Ahhh, the Yoshi on the RS... a.k.a. the sweater thread you can't stop pulling :joke:.
All I needed for the install was the pipe itself AND a new exhaust gasket (the old one will likely be impossible to re-use). You can pick up one of these at your dealer, I forget the part number but search for it on the Can-Am site and it'll give you a parts number. My dealer had it in stock for like a dollar, but just call ahead and see if yours does. (FYI, these are NOT the same size gaskets as the Y-gaskets everyone talks about here).
Once installed, the pipe worked great, but yeah, I would get some backfiring from time to time, usually on decel. I noticed that this increased over time, however, so I figured I'd get a fuel controller. I went with the Juicebox Pro.
Trouble with the JB Pro is that installing it is a serious pain-- you most likely need to remove the airbox in order to get to where you need to reach (yeah, the videos show people able to install it without removing the airbox, but trust me: it's soooo much easier without the airbox).
The problem with removing the airbox? Once it's out, you won't want to put it back in. That was my dilemma-- it's so ungainly, it collects (and leaks) oil, and with it on the bike you can't easily access the engine bay (not that you have to do that often, but when you do... like installing/replacing spark plugs, or checking hoses... it's nice not having the airbox in there).
Thus, once the airbox was out, I went with the Kewlmetal air intake as well. That's a super easy install once the airbox is out.
So, taken together, the Yoshi, the JB Pro, and the air intake all require a good map on the JB Pro. Trouble is, the stock JB Pro maps never really worked all that well, even with adjustments to the dials on the Pro. YMMV, but I found that downloading Power Commander's maps (map #5 IIRC is the one that works best for this RS setup) and tweaking the dials from that baseline gave me the best performance. Now, all that tweaking is still seat-of-the-pants, I've never used a dyno, so I know that nothing is perfect. But I got it working good enough for me.
One important note if you go with the JB Pro: You need to plug it in via USB to a computer in order to upload custom maps. Once installed on the bike, however, you can't remove the JB Pro to do this, which means you'll need a laptop with a long USB coord to plug into the JB Pro unit (it fits just in the frunk, right by the fusebox) in order to upload maps. If you think you'll go that route, do yourself the favor and upload the custom maps (from Power Commander or wherever) BEFORE you install the JB, it'll save you the hassle.
So... now that this is all out of the way, what's my verdict?
I'd stay away from the JB Pro :joke:. Just judging by forum comments, it sounds like the Power Commander V with autotune is a better deal. The autotune function helps you avoid doing all the manual tweaking to the dials on the JB Pro. The downside there is that he PCV requires you to do a minor weld of a bung to the exhaust. If you're not able to do that yourself, however, a dealer may be able to do that for you.
That said, if you do the JB Pro yourself, it's easy enough to install (with the caveats about the stock airbox in mind). And it DOES work, once you find the right "tweaks" to the dials. But you WILL suffer through some trial and error, it's all part of the fun.
But really, the question everyone wants answered, is it worth it?
Hmmm... I'm not sure. I like the Yoshi sound. I like the Kewlmetal intake sound. I *feel* a better pull off the line with those two and the JB at work, but that feel may be entirely in my head (or it may just be dropping that 4,000 lb stock exhaust off my RS's backside
).
But it's louder. And louder isn't always better. It's still street legal loud (in most places), so you're not going full Harley pipe here-- that's why I went with the Yoshi (with the silencer tip installed-- it's too loud for me without it).
But you also have to deal with glass packing every now and then-- Yoshi recommends every 5,000 miles that you repack the exhaust. Again, something simple you can do yourself-- and you probably can stretch out the repacks to every 7,500-10,000 miles-- but you don't have to ever bother doing that with the stock exhaust.
If I had to do it all over again? Honestly... I probably wouldn't. The stock RS works, it works very well, and the expense and hassle of doing everything I did to the bike just to get a different sounding exhaust that in my helmet with earplugs I honestly can't even hear once I'm at full speed... yeah, kind of a waste IMHO.
YMMV, however.
Good luck!
