Yamaha R6 muffler install on a 2009 Ninja 250

[NikRN06]

My wife has always liked the look of the muffler on my 2009 R6 better than the can on her Ninja, so last week we bought a R6 can from a 2008 for $25. All said and done, she likes it. I like it. It was a pain in the a** due to the fact that not only does it say "titanium" on the ouside- but that SO MUCH of it is actually made of titanium! I have found that titanium cannot be mig welded. I read it can also not be tig welded, but I managed to tig part of it reasonable well.

Anyway, here are some pics and the install story;

My wife liked my 2009 R6 muffler, we picked up a 2008 R6 muffler. Who wouldve thought that the '08 R6 can is about three inches longer than an '09??

Aside from drilling out the factory pop rivets and spot welds for diasassembly,

Step 1) Cut down the can. This was a little involved, in part due to the way its constructed, and mostly because its titanium. You can see how much I removed from the "guts" in the second pic (I had not yet cut the outer skin yet).
I shortened the screen like cone shaped piece to allow it all to be shortened that much and still go back together. That cone is titanium, as well as the entire part its attached to. This was difficult. I used the tig welder, set on ac output (like aluminum) and used no filler. Titanium does not like to be welded and the atmosphere contaminates the weld quickly when not flooded with inert gas.
I also tightened up the small end of the cone to increase back pressure. The stock R6 "cone" exit is over an inch diameter, its now about a half inch. There is an "alternate path", not all of the gasses travel through the end of this cone. Completely unlike the 250 pipe, the R6 pipe is damn near straight through unrestricted in stock form. I had to add something to pinch it up a bit for fear of too much noise and excessive tuning post installation.

Step 2) Not pictured, unless you could see it on the side view pic is how I attached it. The R6 pipe attaches with a V-band clamp in stock form. I was lucky enough to get the collar (the other half of the V-band) when I bought the pipe. I made an adapter out of this collar and a portion of the stock 250 pipe. The downside is that this new setup requires two gaskets instead of only one. It was simple, its solid, and worked out fine.

Step 3) Mounting the can. I had to cut the stock mount off the outside of the R6 can since it didnt fit and I shortened the can by about three inches. Again- its made of titanium. Its not really any harder to cut than steel, but reatachment is a problem. I fab'd a piece of aluminum and pop riveted it to the can skin. I then used some of the R6 mount and pop riveted it to the aluminum bracket. The stock bracket wasnt long enough to reach without the aluminum piece I added. I made it attach to the bike exactly how the stock pipe attached- even used the same bolt.

Step 4) Still in progress. Believe it or not, the black "shield" that covers the pipes attachment points is made of titanium too! I reshaped it and also reshaped a portion of the 250 pipe cover, and when I attempted to weld them together- they dont weld! Unlike steel and stainless, titanium doesnt weld to anything but itself. I need to go get a piece of sheet metal to pound out a new cover now so I can finish this project.

What I learned; Although its nearly done - just need to make a new shield now- I really wouldnt recommend this to anyone unless you know how to weld and/or have access to the right kind of welding equipment. If I didnt own a tig welder, I wouldve been screwed. If you dont get the pipe adapter with the muffler/can, you may never be able to connect it to your pipe. The R6 has a butterfly valve in the exhaust flow in the muffler entrance. This is the same part with the V-band clamp, and even this part is cast in titanium. Other than clamping it together with the stock R6 parts, You cannot weld anything else to it unless its titanium.

The bottom line is that it looks cool to us, its MUCH, MUCH, MUCH lighter, and has a great sound that isnt too loud. We are both professional adults, and neither of us find the sound excessive or obnoxious. As I said in a previous post, the bike lost about 3mph top end. My wife feels that every other part feels stronger though. We plan to re-jet it in the next week or so.

[CThunder-blue]

Looks great!

[csmith12]

Cool!

Did you gain any ground clearance?

[NikRN06]

I couldnt really say about the ground clearance, all I know is the can is about an inch narrower than the stock one, and its mounted pretty tight to the bike. I can try to post a before and after pic in the same post to better compare. I'll try to get a better side view shot also. Thanks for the comments.

[psych0hans]

Fantastic DIY, looks really cool.

[NinjaVanish]

Wow this is really cool! Do you happen to have any videos?

[aShifty]

i saw a gsxr 600 exhaust mounted on a ninja 250. actually sounds pretty cool.

[NikRN06]

I can try to get a video. I havent had time to finish the cover yet, but i will post some more pics when I can.

Thanks for the positive comments so far.