Harley-Davidson XR1200 Pipe Comparison

D&D Exhaust is based in Ft. Worth, Texas, and has been churning out pipes since the '70s. The D&D 2-into-1 Bob Cat system uses their new Concentric Flow Baffle system that was designed in conjunction with the Engineering Dept. at the University of Texas, Arlington. Said to improve tone, reduce bark, and increase power the D&D does have a unique sound. The system is black coated with an option of a black, aluminum or carbon fiber sleeve on the muffler. With full heat shields, something fairly rare in this test, the D&D weighed 24 pounds and lean angle was compromised a little. Honestly this pipe surprised us a bit, there was nothing extraordinary about the look or design that indicated that it would make the best all around power of the bunch, but that's exactly what it did! The head pipes on the Bob Cat system are a true step header design and that probably accounted for its strong showing. The D&D was also the second lowest price in this test.

BUB Enterprises of Grass Valley, California, was founded by Denis Manning in 1976. The mildly eccentric Denis is well known and respected in the land speed racing world, currently holding the land speed record at 367.382 mph. The BUB XR system was developed in conjunction with Storz Performance and is the only system that really pays homage to the XR's roots of Dirt Track racing with XR750 Styling. Storz Performance specializes in making Sportster's into Street Tracker type bikes and Harley Davidson bought the XR1200 name from Storz. The only downside to the BUB/Storz system is that it requires moving the rear brake master cylinder using a Storz relocation kit, an additional $349. The pipes also eliminate the passenger pegs and do not allow use of the Harley Saddlebag kit. The BUB pipe is a step header design for increased power and is available in either chrome or black ceramic as we used. With full heatshields this largest system of the bunch weighed 25 pounds but does eliminate the OE lower mount, rear mount, and rear footpegs making it 17.5 pounds lighter than stock. The BUB's were definitely more involved to install and with the required master cylinder relocation got a little pricey as well. With the high pipe design, lean angle is no longer compromised by the exhaust and these were by far the loudest, sounding like an XR750 ready to hit the track.