One of the first changes that a lot of Ducati owners make to their bikes after being run is to change the stock exhaust silencers for less restrictive aftermarket ones. This has the twofold effect of making the bike louder and also releasing a few extra training ponies (as if a 1098 really needed it!) – Oh, and they look great as well! Bonus!
There are a dazzling array of manufacturers who are producing two full systems and slip on silencers for the Ducati range, however due to the success of their products in racing, and the fact that they are the weapon of choice for the factory Corse Racing team, Termignoni has arguably edged it's way into pole position as the number one Ducati exhaust manufacturer.
Termignoni have a wide selection of systems to fit the 1098 family, from slip on silencers to full titanium and carbon fiber race systems at a full 70mm diameter. It is the carbon fiber 1098 silencer kit that we are having a look at today and is the focus of this review.
Contained in the kit is the complete inventory required to fit the less restrictive carbon silencers including an updated race ECU to adjust the fueling to match the increased airflow, and also a high throughput performance air filter to balance out the additional fueling. In addition there are the mountings and bands to support the pipes under the seat, so in summary this is an entire turn key solution.
Fitting is not beyond the realms of a competent home mechanic, the pipes are precision made and as such fit without the need for any tweaking, the only tricky bit being the installation of the air filter which requires tank removal. Other than that the ECU replacement is exactly that – remove old, insert new (with battery disconnected PLEASE !!), pipes bolt into place and job done.
So how do they work and sound? Well, starting with the easy answer first – they sound awesome, deeper, more boomy but without the muffled sound of the stock pipes. The kit does include a pair of decibel killers in case your neighbors are members of the sound police but it sounds good even with these inserted.
Now to the harder question, do they work? Well, without putting every bike on the dyno it is impossible to comment fully, suffice to say that typically you will see up to an 8% increase in horsepower, impressive given the already high state of tune on the stock engine.
As a conclusion, these are an absolute no brainer, lighter than stock which is always good, sound absolutely fantastic, release a few more horsepower, are easy to install and look like they should be on the grid of a world superbike race. Final bonus is that they are some $ 700 cheaper than the titanium variant.
My only reservation, and it is a small one, I am not a fan of race ECU's as there is a massive variance in output of stock bikes so one size fits all approach is not ideal – I prefer the infinite tuneability of a Power Commander, however these pipes do work well with the race ECU so would not worry too much about the later as it is all within tolerance. So yes, money well spent indeed!
For reference they are Ducati Part No: 9115707B and fit the following bikes -1098 2007/2008, 1098 S 2007/2008