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Monsters Vs. Barkers

8K views 42 replies 9 participants last post by  Mad Dog 
#1 ·
What are your thoughts about these 2 exhausts. Is one better than the other, or does it jus come down to what you think looks better. Both seem to be very popular for quality, hp gains, looks, sound, and so on. Just looking for different thoughts, opinions, any kind of feed back.
 
#3 ·
I have had both. Recently sold my barkers to get monsters and I have to say I like the monsters more so far. Like Dog said I like the solid mount of the monsters and from what I have heard from a couple builders that the monsters flow a little better. I do like the sound of the monsters better also.
 
#5 ·
for the 660 i think the barkers actually flow better....

if u are buying new, get monster, better mounting system and are inframe.

i have barkers, i got em used for a fraction of new price, and i dont mind the OOF(out of frame), I got used to it pretty quick ...i took a girl on a ride and her legs ddnt even got very close to the pipes. she woulda known it if they would have tho. lol...

and i modified the mounting system to hold the cans way more stable...

-the monster are the new cool pipe...

-barkers are more of the old school drag (ish) pipe..
 
#4 ·
Yeah just from looks, I hate the way barkers go around the outside of the frame... looks stupid IMO
 
#6 ·
I like the looks of the barkers with the billet clamps. That's what I put on my 700. 3 others members of our riding group have the monsters on their 700's. Both brands sound awesome, Both look good. I seen dyno's a few years back that showed Barkers putting out a little more power slightly above the mid range curve.
Go with whatever brand you think will look better on your Quad, They are both Great exhaust's.
 
#9 ·
On a 700 the Monsters and Barkers are almost identical but on a 660 they are much different. Buying New I say Monsters but Barkers are also good pipe. If you can get a good deal on them then you can't go wrong. I only know of a couple cheap 660 barker sets for a 660 selling ever and I was the one selling them and badluckraptor got both of them.
 
#8 ·
Sexy pic of Barkers.
 

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#18 · (Edited)
lol, neither of those raptors are mine... just pics i have come across...

looks easy to burn your leg? I like them other than that
actually not realy. i have never burnt my legs on em. u can actually hold your hand on the heat shields with the palm of your hand after the bike has been run hard for a wile.....



the reason i have barkers is because i got em used. BUT, if i had to buy new duals, im 99% sure id get monster. but i really dont mind the barkers, deff givs it an aftermarket look....

one thing i really like about the barkers is, as u can c on the yellow 660, u can get to the carbs realy good compared to running a single or inframe pipes, to adjust the fuel screws.... not a huge deal tho...

guess it all in what u want...
 
#15 ·
No, I don't have the Tee shirt trailer there. But I stop by it all the time. Our family spends a lot there to. Thanks for watching my Video's.
 
#14 ·
looks easy to burn your leg? I like them other than that
 
#17 ·
Ya, 95% Winchester Bay dunes. Although at last years Vacation At Winchester, we loaded up A bunch of Quads and went down to spinreel and parked. And rode all the way down to Box car, Then back up to spinreel on the beach. Nobody else in my group had been there. So it was a good change of pace.
 
#27 ·
There has to be 25 threads regarding the two. I personally ran with Barkers' b/c of the choice of color on the can's tag. Installation was a breeze, and my cans set as close to even as any other. Naked eye definitely couldn't tell the difference. Both are loud as all get out, but I just liked the look of the Barkers better. It's all based on personal preference, minus the Barkers' making more power lol.





 
#28 ·
There has to be 25 threads regarding the two. I personally ran with Barkers' b/c of the choice of color on the can's tag. Installation was a breeze, and my cans set as close to even as any other. Naked eye definitely couldn't tell the difference. Both are loud as all get out, but I just liked the look of the Barkers better. It's all based on personal preference, minus the Barkers' making more power lol.
BUT your missing the part that these are for a 660. Monsters and Barkers are much different on a 660.
 
#37 ·
The barkers with one side inframe and the other out are a very, very early set. We're talking 2004 when the pipes made their debut at FSW. Mine are an early 2005 set and both sides are OOF.

On the 660 yes the Barkers have a design advantage in terms of power. Basically the question you ask when buying new is "do I value the power enough to put up with the OOF pipes". Until a couple years ago this was a comparison against only a Sparks single but the Monsters have come along and made the new pipe decision rather easy for the majority of riders offering most of the hp and sound benefits of duals without the OOF compromise.

For those looking at the used market you will find exponentially more barkers than monster duals. They simply haven't been enough of them made, sold and removed from the machines for re-sale as the barkers which have been around for a decade. If you can get a good deal on a set of used barkers I would certainly recommend them, assuming they fit your needs.

As far as "benefiting from a set of duals" the relationship you need to address is the one between intake and exhaust. The duals flow more and perform better than any other canister exhaust on a stock engine (until I see dyno sheets of monsters compared to barkers I will continue to quote that which has been proven). Then as you build out you can take better advantage of the capabilities as the barkers scale well with engine modification. I originally purchased them to exhaust an HV head with Megacycle X4 cam and dual 39mm FCR carbs. Displacement has less to do with head flow than port work, camshafts, manifolds, carbs, and intake filters combined. If you want to make more power this is where you should look.
 
#38 ·
Im going to be running a barker HV ported head, x4 cam, 39mm FCRs, Ds 650 intakes, Monsters, 14:1 compression on a 812cc motor. One day I may step up the head to one that will flow more then this one but theres not many that that can outflow a HV head so im sceptical of it. I was running a trail ported head on stock carbs, stage 2 cam, 11:1 pistonwith a Sparks. I then swapped to the monsters and there it noticeably quicker with just that change.

As for the inframe Barkers I sold, I think they one of th first sets. The guy was a local to Barker and had him do a bit of work all the time. And if you look at the way they were made looked almost like they could have been a prototype. They were clearly not mass produced like that and would be suprised if you seen any more that looked like that at all. Just the way the pipes were fitted together was weird.
 
#41 ·
Im going to be running a barker HV ported head, x4 cam, 39mm FCRs, Ds 650 intakes, Monsters, 14:1 compression on a 812cc motor. One day I may step up the head to one that will flow more then this one but theres not many that that can outflow a HV head so im sceptical of it.
I've yet to see one that I would consider preferable for more than straight line contests.

The pipes weren't mass produced for the first couple years. In fact my father and Tim assembled my set in his shop. While some of the initial components were purchased pre-made like the canisters (ali-baba) and endcaps (hmf) the assembly work was done in-house. Eventually the pipes were mass produced and Tim sold the rights to make the pipes taking production out of his hands. I don't recall the dates or nitty gritty details though.
 
#39 ·
Thanks for your input mad dog. I have a 11:1 piston, mudbuster cam, stock carbs, Full fmf (which is causing headaches ) pro flow intake. Im having a hard time getting my exhaust to stop glowing, which is why i have started asking about duals. i have gone from 150 to 185 on my jets and still is non stop glowing.

Is this problem im having with my fmf a common thing with them or because it is jus a single pipe exhaust??? A friend of mine had a hmf and lrd pipe and his was glowing red. then he switched to a ct pipe and it has gone away.

jus not sure what to do and was thinkn a set of duals might or would help with this situation.
 
#43 ·
I'm not sure of the exact reason why the final design settled on OOF but I offer the following as pure speculation with no claim of having any first hand knowledge of Tim's intentions or actions.

When these pipes were released they were focused on the top end of the market, not the casual recreational rider who would be cross-shopping an HMF. The idea of competing with LTE was even laughable. Most vendors had never heard of Barker's Exhausts and there were no advertisements in magazines. Early pipes went to high profile customers and got dyno tested against drag pipes. That meant two things took priority, power and fitment. Obviously straight pipes allow for a bit more flow than multiple bends. OOF also meant that the manifolds for the dual lectrons and tim's own hv setups had more clearance as they don't fit into the same nice tight package you get with a Kenz or Trinity bolt on manifold and a pair of 39mm FCRs. It took a while before anyone even imagined buying a set of these for a bike with stock carbs and while they worked fine in that application it was not their intent.

I was a vocal skeptic of the Barker performance until November of 2004 when I saw the numbers to back up the hype. A few months later I had spent about $3500 at Tim's shop and was piloting one of the faster factory engined four stroke quads in the state at that time.

But with the pipe production out of Tim's hands and the market for 660 exhausts dwindling I am doubtful there will be any attempt to redesign them. What's nice about that though is we get a unique choice, two products that truly differentiate themselves and have their own positives and negatives. Instead of one clear winner for everyone each option will fit some better than others.
 
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