I Put a FAKE Akrapovič Exhaust on My 2026 Yamaha R7… Is It Actually Any Good?!

I Put a FAKE Akrapovič Exhaust on My 2026 Yamaha R7… Is It Actually Any Good?!

I Put a Cheap Fake Akrapovič Exhaust on My Yamaha R7… This Is Ridiculous

All right.

It's finally time.

We've got all these exhausts sitting around MotoBros for the Yamaha R7 comparison, and we have to start somewhere.

So which one should go first?

M4?

Yoshimura?

LeoVince?

SC-Project?

Nah.

We're starting with the cheap Chinese exhaust that looks suspiciously like an Akrapovič.

We're calling it the Facra.

Fake Akra.

And I'm telling you right now...

This thing surprised the hell out of me.

The R7 Exhaust Battle Officially Begins

If you watched the last video, you know how ridiculous this whole project has become.

I somehow ended up with three same-color Yamaha R7s in the shop at the same time.

We put all three on the dyno completely stock and established our baseline numbers.

Now it's time to start changing exhausts.

One customer is getting the Yoshimura.

Another customer is getting the M4.

That means I don't have to install every single exhaust on my R7.

Thank God.

But mine still gets to be the guinea pig for the questionable stuff.

So naturally, we're starting with the cheap one.

First, We Have to Figure Out How the R7 Comes Apart

This is the first time I've taken the fairings off this particular R7.

And instead of looking everything up beforehand, we're figuring it out together.

I've been working on motorcycles for a long time, so you eventually learn how manufacturers tend to assemble things.

You remove a few obvious fasteners.

Give the panel a gentle pull.

Feel where it's still attached.

Then determine whether you are dealing with a bolt, push pin, rubber grommet, sliding tab, or plastic clip.

The key word there is gentle.

Don't just start yanking on plastic because you think it should come off.

That's how you turn a simple exhaust installation into:

"Does anybody know where I can order an R7 side fairing?"

Keep Track of Your Damn Bolts

I say this constantly because it matters.

When you're taking your motorcycle apart for the first time, keep your hardware organized.

Pay attention to where everything came from.

Take pictures.

Use a magnetic tray.

Lay the fasteners out in order.

Whatever works for you.

Just don't throw 30 bolts into a pile and assume you'll remember where everything goes two hours later.

You're going to have a bad time.

As we worked our way around the R7, we found the fasteners and push tabs holding the panels together.

Most of it was pretty straightforward.

The trickiest part was a group of larger plastic tabs connecting the panels.

Those are the ones you want to be careful with because plastic tabs absolutely can break if you force them.

Once we figured those out, though?

Boom.

The entire side came off.

Yamaha Actually Made This Pretty Easy to Work On

There's one thing I really liked once we got the fairing removed.

Everything is right there.

Yes, it would have been nice if we could remove only the lower fairing and immediately access the exhaust.

But once the whole side panel is off, access is excellent.

Header nuts.

O2 sensor.

Mounting hardware.

Everything is sitting right in front of you.

And removing the stock exhaust ended up being incredibly straightforward.

Removing the Factory R7 Exhaust

First thing I recommend dealing with is the O2 sensor.

Get that out of the way so you're not dropping or twisting the exhaust while the sensor and wiring are still attached.

Then you've got the exhaust mounting points underneath the motorcycle.

Once those are removed, you're basically down to the header nuts.

And here's something important:

Once the rear mounts are disconnected, support the exhaust while removing the final header hardware.

Don't remove the last nut and act surprised when gravity does what gravity has been doing for billions of years.

I kept one hand underneath the exhaust while removing the final nut.

And there it was.

Stock exhaust off.

It was actually ridiculously easy.

From starting the teardown to having the exhaust removed, we were somewhere around the 13-minute mark while also filming and figuring out the fairings for the first time.

Not bad.

Don't Lose the Exhaust Gaskets

When the stock exhaust came off, both exhaust gaskets dropped out.

Don't lose those.

Before installing any replacement exhaust, inspect the sealing surfaces and determine whether the exhaust manufacturer or Yamaha calls for new gaskets or allows the existing ones to be reused.

You also want to make absolutely sure you don't accidentally leave an old gasket in the port and stack another one on top of it.

For our installation, I used a tiny amount of assembly product to help hold the gaskets in position while getting the headers started.

The important thing is that the gaskets remain properly seated while the header is installed.

Now it was time for the moment we'd been waiting for.

Bring out the Facra.

The "Facra" Comes Out of the Box

This is supposed to mimic the look of an Akrapovič-style system.

And dude...

It's crazy.

When you first pull the pieces out and look at them?

They actually look pretty damn good.

The tubing looked clean.

The welds looked decent.

The carbon-looking pieces looked surprisingly nice.

There were obviously little details where you could start seeing differences.

The header flanges, for example, looked much thicker than what I'd expect to see on the genuine system.

There were also finishing details later in the installation that weren't as clean as I'd expect from a premium exhaust.

But sitting on the table?

If somebody handed me some of these pieces without the box and didn't tell me what they were, I'd have to look pretty closely.

That's what makes these comparisons so interesting.

It Even Has the Akrapovič-Style Markings

Then we noticed something that made the whole thing even crazier.

There were markings on parts of this exhaust that appeared to imitate the genuine branding.

That's when Aaron and I really started laughing.

Because we're not talking about:

"Hey, this kind of has the same general shape."

They went much further than that.

To be clear, this is not a genuine Akrapovič exhaust, and I'm not presenting it as one.

That's actually the entire point of this test.

I want to see what you really get when you buy one of these inexpensive imitation systems compared with legitimate exhaust manufacturers.

And once we started installing it?

Things got even more surprising.

The Headers Actually Fit

I expected some nonsense.

Wrong angle.

Mounting points that didn't line up.

Pipes that needed to be persuaded into place.

Something.

Instead, the headers went into position surprisingly well.

The biggest thing during installation is not to tighten everything completely before the rest of the system is aligned.

I got a little overexcited and tightened the headers more than I normally would.

Then when we started installing the next section, alignment was slightly off.

Easy fix.

Loosen the headers enough to give the system some movement.

Now you can manipulate the exhaust slightly.

Get the next section into place.

Align the mounting point.

Then progressively tighten everything according to the appropriate installation sequence and specifications.

Boom.

Everything came together.

Use the Correct Torque Specifications

One thing I talk about in the video is developing a feel for fasteners after working on motorcycles for years.

That's true.

Experienced technicians develop a very good sense for what different fasteners feel like.

But if you're doing this at home?

Use the proper specifications.

Don't watch me use years of experience and assume that means you should guess.

Especially with small exhaust studs, engine fasteners, covers, drain plugs, and anything where over-tightening can become an expensive problem.

Use the manufacturer's specifications and a properly calibrated torque wrench where required.

There's no trophy for stripping a bolt faster than everybody else.

The Mid-Pipe Fitment Was Shockingly Good

This is where I started getting impressed.

Once we loosened everything slightly and let the system move, the mid-pipe lined up.

Then the mounting point lined up.

Then everything started sitting exactly where it needed to sit.

Aaron and I are looking at this thing like:

How the hell is this fitting this well?

I was expecting a cheap exhaust to make us fight it.

Instead, the thing was going together like it actually belonged on the motorcycle.

The O2 sensor location was different from stock, but there was enough routing available for the sensor wiring in our setup.

Any time the O2 sensor is relocated, though, make sure the wiring is routed safely away from the exhaust, moving components, sharp edges, and excessive tension.

Then We Removed the Baffle

You guys already knew this was coming.

There was a removable baffle in the muffler.

And naturally, we wanted to hear the exhaust without it.

So out it came.

Once we had the muffler mounted and started looking at the finished system from the side?

I'm not going to lie.

It looked good.

Really good.

The angle coming off the motorcycle looked right.

The carbon section looked good.

The mounting felt solid.

There were some finishing details that gave away the cheaper manufacturing.

We found some excess sealant, for example, that I wouldn't expect to see finished that way on a premium exhaust.

But remember what we're comparing here.

This isn't an $1,800 premium system.

That's what makes this interesting.

Okay… But How Does the Cheap Exhaust SOUND?

This is the part everybody actually cares about.

We finished the installation.

Checked everything.

Routed the O2 wiring.

Made sure the system was secure.

Then it was time.

Fire it up.

Dude.

It sounds good.

Like, legitimately good.

Aaron immediately said it sounded like the Akrapovič.

And it was louder than I expected considering the size and length of the muffler.

I thought this thing was going to be fairly tame.

Nope.

She's got some noise.

Now, that's our subjective impression from standing there in the shop. We didn't conduct a controlled decibel comparison in this video, so I'm not going to pretend we scientifically proved it sounds identical to anything else.

But standing there listening to it?

We were impressed.

Then It Started Smoking

Of course, the first startup gave us the normal entertainment.

The system started smoking as everything heated up.

With a newly installed exhaust, residues from manufacturing, handling, fingerprints, assembly products, or protective coatings can burn off during the initial heat cycle.

That doesn't mean you should ignore smoke indefinitely.

After installation, always inspect for exhaust leaks, contact with bodywork, wiring issues, fluid contamination, or anything else abnormal.

But after the initial startup?

So far, so good.

Will This Cheap Exhaust Actually LAST?

And this is the question I cannot answer yet.

Will it last?

That's where inexpensive exhausts can become much more interesting.

A system can look good sitting in the shop.

It can fit correctly.

It can sound great on the first startup.

But what happens after repeated heat cycles?

What happens to the welds?

What happens to the finish?

Does the packing hold up?

Does anything loosen?

Does the carbon-looking material discolor?

Does something crack?

I don't know.

And I'm not going to pretend I do.

So I'm going to ride it.

I'm planning to keep this exhaust on the R7 for about a week before moving to the next system.

We'll see what happens.

Final Fairing Fitment

After Aaron left, I finished putting the motorcycle back together.

And there was one more thing I wanted to check before calling the installation complete:

Does the exhaust clear the bodywork?

With all the plastics back on, the fitment was actually pretty good.

There was one area where we had a small amount of contact, but the rest of the system appeared to have clearance from the inside of the fairing.

That's something I'm going to watch closely.

You absolutely do not want a hot exhaust pipe sitting against plastic and melting the fairing.

Before riding any newly installed system, check clearance throughout the exhaust, wiring, hoses, brake components, suspension travel, and bodywork.

And recheck everything after the first heat cycle.

But We Still Haven't Answered the Biggest Question

Here's the important part.

I'm impressed with the Facra so far.

Fitment?

Much better than expected.

Appearance?

Surprisingly good.

Sound?

Really good to our ears.

Installation?

Pretty damn easy.

But none of that tells us what it does on the dyno.

And that's where the next part of this series gets interesting.

We're going to have three R7s with three different exhaust systems.

We'll run them before tuning.

Then we'll tune them.

Then we'll show you exactly what happened.

That's the comparison I want.

Not:

"My bike made this much horsepower."

I want the before and after.

What did each bike start with?

What did the exhaust change?

What happened after tuning?

That's the information that actually matters.

Next Up: Three R7s, Three Exhausts, One Dyno

This is only exhaust number one.

We've still got the M4.

The Yoshimura.

LeoVince.

Another Chinese exhaust.

SC-Project.

And more testing to do.

The nice thing is that the M4 and Yoshimura are going onto the customer bikes, so I don't have to keep taking every single system on and off mine.

That leaves me with the rest.

And apparently Aaron is going to be spending a lot of time with me.

Sorry, Aaron.

So now we're going to ride the Facra.

Put some miles and heat cycles on it.

Then we're going to get these three motorcycles on the dyno and start collecting numbers.

Because right now?

This cheap exhaust has done much better than I expected.

But the test isn't over.

How does it perform?

How does it respond to tuning?

How does it compare with the real premium systems?

And most importantly:

Is it still this impressive after actually living with it?

That's what we're going to find out.

Ride safe, tell your friends to subscribe, and whatever you do...

Don't watch MotoBros while you're riding your motorcycle.

I'll see you guys in the next one.

Craig, MotoBros