All previous SDRs I've race with Akrapovic. I've been generally happy but I did not love the 2014 system because it seemed big. It broke a bracket off on the rectangular can under the motor, without crashing. And you had to take the muffler off to change the rear wheel. So actually I hated that pipe.

I'm building a 2017 1290 now and I've searched the net for a different solution. First obvious find is Austin Racing. I love their short full system version with the little silencer exiting under the right foot peg. That solves two Akra problems right off the bat. But they have little to no information about dyno charts, power, torque. I contacted them directly, asking what power differences there are to stock, and possibly compared to a full Akra system and their reply, which came quickly, said "I can assure you that our system makes a lot more power than the Akrapovic". Sorry but especially these days we are all getting a lot better at filtering our way through news with no facts supporting it.

Do any of you have experience with alternate 1290 SDR options to the Akrapovic, for race applications? I now find the Akrapovic more appropriate for street than track.

and it is just loud as shit...

I am also searching for that perfect balance of power and look that the SDR truly deserves

Yes, from what I can find on youtube it's loud as shit. I've read some about canister options to make it quieter, which I would need to do because they're cracking down on DBs on the tracks here. They are poorly represented on the web, their site is crap. But the system looks sexy as hell...

Gogo.

Is that really you? Forum has been very quiet of late, I almost stopped coming here. So you still campaigning a KTM twin then?

I used to love your race reports - back in the good old days!

...Me too brother, me too. So much so I bought a 2017 SDR a month ago and I've been building it up since.

Blowing that 2014 SDR up three times really bummed me out. And then after all that valve dropping / rebuilding bullshit I could have thrown in the towel with only one round to go (and no way to win a championship), but I really wanted to end the year on a high note. My goal that whole year was to win a race. Just one race. We got it back together in time, I took the hole shot at Buttonwillow and had a three turn lead by lap two, but lost the front in the bus-stop and that was all she or I ever wrote again.

About six months ago I was contacted by the guy who bought that 2014. He told me when they took the forks apart, with those special-built cartridges in them, they were all f'd up. Cartridges were different lengths, shims out of place, broken bits inside. What a mess. No wonder I lost the front in that turn. I've thought about that turn so many times since that day I think I might have brain damage. It's the classic line you hear from any racer who just lost the front, "I did nothing different this lap than the last lap, it just went away". Well, I definitely did something different, I went faster, but it shouldn't have reacted the way it did. I've always known that and I've never forgotten.

...First race this season is at Buttonwillow