The Suzuki GSX1400 Owners Club

Reviews

A Long term review of Laser Hotcam exhaust system by Synk - 10/07/04

I bought my laser system shortly after getting my first 1400 .. as I thought the bike could do with a little more go and I also fancied a less muted exhaust note..

Having looked around at the other systems available at the time, everything from the Acrapovic full system to the many assorted end can options including the quill T3 and scorpion systems I decided what I was actually looking for was a system that gave a decent improvement in power, looked good , sounded more like a 1400cc engine and last but most importantly a road legal stamp. The last point may not be a problem for some but I wanted to cover myself against any 'not for road use' interest from her majesty's police force.. This last point removed the Acrapovic systems from the race (shame as I really liked the look of the titanium system ) after looking at the remaining option of either slip-ons or the laser it was a simple descision for me , although the cans I heard sounded good and also looked quite tasty they didn't produce the improvement I was after , this I later found out was partly due to the header pipes being VERY restrictive ( better ones can be purchased from our good friends at Zorstec )

There was then only one solution that met my needs the Laser system.. One of the great features I discovered about this system is that it has a removable baffle.. ( the first system for the 1400 to sport this ) this enables it to get its road legal stamp .. however if you remove it you get a full race system with the power benefits that imparts ƒ

The titanium system cost just over £680 including vat , now this may sound expensive but one look at the header tubes and the overall system lets you see where the quality lies .. The whole system is hand made with the pipe work being made of many smaller pieces to allow the internal surfaces to remain smoother than machine bent tubes. The end can is just stunning with the matt titanium sleeve looking especially nice..

With the baffle in place the system sounds sweet and right on the legal limit but if you want the full sound and performance take it out.. At tick over a deep and purposeful rumble emits from the single can ( not as deep as some of the twin can setups but nice none the less ) give the throttle a blip and the throaty rumble turns into a sharp bark .. generally at low revs the bike is relatively quiet and as long as you keep the revs low you are unlikely to attract attention of the boys in blue, however open it up and over 5k she wails like a banshee .. with the sort of sound that encourages a heavy hand.

Performance wise, to get the best out of it required the installation of a power commander, with this in place the bike yields just over 122 bhp at the rear wheel..

With this extra power the bike keeps that great low-end pull as stock but keeps up coming all the way up until just over the 8.5k mark .. where the torque starts to drop off again.. but hey that's 2 grand more than stock and gets you up to silly numbers all the quicker

Lastly the engine spins up noticeably faster than before .

Overall I am very pleased with this system and can find no fault with it in any way.

Synk