Titanium Shortage!
Saturday, April 23rd, 2005 at 7:57 am by angrybob
One thing I have to say: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This cannot be. Titanium is the coolest material for motorcycles ever implemented. It even has a cool name. Say it with me Homer style: mmmmmmmm…Ti-Tan-ium. Here’s the article from Roadracing World
A worldwide titanium shortage is affecting manufacturers of high-performance exhaust systems and may affect production of motorcycles designed to use titanium valves.
Sources within the motorcycle industry say that exhaust pipe manufacturers have recently been unable to obtain titanium tubing at any price, following a steep run-up in prices earlier this year.
The titanium shortage may be related to an increase in Chinese purchasing of the relatively rare substance.
My solution is to ban the OE manufacturers from wasting titanium on stock OE mufflers that sound and breathe like ass. That is a waste of great material. Think about it, what’s the first thing that 99% of sport bike owners do - they replace the exhaust with either a full system or a slip-on for sound improvement and a (hopeful) performance gain. I know, the dry weight wars for the bragging rights & magazine shootouts. But still, help some brutha’s out and do the right thing when there is a shortage. STOP MAKING OE TITANIUM MUFFLERS! In Phoenix, we have to voluntarily limit watering our lawns in the drought season from a water shortage, so why not OE manufacturers (well…their suppliers) go back to aluminum or some other metal we can make boat anchors out of.
Regardless, I have my system already. I’m just looking out for the little guy. 
Have you hugged your titanium exhaust today?
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Arrg…. If I hear another “Loud Pipe” is a great thing comment, I am going to scream. The fact is that the current OE exhaust systems made out of titanium achieve low noise, maximum flow and many carry catalytic converters inside them to meet 2008 emissions standards (Yamaha R1, Suzuki GSX-R’s & Hayabusa, Kawasaki ZX-10).
Pipe the bike and you get Louder, maybe 4kg’s weight savings and the joy of buying a power-commander to try to “Remap” the power that you lost.
For all your efforts you end up being an annoyance to the general public, get to wear ear-plugs, and you can’t hear the other mechanical sounds of the bike.
BTW, if the current GSX-R’s and CBR’s exhaust system “breathe like ass”, why is it that the replacement units on the market don’t make any more power.
The above graphs show a gain of about 6hp after you added the pipe, air filter and power commander. I don’t think that 6hp is from the pipe, but probably is wrapped up in the power commander and polluting the earth a bit more.
All this and little or even less power in the street riding area between 3k and 7k on these bikes.
Stop the madness; stock pipes are great for 99% of us on the street. If you ego needs to be pumped up by being loud, then maybe you need to spend your money not on a pipe but on having your head examined.