Wow. That's some good stuff. Surprised by some of his comments too. Now, did I see a Akrapovic exhaust on a full factory Ducati???? What's up with that?
most of exhaust pipes are just a label the company is ALLOWED to slap on there for a fee. THe manufacturer either make their own, or contract it to the company to be made to their specification.
For example, the AMA RC51 had Jardine stickers while the WSBK Castrol bike had Akras stickers...... they were both the exact same identical pipes made by HRC.
Or Nicky Hayden running Daytona boots with a Joe Rocket label over it...same idea.
The Ducati both have Ducati made pipes.... MAYBE contracted out to Termi (doubtful), but whoever pays to slap their label on it gets to call it theirs even though chances are they never laid a hand in the manufacturing of it.
most of exhaust pipes are just a label the company is ALLOWED to slap on there for a fee. THe manufacturer either make their own, or contract it to the company to be made to their specification.
For example, the AMA RC51 had Jardine stickers while the WSBK Castrol bike had Akras stickers...... they were both the exact same identical pipes made by HRC.
Or Nicky Hayden running Daytona boots with a Joe Rocket label over it...same idea.
The Ducati both have Ducati made pipes.... MAYBE contracted out to Termi (doubtful), but whoever pays to slap their label on it gets to call it theirs even though chances are they never laid a hand in the manufacturing of it.
Not sure you're right on this one.
Akrapovic is adamant that they have never allowed their stickers on anyone else's bike - and that they made the (one-off) pipes for Edwards's RC51. They were certainly different from the HRC pipes they offered to other teams.
Other companies (like the Jardines you mentioned), when asked, have been silent on the issue.
And Termi has two branches: production and racing. The racing arm has nothing in common with the street pipes. The Ducs that have Termi pipes have them from the racing branch. They are works of art.
__________________ Gary Brought to you by the Committee to Re-Elect Godzilla - He Kicked Ass in Japan, He'll Kick Ass in the UN!
Akrapovic is adamant that they have never allowed their stickers on anyone else's bike - and that they made the (one-off) pipes for Edwards's RC51. They were certainly different from the HRC pipes they offered to other teams.
Racer X and RoadRacer X both did a writeup on the Akra factory and how they don't fuk around with anything that's shit. They actually test the raw titanium themselves to see if it's up to snuff and are really into the racing side. I believe they had Biaggi's race bike there testing it when the article was being done. Don't think they are putting their sticker on ANYTHING that's not theirs nowadays.
Excerpts from the Mattes blog:
"The way you say it is "A-crop-a-vich.""
"As some of you may know, I went over to Slovenia in the summer and visited the Akrapovic exhaust conglomerate. Well, the guys there are pretty cool and had tried a few different times to get through to James Stewart just how much they appreciate him winning the 2009 AMA Supercross Series with their exhaust but weren’t making much progress. Then I became involved somehow and was the middleman for getting Stewie a complete titanium exhaust for his BMW M6. Yes, Akrapovic makes car exhausts and, like their bike systems, they’re bitchin’. So on its way to Haines City, Florida is a complete system with a laser-etched JSE logo to boot. I heard one of these over there, and they make the Beemer sound like an F1 car. Pretty cool of the crazy Slovenians, I must say!"
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrgrn
why don'y you do yourself a favor and put me on ignore
Akrapovic is adamant that they have never allowed their stickers on anyone else's bike - and that they made the (one-off) pipes for Edwards's RC51. They were certainly different from the HRC pipes they offered to other teams.
Other companies (like the Jardines you mentioned), when asked, have been silent on the issue.
And Termi has two branches: production and racing. The racing arm has nothing in common with the street pipes. The Ducs that have Termi pipes have them from the racing branch. They are works of art.
well, this was a big subject when the two different bikes were racing and the first question on everyones mind and the various and new and very busy RC51 forums was about the pipes on the bikes.... Obviously, it didnt escape us for a second.. The Akras were made by Akra, BUT commissioned or sub contacted out by HRC to them...so they were manufacturer by Akra but tp HRCs specifications and design. The Pipes on Nicky Haydens bikes were HRC spec Akras, the exact same one on Colins bike... with Jardine Stickers. There was a very famous picture (on RC51 forums anyway) that got out from when American Honda or something like that when it took delivery of one of these sets and had the Akra stickers, and next day suddenly there were Jardine.
Now...whether Akra ALLLOWS or not i dont know about....but that was what we saw happen in 2000-2001 when the hole subject came up.
i actually got curious about this and went back to the RC51 website that had the best info and did a quick search on the subject.. i found one thread on it, pretty old one but heres what one of the members that actually had VERY close ties to people that had worked or worked with American Honda said about it.... one guy that sells lots of good RC51 parts.
"
posted 02-06-03 09:36 AM
Akra built the headers & cans (to HRC specs) for the first year of World Superbike & AMA Superbike racing.
Also during that first year Jardine did supply some carbon cannisters for the AMA Honda team & the cannister literally self destructed during practice laps around several different circuits. Ultimately they ended up using Akra cans with Jardine badges.
EDIT: Ooops I forgot to mention that it was actually a Jardine header that failed at Daytona costing Nicky the win, which is why they went forward with the Akra headers...
Last year Akra continued to make headers for both teams, but Jardine also upped the ante & did make a significant run of HRC spec headers for the AMA Superbike team which as I understand it did get used throughout the season, but not solely as the AMA team ran the Akra systems again rebadged as Jardine's at some of the circuits late in the season."
i remember he also posted pictures to prove this one time and it became a very long thread on that forum.
Akropovich is a fairly common name in Eastern Europe. Slov, Russian, Polish Czech and so on. And yes it's Ah-krop-o-vich per Russian and Czech buddies.
That doesn't make sense to me. So it's like A cropavich?Wait, that won't work either. It's not, a CROP a vich?
you know every time I try to tell somebody how to pronounce it, there is allways some douche spoutin off about the parts guy blah blah blah. they know they sell the stuff. I swear they should put the phonetic spelling in small type on the badges. Or better yet at least be required to pronounce it before purchase. the education system in this country sure is in sorry shape.
oh man.. now there are even exhaust pronunciation snubs?!
i also find it hilarious that non of their consumer motorcycle products are any good and cost twice as much as everyone elses....Im talking performance, not build quality which they have some of the best..but so what ... and you two being RC51 owners know this well.
Wayne Gardner tests the 2009 SBK field
Linear Mode
