Tested: GPR Slip-ons

There’s something about fitting a loud exhausts that gets me really excited, and its always been that way ever since I passed my test . The XT660R and its 660cc thumping single cylinder engine was crying out for new pipes so I gave Milan based exhaust manufacture GPR a call.

Designed to offer "competitively priced Italian built exhaust systems" GPR started life in the Scooter exhaust market, and if my local chavs are anything to go by, then GPR know a thing or two about making a noise.

The Titanium oval twin slip-ons give a weight saving of up to 5kg and you gain 2.5bhp not to mention the chance to make a hell of a racquet. The pipes came with two silencers, one sits in the link pipe and is there to give you a little more midrange power. The other is the standard 'stuffed in the end' addition. Both can be removed which I did immediately.

Being the ever eager one, 10 minutes of rapid ratcheting under heavy rain and they were on. Click the start button and the XT fires into life with a sharp rhythmic bopping which emphasizes the bikes natural vibrations. All this helps contribute to the feeling the XT gives you, you can go anywhere and do anything.

The expert sound test, (get your mates in the garden and see how loud they think it is) saw the XT fall into the "antisocially loud" category which for this sort of bike I’m more than happy with. Slip in the rear baffles and it’s relegated to "not too bad but still loud" and again remove the cans and slide in the conical mid baffles and your now also most into the "purring" category.

For £652 you get two cans, two link pipes, all the fittings. The components are neatly welded and the contrasting polished end caps give a feel of quality. If that stretches your budget then they do Stainless Steel versions at £379.

GPR exhaust are distributed in the UKby online retailer Moto Legends, you can check out their site here