I can’t get the damn sound out of my head:
DigaDigaDigaDigaDiga…
Every time I started up my Thruxton with the stock pipes all I heard was this sound.
Some people say it sounds like a sewing machine. Whatever it was it drove me crazy:
DigaDigaDigaDigaDiga…
I had to do something about it. Had to put some new pipes on the ole Thruxton.
So what did I choose? The Dominator Touring Exhaust by Triumph Performance USA, and I couldn’t be happier! With that, I bring you this Dominator Exhaust Review.
Dominator Touring Exhaust vs. Dominator Sport Exhaust
Maybe we need a quick history lesson first, and I do mean quick.
Matt Capri was the original designer of the Predator Exhaust. He took that design, improved it, and created the Dominator Sport Exhaust. He than took it a step further and created the Dominator Touring Exhaust. I mean there’s a little more to it than just that, but that gives you the basic idea…
So what’s the difference between the Dominator Touring exhaust and Sport models?
Dominator Sport Exhaust
- Louder of the two models – think Predator
Dominator Touring Exhaust
- Slightly quieter than the Sport
- Boost in low-end torque
If you really want to get technical. According to the folks at Triumph Performance USA (and I have the email from them), the Touring is about 7 db quieter than the Sport and gives you a bump in RWHP of 13.
I went with the Dominator Touring Exhaust, mainly because I wasn’t looking for super loud. My main requirement was having some pipes that gave the bike a little more character, that were louder than stock. That’s what I got!
The Results
Here’s my perceptions of the ordering through install process, with a few pictures thrown in for good measure.
Ordering
Ordering couldn’t have been easier. I had a few questions prior to the order, which were quickly answered by Carlos via email at Triumph Performance USA.
Edit 3/1/17: Triumph Performance USA is no longer in business.
Once the order was placed, I had my new Triumph Thruxton Dominator Touring exhaust in my hands within a week’s time.
Installation
So I’m not the most mechanically inclined person on the planet, but I do like to tinker with things. After watching a few videos on YouTube, the installation process didn’t appear to be all that difficult.
I had the stock pipes off the bike, and the new Dominator Touring exhaust on within an hour. Overall, pretty simple process.
The one thing I was a little confused about was whether I wanted to use any type of sealant on the new exhaust. There seems to be some conflicting information related to this on-line, so I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do.
Luckily my father-in-law rebuilds old Triumph’s, and he told me he never uses any type of sealant when he’s putting new exhaust’s on his bikes. That was good enough for me!
Just be sure you firmly tighten the clamp that goes over the new slip-on where it connects to the header pipe. I didn’t have the clamp close enough to the edge of the connection, or it wasn’t tightened enough, and I was getting a little condensation leak at the connection point. One I repositioned the clamp and tightened it down, I didn’t have any other issues.
Sound Quality
Holy Shit! That was my first reaction when I started the bike. It sounded like pure music. A deep rumbling sound that wasn’t too loud, just pure awesomeness.
Had to take it out for a quick spin to hear the sound when I got on the throttle. I think I orgasmed in the saddle. Amazing – this is what I was looking for.
I also did some unscientific before and after sound measurements using my iPhone, just to understand the “loudness factor”:
Remapping
After the test run, my biggest observation was I needed to get the bike remapped. Major popping on deceleration. It actually sounded pretty cool to me, but I didn’t want to risk causing any damage to the engine (if that’s even possible). Besides, in order to take advantage of any performance improvements, I needed to get it remapped.
My Thruxton is still under factory warranty, so I didn’t want to screw around with putting a non standard map on the bike. That will come later.
So, one of the questions I had for Carlos was around what map to use after I installed the exhaust. His suggestion was to go with the Arrow 2 into 2 map.
A quick run to my local Triumph dealer would get the map updated. Besides, it was an excuse for a nice ride. $50 and 40 minutes later, I had the new map installed.
The verdict is still out on the Arrow map. This is going to sound weird, but I actually think I had slightly better low-end performance with the stock map.
It seems like I need to let the bike warm up a bit longer than what I did in the past. There’s also been a few times in the morning when I had some issues firing the Thruxton up. I’ve actually had to use the choke (fast-idle knob) to get it to start. Never had to do that in the past.
I’m sure it’s related to the new Arrow map. My Thruxton is out of warranty come August, so one of the things I’ll be doing later this summer is making a few engine mods, and putting a new map on that was created for the Dominator Touring exhaust.
Conclusion
I couldn’t be happier with the sound on the Dominator Touring exhaust. It’s exactly what I was looking for!
While I may not be 100% satisfied with the Arrow map, it’s not all that bad either. Let me know if you’ve had similar issues, or maybe it’s just in my head.
I want to do a quick sound bite of the new exhaust, so as soon as I get around to doing that, I’ll put a link up on this post.
I’m also in the process of monitoring the gas mileage with the Dominator Touring exhaust as it compares to the stock exhaust.
And that’s it for this Dominator Exhaust Review. Let me know what you think.
I have a 2007 Bonnie. I just ordered the TPUSA Dominator Touring (High Torque)…it will arrive in a week. I got the full performance kit but will probably just start with slipping the exhaust on. I’ve already changed the needles for my previous set up (blunt exhaust), and if I’m correct I jetted and mapped it to the reco for the predator exhaust but this was at a different elevation so I plan on revisiting the carb set-up anyways. The jet kit was from British customs. I have a Procom CDI box which I installed because of all the problems I had with the stock one.
Eventually I’ll do the air injection to address the popping and airbox removal for hp gain. I’m iffy about removing the airbox since its more involved and a little more permanent.
I got this exhaust primarily for the aggressive sound but not too aggressive that I’ll get a ticket. Ive gotten one in MI with the blunts. Also the blunts would melt the passengers shoes, so no good for the girlfriend. Fingers crossed. I hope I can tune it in once I get the set up I’m happy with. Will keep you posted. As of now, I have the stock pipes on since the ticket and now live in NYC working on a new registration. Its just parked till I sort everything out.
Look forward to hearing.
Definitely keep us posted Vince!
I love the Dominator Touring pipes. As you said, they seem to have an aggressive sound but it’s not too annoying or loud. Just a great pure sound. Love them more and more every time I hear them.
Next step for me, some of those intake mods…
thanks for this review…I just got a a thruxton…from your review…I’m going to go with Dominators..
thanks.
Awesome! I couldn’t be happier with the exhaust. Plenty loud enough for me, but not obnoxiously loud. Gives the bike a whole new set of character.
You may want to do the TPS adaptation (or whatever it is called) procedure to help the bike adapting to the new map and exhaust. It is well documented on various forums. Basically, you just need to start the bike from cold, and let it idle for 20 minutes without touching anything, particularly the throttle.
Not sure if this would solve your problem but it did fixed the low idle issue on my brand new 2015 Thruxton with still stock exhaust and map. I did unplugged the O2 sensors and blocked SAI to smooth out low speed throttle response. I had hard time controlling the bike at low speed in traffic. It either cut out or surged forward. Now everything is smooth.
Interesting! I never really thought about doing this since I wasn’t using TuneECU, but you may be onto something since the dealer did upload a new map. I do plan on removing the O2 sensors and SAI and buying a new map, but I’ll have to give this a try in the short term. Appreciate the feedback Larry.
Hi Craig,
Take a look at http://www.triumphtwinpower.com These guys know what they are doing. Just ordered Tune 2 from them in combination with TORs. I have done some 7500km with my Thrux ’14 since I got it last year and I absolutely love it. Changed the seat though and I must say it was worth every penny. Had it done by Baldwin Saddles of Kansas City (yep, shipped the stock seat out to them all the way from Belgium and got it back 3 weeks later – in dark brown leather that looks awesome in combination with Brooklands green). Cheers, Phil
Just had the full Triumph Twin Power package installed on my 2014 Thruxton 900 with TOR free flow pipes. Love it! I can confirm all the praise you’ll find in the Customer reviews section on the TTP website. Btw, rather than installing the new Tune on the bike myself which can be a bit complicated if you are PC illiterate as I am, I just sent the ECM of my bike by mail to TTP and they did it for me at a cost of 30Pounds Sterling.
The bike is going much smoother and feels more powerful and liberated. Vibrations, especially in the foot pegs at higher revs, are gone. Sound of the TOR’s is just what I was looking for and reminds me a lot of the sound produced by my 1970 Bonneville T120.
Thanks for the quick review Phil, much appreciated. Something I may have to look into as entertain other tunes for my Thruxton.
Thanks for the post
is this the exhaust you bought??
http://www.triumphperformanceusa.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=185
I dont know what means high torque. Help please
Yes that’s the one. I got a little confused on that myself and had to have them clarify this is truly the Touring Model.
Thanks a lot. I will oder them right now.
I’ve got the option to go touring or sport any suggestions? How did you make out with the tuning issue?
I can’t decide between the Touring and the Sport. Carlos says the Sport are 7db louder, that doesn’t seem like a lot. Any thoughts on the matter? Thanks.
Hey Craig. I was a little concerned with how loud the Sport would be which is why I went with the Touring. The Touring to me are not that loud on idle, definitely louder and have a nice rumble, but not so obnoxious that it will piss off the neighbors. At cruising speed they sound fantastic and when you open the throttle they have an amazing sound. I don’t find it annoying at all, it’s just a great sound.
Now with all that said, I really don’t think the Sport would be that much louder. However, based upon my understanding, and I’m not an expert, a 10db increase would be the equivalent of being twice as loud, and 10x as intense. So while 7db doesn’t seem like much, given the above the Sport would be at least 50% louder than the Touring.
At the end of the day I have no reservations with the Touring. They are plenty loud enough for me and give the bike loads of Character.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Craig, that helps.
Just as a note, you can buy the Dominator “Sport” and “Touring” direct from the manufacturer Cone Engineering http://www.coneeng.com and save yourself some cash. $549 for the exhaust and $25 shipping.
Hi guys
I have a set of black BC Predator on my 2011 Bonnie. I din’t removed the O2 sensor, because they are here to help the ECU adjust the fuel mixture. So it was for me a nonsense to remove them.
The Predator popped like devil, so I removed the SAI. All the SAI does is to re-inject some fresh air into the header to burn unburned fuel. Removing the SAI prevent the exhaust to pop and you don’t really need it.
I also installed a K&N air filter, since when you open on the end, (exhaust) you should also open in front (air). I talked to the local Triumph representative about the mapping. They recommend installing the Triumph OEM After Market Exhaust map. So I did it by myself using TuneECU and saved some bucks.
My bonnie is a dream to ride. But it is way too loud ! After some hours on the saddle, it starts to intoxicate you (and your neighbors when you come back home late…). The sound is great, but too loud. So I decided to go for the TP USA Touring. I will have a custom build without the tabs. Hope to get the in a couple (or more) weeks. Will keep you posted.
I forget to mention I purchased them directly from Rich at Cone Engineering. Rich is a very nice guy to talk and deal with.
Thanks Jeff. Keep us posted and would love to see some pics that I can put up on the site.
Hi Jeff, just wondering if you ever changed the pipes to the USA Touring and if you noticed a difference? I have the exact same situation. Like the BC Predators but find that they are just too loud!
Thanks!
John
Craig,
These can be purchased direct from the original manufacturer, Cone Engineering. Both models are available, along with a Shorty as well. Also available are mufflers for the new liquid-cooled Modern Classics.
http://www.coneeng.com/triumph_mufflers_2.html
Thanks for the feedback Richard.
, Which exhaust sounds better, BC shorty predator or the Cone shorty.
Don’t have any experience with either of those, so perhaps someone else can weigh in.