wire the right size locally at the time.

I have been through numerous exhausts on my Zed. From stock, to a 4-2-1 setup using the stock headers using a couple of different mufflers (Yoshi and Viper). Also tried out some of the cheapo Danmoto carbons but they were crazy loud. The ZX9/R77 setup looks good, performs well, and actually makes identical power on the dyno with or without the baffle inserted.

I have attached a few jpg's which should give you a guide how to do it.

[KawiNut]

Looks good, I haven't cut my headers yet (because I'm not 100% sure where), but the main problem I am running into is that the headers seem to dump out about 6" in front of the stupid suspension linkage, leaving me to make an impossible bend that the muffler shop owners do not want to touch. Am I using the wrong header or will this problem be resolved when I cut it? Can send pictures of header if needed. Thanks again!

[Mattjin]

This is where to cut it. To do it correctly you should use stainless bends and have it TIG'ed. Any fabrication shop should be able to do it. If the exhaust shop is reluctant, try a high performance car shop. All exhaust shops should be able to order the bends, and all you need are the two 45's.

[KawiNut]

You my friend may be a lifesaver. Going to chop and hit up high performance car shops this week. MUCH LOVE and many thanks from the states! I'll let you know my results. One last request for a picture (sorry to be a pain in the behind), what does the whole exhaust look like complete minus that pesky lower fairing you got on? Thanks a million again!

[Mattjin]

I dont have any photos of the ZX9/R77 without the belly pan sorry. The header shot above was taken over a year ago when I adapted a different muffler to it. I remember cutting the straight section of pipe that welds to the header on a very slight angle so it just clears the frame and the suspension linkage. It takes a little time to get it just right, but any performance shop you talk to will know what to do. It is not alot of work, but it does take some careful cutting to get it just right.

[Cojack]

Awesome Z, Mattjin.

I too had a midpipe cut by an exhaust shop for a 4-2 system (stock headers). Worked out very nice.

Off topic: What brand is the belly pan, where did you purchase it from? and is it difficult to fit.

[Mattjin]

Thanks for the feedback. Without hijacking the thread too much, after searching everywhere for an appropriate bellypan I found this one on ebay of all places. A guy from Lithuania has them. As delivered is was quite rough, and the brackets did not fit too well. I ended up making new alloy bracket with threaded lugs welded on so I did not have to perform contortions each time I took the pan on or off. The same smash repair shop that I handed the rest of the parts to for painting fixed up the belly pan. The end result I feel was worth it. It is a good shape but just needed finishing off. If you look carefully in the pics you can spot where it has touched down when cornering hard when it was on the stock suspension, and now needs repainting to fix it back up.