Sunday, April 21, 2019

BMW airhead Power Flow silencers

A recent eBay 'scoop' was this set of Power Flow silencers. I've never seen another set and they are rather nicely made in stainless and the shape is similar to the classic Hoske cans. 

They fitted on to my RS very easily and starting up to see what sort of noise they would make was an eagerly awaited moment. Alas, in the end, a disappointing one. Only a very slightly different tone to standard. Still, at least the performance might be slightly different, right? Wrong, out on the road the bike seemed a bit stodgy and then totally bogged down when opened up above 4000rpm. Not quite the result I was hoping for.

The seller had said that he had tack welded in decibel killers to quieten the Power Flows down slightly. Seems like he had a gone a bit too far, there was neither Power nor Flow. Turns out he was a pretty good welder because when I got home I had a quick go at removing these spot welds. Not easy.

In the end I wanted to use the bike the next day so took the Power Flows off and back on went the Keihins and normal service was restored.

The Power Flows will go back but I need to buy a die grinder tool first to attack those spot welds. In the next instalment of the Power Flow saga I have the feeling I shall be reporting on significantly more noise but no better power than standard. Let us see. More to follow....

The Power Flows certainly do look nice and are a cute period
accessory touch to the bike.

Rear profile is good and they do look like they should be
rip snarlin'. Note however the calamitous db killers....

Most bikes look better from one side. What is spectacular
about a BMW airhead is that they look equally great from
both sides.

Power Flow logo pressed in to the silencers. Has anyone
encountered these before? I've not seen another pair.

A considerable weight saving over the original style.

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