R&D Dry Pipe and manifold cracked, fix or revert to stock???

[TheTorch]

I picked up this 2001 Superjet over the 2020 winter. It has an "ADA Racing" head, not sure if the cylinder is OEM (don't think so), and an R&D dry pipe (pics attached) and a bilge pump. It runs great and is a lot of fun but has an issue the seller didn't tell me about. It takes on water due to cracks in the exhaust manifold and the pipe itself where it joins the manifold and the support bracket that attaches to the tail end of the pipe is broken. The bilge pump can pump it out so it is ridable but it obviously needs to be fixed, I'm just not sure what direction I should go or what my reasonable options are. I should add that, while we (the family) have had and ridden Standups forever we do it for fun and my racing days are behind me. I am at the point where stock performance is fine and actually prefer the reliability of "stock" with most of my toys (we have a 2004 SuperJet that is stock, a blast to ride, runs great and has had zero issues). I picked this one up because I love the SuperJet (although I like my two older Kawis too) and wanted to have another reliable ski on the beach because we have a lot of friends and family join us at the lake. I work on and fix most of my own stuff but am not overly familiar with much on the Superjet because the one we have has been so trouble free so many of my questions will be a bit on the "newbie" side of the equation. Sorry.

The first obvious approach is to fix the R&D Dry Pipe, manifold and buy (or make) another bracket. My questions with regard to that are the following:
Is the manifold aluminum (looks like it) and have people had decent luck welding up cracks in them?
Have people had decent luck welding cracks in these pipes (not huge cracks)?
If I do fix it shall I just expect more cracks in the future due to heavy vibration? If so, any ideas on addressing the vibration?
If I do get it welded prepping it will be a bit&* because someone along the way tried to fix it with copious amounts of epoxy - any ideas, beyond the obvious, of removing that?

My second approach is to revert back to stock although I don't have any of those parts. It looks like I would need the exhaust manifold, exhaust chamber, bracket that attaches the chamber to the head and outlet pipe. Questions would be:
Is there a good source for those parts second hand (must be a lot of them out there due to pipes being replaced with performance pipes)?
Can this be done using the ADA Racing head on the ski or would I need to get a stock head too(doesn't seem to have a place to bold the chamber bracket)? (see picture)
What other issues might I have or parts might I need to revert back to stock?

Misc:
Is the cylinder OEM or aftermarket (see pic)? If aftermarket can anyone tell me what aftermarket it is and if it will allow me to utilize the OEM exhaust?
Because the center ones (between the two manifold passage ways) are very difficult to get to, any tricks removing the bolts on the R&D exhaust manifold? In particular the second bottom bolt (going front to rear ). So far I cant get anything on it because there is no room (my next idea is to grind an old 12mm end wrench so the end wall is very thin and try that)?

Last Question:
Anyone have any better ideas?

Any information, input or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Storbeck]

I don't have personal expirience with the R and D pipe but it has a reputation for being one of the best pipes for power, but also one of the worst for cracking. If you're overall goal is reliability and you're not concerned with power you probably would be best off selling the pipe (they are somewhat rare and to the right person desireable) and putting a stock exhaust on it or finding an aftermarket pipe that is a little less finicky. The ultimate low maintenance aftermarket pipe is the B pipe, but those are a very hot commodity now days.

That is an oem cylinder, but with the other mods on the ski there is a pretty good chance it might have some porting.

ADA sells a bracket that you mount on the ADA head that can mount the stock exhaust. Again I have not tried that so I couldn't tell you if there are any issues with doing that.

 

[TheTorch]

Thanks for the reply and information Stor. I must admit, the thing runs very well, snappy yet linear power from bottom to top, a bit better than my stocker but not "off the charts" better. Your idea to sell it is a good one, had not thought of that and, I see from looking, even used they aren't cheap.
You seem to have a lot more experience with these engines than I. My concern with reverting back to stock is mostly opening up a can of worms. Your information about the ADA bracket is helpful and addresses some of that. It seems to me if I got a 701 exhaust manifold, exhaust chamber, the ADA chamber bracket, the coupler hose (manifold to chamber), outlet hose (chamber to water box), exhaust manifold gaskets it should bolt right on. Does that sound right to you or am I missing something (thus the can of worms)? I am guessing I can find most of that in decent shape second hand. Any place you would suggest I look or the standard fare - ebay?

 

[Storbeck]

I've actually never owned a ski with a stock exhaust so I'm not the best guy to ask. But, you are correct a lot of people ditch the stock system for aftermarket so it shouldn't be too hard to get a complete system from somebody. It isn't a hose that connects the manifold to the "chamber" on the stock exhaust there is an aluminum part in there that has a rubber covering, but still if you just advertise that you're looking for a complete stock system somebody probably will have one for pretty reasonable price.

Odds are pretty good there will be some unaccounted for detail left to address but I'm not familiar enough with the stock system to be much help. I don't think it would be anything too bad.

 

[Big Kahuna]

These pipes make great power. But they break.......... and break.....

 

[TheTorch]

That makes sense. I may do a post here in "Parts For Sale" area looking for OEM exhaust for it. I appreciate the input! Now if I can figure out how to get that one bolt out!

 

[TheTorch]

Hey Big Kahuna, the way they bolt down does appear to be a vibration nightmare for them and high vibration generally leads to low life. I think I am going to try to procure what I need to revert it to the original stock set-up. Any thoughts on a good way to source those items (looked at OEM parts list it looks like I will just need the complete muffler assy, outlet pipe and gasket (and the ADA bracket)? I would think some of the people or shops that change out these pipes must have full OEM setups gathering dust.

 

[Storbeck]

put a wanted post on the classifieds section on this forum, maybe also on facebook.

 

[TheTorch]

That's a good idea. Another thing I should have asked is, if I can get the manifold (I am not even sure it's cracked, do the manifolds often crack?) and pipe cleaned up and welded does that last reasonably well. At the lake these days we mostly wake surf and the standups don't get ridden a ton and not particularly hard. Might be the simplest fix, at least for a while. Yep .... I'm gettin a little wishy washy here.

 

[TheBuzzard]

Are you sure it's a dry pipe? They made a wet with less fittings. They were $1200 new . The Japanese pro freestylers used this pipe on their 1200 motors with a carbon chamber some years back.

 

[TheTorch]

I am fairly certain it's a dry pipe, mostly from the pictures of other R&D dry pipes. There is no carbon anywhere on the pipe or the manifold, they are both aluminum.

 

[TheTorch]

Quick update. Member AAlamo contacted me via private message and said he had a complete exhaust system that he would give to me if I paid the shipping. I accepted in a heartbeat. He packed it up, shipped it and supplied me with a tracking number. And ... he said it wasn't very expensive to ship and it was on him. Well a giant "Thanks You" to him. If you have occasion to deal with Anthony, he's a great guy. I hope to install it soon and be up and running next month. My nephew in-law has access to a machine shop and eventually hopes to weld up the old dry pipe and manifold. Who knows, if he does maybe I'll throw it back on down the road but for now ... it's stock city baby!

Thanks for all the replies and input.