The Best 2-Stroke Bicycle Motor Exhaust Upgrades

Our list of the best motorized bike exhaust upgrades of the year is here, riders! In our 12 years of experience, we’ve tested the best high-performance 2-stroke mufflers and expansion chambers. And if there's one thing we hear when it comes time for this time of year it's, "What's the best exhaust upgrade for my motorized bike?"

Our answer: it all depends on what you want out of your ride. There are tons of options to choose from, and each have their own unique advantages. So we've gathered the best ones around to see which is best for you.

And by combining customer reviews, top speed, sound, acceleration, and overall performance, we gathered the top 8 performance exhaust upgrades of 2021 for any budget. Take a look at your top options below:

If you want to boost the performance of your 2-stroke bicycle motor, easiest and fastest way to do that is with an upgraded exhaust. On top of being easy to install, there are four core reasons you should upgrade your motorized bicycle's exhaust:

• Faster Top End Speeds: With shorter, more compact exhaust systems you increase the amount of exhaust you can expel, which helps gain faster top end speeds.
• Increased Acceleration: An upgraded exhaust helps smooth throttle response, helping you your bicycle motor is able to respond faster to throttle, too. That means better acceleration and better take off's.
• Better Bottom End Torque: Exhausts with longer pipes and plenty of back pressure increase your torque for hills, inclines, and pulling power.
• Differing noise output: The right bicycle motor exhaust can bring the overall engine noise level down quite a bit. If you're looking to scream down a trail or around the track, a baffle-less exhaust will help you increase the roar of your bike engine.

But what exactly do the exhaust upgrades on our list do for your engine? Take a look at our review of the top bicycle motor exhaust upgrades for a side-by-side comparison of each:

A bicycle motor's exhaust- like any exhaust- is the part of an engine that used fuel and air (in the form of exhaust smoke) leaves your bike engine. It has a chamber at the end that creates a vacuumed that pulls the spent air and fuel out of the engine so new fuel can enter.

That said, performance exhaust upgrades improves the exhaust process for better performance. To do that, performance exhausts improve on those two things: the exhaust pipe and the expansion chamber. Each upgraded muffler will improve on one or both of these, so let's check out how each work to give you the performance you're looking for.

Let's break down these two main parts of your exhaust and see how they function on your bicycle motor:

It's important to note that if an exhaust does not have an expansion chamber, there's a good chance that it comes with a silencer.

• Silencers (or mufflers) sit at the end of exhaust pipes and help suppress noise coming from the exhaust and engine.
• Like a traditional expansion chamber, they also build back pressure to ensure engines get the boost of power you're looking.

So now that you know how upgrading will improve the speed, sound, and performance of your engine, let's talk about the advantages of upgrading your 2-stroke motorized bike's exhaust.

With so many types of upgrades for your bicycle motor's exhaust, it can be hard to tell which one's best for your motorized bike. So let's compare the three most common types of performance exhausts so you can figure out which benefits are best for your rides:

1. The best technical support and customer service in the industry. While most motorized bike shops will sell you any ol' exhaust upgrade, our experts will make sure you're running the right exhaust for your bicycle motor. Just give us a call or shoot us an email, and we'll work with you to make sure your new exhaust unlocks the power you're looking for.
2. We have the easiest warranty process in the industry. Other companies claim the offer full coverage on their parts, but most only cover their parts for 2 weeks after arrival- if not at all. Worse, they'll make you pay to ship it back on manufacturer defects. But with our 30 Day Parts-Exchange Warranty, all you have to do is shoot us a picture of the damage and send it to us. We'll look up your order, get back to you ASAP, and get the part exchanged promptly.
3. We offer the best exhaust upgrades at the best value. Most bicycle motor companies have one of two types of exhaust upgrades: low-price, low quality pipes, or budget-busting upgrades that need more parts to back them up. At BikeBerry, you'll only find high-quality exhaust upgrades for any budget and any performance you're looking for.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "BBR Tuning Expansion Chamber makes a huge difference!" - Hearn R.

I built a 48cc Grubee Skyhawk motorized Huffy Cranbrook and have been riding it for 5 years now. The BBR Tuning DELUXE High Performance Expansion Chamber bolted right on and installed in less than 5 minutes. The big difference this little muffler made was almost life changing for me. The response of the bicycle is so much faster. Also, the overall top speed increased drastically. It almost feels as if the motor can breathe now. Best purchase I have ever made, hands down.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Excellent Muffler" - Sebastian A.

Leaps and bounds better than the stock muffler. Noticeable increase in performance and looks awesome to boot. It goes up and over the engine, so makes the entire bike look and feel like a rocket! The engine sounds absolutely fantastic, too.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Best upgrade for the money!" -Micheal L.

Excellent customer service and package tracking. This expansion chamber fit right on my bike, and over all provided my cheap Costway 66cc engine with 5 extra mph. It also gives the motor overall great throttle response and don't even get me started on the added torque + acceleration. Best $50 I could've spent on an upgrade. 10/10 would recommend, and i'll be getting another one when I buy my next motor kit.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Better performance, for sure" -Anthony L.

The expansion chamber exhaust definitely eliminated the majority of the jerkiness that I was getting from my engine. It also added quite a bit of torque so my bike accelerates better. And it installed just as easy as the stock muffler.

Q: What will a performance exhaust do for my engine?

A: There's an exhaust for every rider, whether you want a smoother ride, a faster ride, or you want a motorized bike with more torque. Let's take a quick look at the three types of performance exhausts and what they can do for your bike:

• Expansion Chambers give you the best top end speeds, but their speed can be hindered by hills, as they tend to lack in torque. Use one of these exhausts if you want more top end speed for racing and high speed riding.
• Stretch Exhausts give you optimal bottom end torque, but their stretched design can lead to weak spots in exhaust and performance issues. Go with these exhausts if you're looking for a little more pulling power out of your engine and cruising.
• Deluxe Exhausts give you a slight boost of torque and top end speed, and they're made to enhance the performance of any engine. These can smooth out your revs, improve speed, and increase torque no matter what you use your engine for.

Q: How do I install a performance exhaust?

A: For the most part, to install a performance exhaust on your bicycle motor, you follow the same procedure as installing any exhaust:

1. Unbolt and remove the existing exhaust from the cylinder.
2. Clean the exhaust port and replace the exhaust gasket.
3. Line up the performance exhaust with the cylinder and bolt it back on.

Now, depending on the type of performance exhaust you have, you may have a little more work on your hands after bolting your exhaust on:

• Expansion chambers that get in the way of your pedals may require you to swap out your standard cranks for a wide crank assembly.
• Stretch exhausts are usually so long that they need a bracket mounted to the frame to make sure they don't flail and hang off the engine.
• Deluxe exhausts wrap around bike frames and hang, thus they'll use brackets that mount to one of clutch case cover.

The easiest performance exhausts to install are stretch and deluxe exhausts, as they only require a simple bracket for proper mounting.

But the good news is replacing your cranks is pretty easy. In fact, our installation video below takes you step-by-step through exchanging your bike's cranks for a wide crankset:

Q: What engines can I use performance exhausts on?

A: Performance exhausts fit onto 2-stroke bicycle motor cylinder bodies with 40mm spaced mounting ports. Thankfully the majority of 66/80cc 2-stroke engine kits have this spacing, so most performance exhausts will fit the majority of 2-stroke bike engines on the market.

That said, there are limitations to their compatibility:

• Most 48cc bicycle motors have mounting ports smaller than 40mm, so unfortunately most exhaust upgrades don't fit.
• 80/100cc bicycle engines have oversized muffler ports, so a performance exhaust won't get the seal they need to operate properly
• Engines like the Bullet Train and BT-80 engines have the same oversized ports. While they are 66/80cc engines, they are unable to upgrade their exhausts.

Q: Do I have to clean my exhaust?

Cleaning your exhaust is vital in assuring your bicycle motor's performance. Remember: it's responsible for regulating the exhaust coming from your engine. As such, there's eventually going to be a good amount of sludgy, unused fuel built up. If that happens your motorized bike can't breathe properly.

This is especially important for performance exhausts, so it's crucial to keep your exhaust clean.

You only have to clean your exhaust every 3-4 months if you're riding daily. And thankfully, cleaning isn't too hard:

1. Start by removing the muffler from the engine (Note: you'll most likely want to exchange your muffler gasket, as it will probably come off after installation).
2. Disassemble the exhaust, if possible.
3. Use a degreaser and cleanser to get the carbon build up out of your exhaust.
4. Use a scrub brush to scrub each part inside of the exhaust.
5. Use carb cleaner to rinse out your exhaust to ensure no rust builds up, as is the case when you rinse with water.
6. Hang dry your exhaust, and when it's completely dry it's ready to be installed.

For a thorough breakdown on how to properly clean your exhaust, click here and read our article outlining everything you need to know about cleaning your 2-stroke bike engine's exhaust.

Q: Do I need to tune my performance exhaust?

A: Exhausts are perhaps the one thing you don't need to tune on a bicycle motor, no matter what exhaust you upgrade to. But the larger your performance exhaust is, the more exhaust it's going to be pulling.

When your engine draws more exhaust (i.e. fuel and air), it's important to to adjust the air and fuel ratio your engine is fed from your carburetor. So if you're increasing the performance of your exhaust, you'll need to tune your carburetor.

The great thing about 2-stroke carburetors is that you tune the majority of them the same way. Take a look out our tuning guide to see how easy it is to keep your engine running at peak conditions, especially after you install an upgraded exhaust:

Q: Do mufflers come with warranties?

A: Where most retailers sell you a muffler and leave you in the dirt, each performance exhaust offered at BikeBerry comes with our 30 Day Parts Exchange Warranty. They also come with lifetime assistance, so when you need help figuring out the best exhaust and how to tune it, one of our experts will be a phone call or email away.