Pros and cons: Carbon vs titanium exhausts

Any pros and cons? Which is better? Don't pro racers mostly use titanium?

Thanks...

Titanium exhaust is better. Carbon will break down over time from the heat and start getting soft spots...(especially with highly modified engines) and before you know it.....BOOM! you blow one of you cans up in the middle of a race. Believe me I've seen my bike do it.

damn!! i wish i knew about his before i bought my half system 2 years ago. anyone know if i can just buy the titanium cans for the half system?

Yes you can but a better option would be to have your cans re-sleeved in Ti. Ducati do the Ti sleeves (part # 961012AAA if you want to price them) but it would probably be cheaper to have them made for you. Other plus point about re-sleeving is you could repack them at the same time and if your carbon sleeves are in good condition, e-bay them and make some money back.


Modified by 748rheid at 11:46 AM 2/18/2005

i don't think you'll have problems with a carbon sleeved exhaust so long as you maintain the packing. carbon breaks down from the heat of getting the gasses straight on. if your cans are packed properly, they should last quite a while.

Yep, it's the packing that can cause problems with CF cans. If you start burning up the sleeve, you can repack the cans and even put on new sleeves - I did this with my old BCD exhaust using Arrow sleeves. But, that said, it's a hassle that's completely avoided with Ti sleeves - which is why I got a Ti can for my GSXR.

I spent a couple of seasons as a wrench on a Pro Thunder team with three riders. Our first year at Daytona we were blowing holes in carbon fiber cans left and right. What a pain! we finally got some Ti sleeves and rebuilt all the cans...end of problems.
I have a serious dis-like for CF cans now...along with this twitch...

For the full-liter Ducs, I would avoid CF & stick with the metals...

For a 7-series Duc, the CF will be fine.

Don't Ti sleeves tend to get dinged up from debris flying up from the rear wheel? I would hate to look up at my Ti cans and see 20 dings in it after a few thousand miles.

I had Ti on the other bike. I wanted Ti on this one, but picked up the CF half system because of the price.

damn! looks like ill be looking for ti sleeves or new cans

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by killer bee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn! looks like ill be looking for ti sleeves or new cans </TD></TR></TABLE>

just make sure the packing isn't shot and run them till you have a problem. If a problem ever actually appears address it then.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mike996 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Titanium exhaust is better. Carbon will break down over time from the heat and start getting soft spots...(especially with highly modified engines) and before you know it.....BOOM! you blow one of you cans up in the middle of a race. Believe me I've seen my bike do it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Man, makes you feel for those guys with carby cans and BST wheels. One day their whole bike might just spontaneously explode or something

Could those that own titanium, address the easily dentable nature of the metal from road debris, etc. I have a rear hugger but still find junk on my cans at end of ride.
Also, does the titanium ever discolor or pick up a "flamed titanium"look popular on most jap slipons.(think micron)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by El_Toro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could those that own titanium, address the easily dentable nature of the metal from road debris, etc. I have a rear hugger but still find junk on my cans at end of ride.
Also, does the titanium ever discolor or pick up a "flamed titanium"look popular on most jap slipons.(think micron)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i had a full akra Ti system on my gixxer and the can NEVER got any dings or dents, dont worry.

As for the "flamed titanium" look you are refering to, there is no stinking way the cans will ever get hot enough to discolor in that manner. You can ride the tits off the bike and the cans will be cool enough to touch in a short time. Now the header pipes and Ti welds can change color due to the heat in them but nothing as radical as the scorched Ti pipes you are thinking of.

A Titanium exhaust is better. go with the ti.

Ti won't get UV fade and it cleans well!

I had some old carbon cans on my 851, still good after 35K miles, got some ti. cans now, no road dings, will never get hot enough to "color, they sound a lot different. The carbon cans are a lot more mellow. Personally like carbon better.

It's not just carbon cans that get holes in them:



This was a ?m steel full system on a buddies 999S. The system is less than a year old and the engine is stock apart from air filters and PC3 + map.

I hate seeing that picture because I just bought a set of those!
The US version is a little different though, and I am hoping better! On the US version the outlet is smooth and welded together differently. No lip on the oblong exhaust hole.