Brogue Exhaust System
The Nifty 250 Sings
The problem with exhaust videos
We’ve all been there. You spend hours on YouTube looking up exhaust comparison videos trying to decide which slip on looks and sounds the best for your bike. These systems usually run a few hundred dollars so you watch every poorly filmed clip with more iPhone audio of a cold start banging off the rev limiter than you could ever dream of. The exhaust sounds great in the video, and much to your surprise isn’t really louder than the stock pipe! Full of confidence you place your order and camp out next to the mailbox.
Saturday comes around and you fly through the install like a pro. Fingers crossed. Key on. Hit the starter. Wow. It finally sounds like a real bike. But dang… it sure does seem a lot louder than stock, and the neighbors have noticed.
This is the problem with 99% of youtube exhaust videos. Unless the recording level is set up manually, most recordings use a feature called “auto attenuation” to normalize volume levels. In extreme cases this can make a whisper sounds just as loud as shouting.
If you take a look at the video I made below you will notice the sound recording levels are exactly the same and I’m using a high fidelity field recorder placed the same distance from the exhaust for both the stock and Brogue exhaust. For best results keep your volume the same between clips and use headphones or speakers with a subwoofer
Install
The entire install process for the slip on and booster plug is super simple. This is the perfect driveway job for those of you looking to gain some confidence in working on your bike. Brogue has a great install video that’s very thorough if you click here.
Initial Thoughts
I’ve owned quite a few motorcycles: eight to be exact. Everything from v twins to cross plane four cylinder sport bikes. I’ve put an exhaust system on every bike I’ve owned except for my thumpers. Everyone knows that one guy around town whose bike sounds like a straight piped lawn mower. I have always believed that a small bore single will never sound good. Until now. The Brogue system pulls a much deeper note from the exhaust and without pumping up the Db’s too high provides a much better feeling of concussion. It really makes the bike feel more substantial and is far from obnoxious. Brogue really hit the nail on the head in balancing timber with overall volume. Is it louder than stock? Yes. Is it close to being as obnoxious as a set of vance and Hines slip ons (which I love for entirely different reasons)? Not for a second. The pipe is perfectly set up for commuting with only the slightest drone at highway speeds. If you are used to aftermarket pipes it really is a nit pick that can’t be avoided. The Brogue pipe is also six pounds lighter than the oem unit, but I would argue the butt dyno doesn’t feel the difference in acceleration.
Booster Plug
What really caught me off guard with the whole system was the difference the booster plug made. I ran the exhaust for a few miles without it just to see if it was really all its cracked up to be since it’s a $160 add on. The bike ran ok without it but had lots of decel popping and seemed to run a but sluggish. The first two times I revved the bike in neutral it actually died but I wasn’t able to replicate that issue afterwards. After bringing the Nifty 250 back home and installing the booster plug the bike took on a whole new personality. Did it feel any faster? No, but the sound definitely improved the sensation of speed. The much improved throttle response blew me away. It was so smooth. Early model fuel injected bikes are notoriously jumpy in low gears because of bad fueling and though the TU gets away with a bit more because of its anemic 16 horsepower but it’s still very noticeable. The booster plug eliminates all fueling jerkiness and exhaust popping on everything but the harshest downshifts. The power band feels so much more linear and controllable and really improved the confidence and ride-ability the bike is already renowned for.
I realize that $486 (if you buy both the exhaust and booster plug) sounds pretty steep, but for most big name systems you are looking at the $400 price point before even looking at fuel controllers and tuning. The price tag feels fair to me when you account the amazing fit and finish of the kit and ease of install. There are a few other “bolt on” kits for the TU250 at cheaper price points but they all seem to be made with cheap mufflers and often eliminate the use of the passenger pegs for mounting. I would definitely purchase this kit again without hesitation. I hope this review was helpful and if you are interested in the brogue products make sure to check out their website. Not many companies have aftermarket parts for the TU250 and its great to support small owed businesses. Speaking of which, if you would like to support the Nifty 250 project make sure to check out our stickers and other merchandise here.
Remember: No bike too small, No adventure too big