How to Customize Your Bike and Your Exhaust System

by Valeria Mollo

I am amazed how people in the United States like to customize many different items in their lives. From their cars to their watches to special covers for their iphones, customization in the United States is a very important part of personal expression.

Customization of motorcycles in the United States is particularly fascinating! In Italy when someone wants to personalize their motorcycle they may add graphics, or wheels. In the United States enthusiasts will spend thousands of dollars customizing their motorcycle to the point where you cannot even identify the original model! I was shocked to see sportbikes where the entire motorcycle, even the frame, was painted or dipped in chrome. And the swingarms! Single sided, stretched sometimes as far as twelve inches! Incredible!

For many riders, particularly on the east coast of the United States, their motorcycle is more than just a method of transportation — it is a rolling indication of their personalities for taste and style. I like this intense focus on customization! While I have not gone as far as other riders in the United States to customize my motorcycle, here is what I have done with my bikes.

My fist bike was a Hornet 600. I changed the front and rear fender and lower fairing with carbon fiber pieces that I recieved from Honda Italia; these are the same pieces they use for the Hornet Cup! I love the color red - it means energy, power and fire! So I installed red foot pegs, red bolts and of course many stickers with the LeoVince logo.

My CBR 600 is for track days. A famous Italian designer, Bargy, designed my bike with black, white and fuchsia body work and a big LeoVince logo on it. He also painted my Airo helment in the same style of the bodywork. On the front fairing I included the MonteOliveto logo, our family winery and on the front mirror is Ben Spies' signature — his name makes me go faster! HA! I included "sponsor" stickers on the lower body work and personalized my Spidi leathers in white , fucsia and black.

I think the best part of my bike though is is my pipe: the LeoVince GP Pro. At our US headquarters we have a special YAG laser engraving technique we developed for the Unlimted exhaust design. I used this laser to write "Lady Leovince" on my pipe! How cool!

Maybe you would like to customize your bike also, but you do not want to spend so much money. An affordable way to customize your bike exhaust is with our SBK "Unlimited Midnight" series exhaust. It costs only $499.00 for the single exhaust and we offer free laser engraving with this pipe.

In Italy we recognized the importance of customization to American streetbike culture, and we designed this pipe specifically for U.S. sportbike riders who want something more aggressive sounding, looking and of course custom! It's a short cannister (9 inches) and you can have it in polished aluminum ($399.00) or hard annodized black finish ($499.00). Plus our removable EVOII baffle let's you make it either loud or quieter! It's much lighter and best of all on the Midnight muffler we offer the laser engraving for free and will customize your Unlimited exhaust with any art you want — anything!

I know in the United States there are big clubs — some clubs I understand have thousands of members? This would be a good chance, I think, to announce your affiliation to your club and laser etch your club logo on your pipe.

Whatever you choose to put on your Unlimited pipe is definitely your decision! But for only $499.00 this is a very affordable method of increasing your performance and improving the look and sound of your bike while adding a very custom design to your motorcycle that no one else has!

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