My Chinese Motorcycle Exhaust Review

After owning two Chinese-made motorcycles, living with both stock exhaust systems, followed by upgrading them with new Chinese-made exhaust systems, I thought a quick review could help you.

Let’s face it. As a Chinese motorcycle owner(TaoTao TBR7 and Boom Vader Gen 2 125cc), I follow forums, YT channels, and FB groups with other Chinese motorcycle owners.  

TaoTao TBR7 motorcycle exhaust system upgrade after picture.
My TaoTao TBR7 motorcycle sporting a new aftermarket exhaust system.

I noticed a common theme, once a person buys a Chinese motorcycle, they start doing upgrades, and often those upgrades aren’t Chinese-made. As if Chinese-made upgrades aren’t good enough for a Chinese-made motorcycle.

This information might shock some motorcycle owners; many well-known high-end brands use Chinese-made parts.  

Boom Vader Gen 2 125cc motorcycle with new exhaust system.
A busy picture, but you can see my Boom Vader with her exhaust system, including new muffler.

The issue isn’t what country a part comes from; it’s a question of the quality in which a part is made. I feel it’s true quality control in China isn’t a thing, but that’s because it’s not a required thing to sell products at the highest profit margin.

Not required because the buyer doesn’t ‘care’? Or quality is secondary to the price of the product.  

Well, let’s help dispel something about Chinese Motorcycle Exhausts.

If Chinese Motorcycles Exhausts Are Good, Why Upgrade?

Motorcycle exhausts are like shoes. All shoes serve a common purpose, covering your feet, but not all shoes are the same.  

It comes down to who is wearing the shoe and what they intend to do while wearing it.  

Just like this, the stock Chinese motorcycle exhausts that came with my two Chinese motorcycles served a purpose to the manufacturers.

The stock Chinese motorcycle cycle exhausts suppress the sound of the motorcycle engine to meet any motorcycle regulations while using the least amount of material and costs to establish an achievable profit margin.

Well, both motorcycle exhausts of my TBR7 and Boom Vader motorcycles did this. They worked for the manufacturer, and now that I owned these bikes, I wanted to change the exhaust systems, so they work for me.

I wanted to satisfy my inner-tinkerer, that couldn’t resist taking apart and upgrading my motorcycles. But then I had these questions about the exhaust system upgrades I was looking for, and of course, Chinese made to keep the theme of the bike the same. A Chinese motorcycle. Let’s not forget to keep the price of upgrades low cost too.

What Chinese Exhaust System Sounds The Best?

This question is subjective to the ear of the beholder. I was interested in a better-sounding motorcycle exhaust for both bikes. My goal was a ‘deeper’ / ‘richer’ sounding exhaust.

So this was my focus a cheap (which meant Chinese-made), rich-sounding motorcycle exhaust. Good thing I found them, and I did so by listening to YT posts that included after-installation recordings of the motorcycle sounds.

FYI – Videos of the end results of doing my
Boom Vader Exhaust Upgrade:
My Boom Vader 125cc Exhaust Review

TaoTao TBR7 exhaust muffler upgrade.
This upgraded TBR7 Muffler has a wider exit, leading to richer exhaust sounds.

Which Exhaust Has The Deepest Tone?

I found motorcycle exhausts with the widest pipes, including fat sections of pipes that pop out and back, with large exit ports of the mufflers having the deepest tones.  

Boom Vader Exhaust Muffler upgrade.
Large diameter muffer for my Boom Vader motorcycle, got deeper exhaust sounds.

I looked over muffler and exhaust upgrades online and checked for YT posts that included those upgrades. Using this information, I found two great upgrades for my motorcycles, both Chinese Made.  

Check out my posts:

TBR7 Exhaust Upgrade

and

Boom Vader Gen 2 Exhaust Upgrade

Do I Need To Tune Your Bike After Exhaust Upgrade?

I found that my Chinese bikes are tiny in engine size and, because of this, are affected by changes in how they operate.  

If you have a larger motorcycle engine, say 40 hp, losing or gaining half horsepower might not be noticeable.

For example, with my small motorcycles, say the Boom Vader, only having single-digit horsepower ratings, a half horsepower change is a large percentage of the overall engine power.  

So when I upgraded my motorcycle exhaust systems, I noticed some deceleration popping, which I’m told indicates a lean operating condition for your carburetors. Hence, I had to tune my bike’s carbs( Nibbi Carburetor Tuning , Mikuni Carburetor Jet Size, TBR7 Mikuni Carburetor Upgrade!, & How Do You Set Up A Nibbi Carburetor? (For A TBR7)).

So yes, after an exhaust upgrade(wider pipes and wider muffler), I had to re-tune my carburetors.

Does Changing The Exhaust Increase The Horsepower Of The Motorcycle?

This question about increasing horsepower with upgrades to intake and exhaust systems are justified but misdirected.

Often when an engine can breathe better(move air/fuel in and exhaust out more straightforward), there is a boost felt in the output.  

Now I’m told the engine has a limit to the amount of energy it can convert into power, so there is max for horsepower. These results are designed under some parameters(type of fuel used, naturally aspirated versus power aspirated).  

The simple change in the exhaust cannot change the engine’s design parameters. But there is a feeling of more power after improving exhaust resistance; what is it?

The engine is only making power during the fuel explosion phase. The continued rotation of the motor and the process of forcing the exhaust gases out requires energy.

If you reduce the engine’s work to operate, more energy is available for output. In this case, power is delivered to the rear wheel.  

So does it feel like you are increasing the engine’s horsepower? But what I thought with the better top speeds and acceleration improvements was an improvement of available energy reaching the rear tire.

How Can I Improve My Motorcycle Speed?

As I wrote, I upgraded my Chinese bikes with good quality Chinese exhaust systems.  

Less work for the engine to move exhaust out of the position area means more energy to reach the back wheel and get my motorcycles to move faster.

Can read how I keep increasing speed of my Boom Vader 125cc motorcycle with upgrades and an exhaust upgrade was one of them. Boom Vader 125cc Top Speed, Pushed More!

Is An Aftermarket Chinese Motorcycle Exhaust Worth It?

I feel I will get some hate for this, but yes.

As I said, the stock Chinese motorcycle exhaust systems accomplished their role well for the manufacturers.

Both of my Chonda motorcycle exhaust upgrade projects resulted in outstanding outcomes. The bikes sound better, and I feel more power making it to the rear wheel.  

This improvement translated to a faster bike, from take-off to the top end. 

So my aftermarket exhaust was better for me, and I recommend what I did for both my bikes, the TBR7 and the Boom Vader motorcycles.


Click To See My Recommended
TBR7 Upgrades


Click To See My Recommended

Boom Vader Gen 2 Upgrades

Picture of me, as a New Motorcyclist.
Just Me…Newly Licensed.

Hi I’m Tom, A New Motorcycle Rider and Blog Author.

I am a new motorcycle rider(Pa Motorcycle Learner’s Permit at the end of 2020, and I received a full M-Class Pa Motorcycle License in 2021, only after passing the Pa Motorcycle Safety Course).

I bought my first motorcycle, a TaoTao TBR7 (A Chinese Dual-sport motorcycle), at the beginning of 2021 and have been doing upgrades on that motorcycle since.

I added to my motorcycle collection by buying a Boom Vader Gen 2 motorcycle in 2022, and that little Grom-Clone bike has been upgraded by me as well.

I continue to ride my Boom Vader Gen 2 motorcycle as well as my TaoTao TBR7 dual-sport bike.

Read more on my About Me page.

Fun Fact: I’ve only been on one group ride.

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