Well, I finally got the Dragon Custom Big Shot Exhaust, Big Shot Air Intake, and Little Shot Oil Catch Can installed.
First up was the Big Shot Air Intake. I didn't like the stock filter which came with it, which was a K&N knock-off, so I took measurements, and went ahead and ordered a real K&N filter; I ended up with the
RC-1060, which fits perfectly (I initially tried the
RA-050V, which has a 3.5" base diameter; while it "fit", it was just too tight IMO. The RC-1060 has a 3" base diameter and closely matches the one that came with it.)
The install was pretty straight-forward; I took off the stock OEM airbox, and the Big Shot Air Intake bolted right up. It also fit - albeit tightly - to the carb.
One thing I did: the stock airbox is also where the breather tube from the valve cover vents to. While that was part of the stock airbox, it was really only connected by plastic, so I cut if off using a razor knife and a bit of Dremel work, then attached it back to the frame (the mounting hole for the stock airbox happened to be right below the part I wanted.)
All bolted up and installed:
Next up was the Dragon Big Shot Exhaust. After taking off the stock exhaust (which, BTW, it appears Taotao only includes ONE bolt for the header pipe!?!?! Good thing I had a spare!), you can see how the stock compares to the Dragon:
A close-up of the header pipe, showing the crappy Chinese work compared to the quality (and less restrictive) Dragon Custom work:
Unfortunately, with the new angle of the Dragon Custom Big Shot Exhaust, it didn't quite line up to the stock bolt holes exactly:
Front bolt hole alignment:
Rear bolt hole alignment:
What to do, what to do...I sat and thought about this for at least an hour or two. Even sourced a piece of metal to try and fashion a bracket. But then inspiration hit me: when I took off the stock airbox, it had two metal S-shaped brackets holding it on, which I no longer was using - and those worked perfectly on the Big Shot Exhaust! And they're solid, too - zero vibrations or rattling.
Front bolt hole with airbox S-bracket:
Rear bolt hole with airbox S-bracket:
And finally, the Dragon Custom Little Shot Oil Catch Can. Typically, it is supposed to mount using the front bolt hole of the Big Shot Exhaust, but since I had to use the S-bracket, AND because of the way my Taotao is made, it wouldn't fit right - it was either angled too high, or stuck out too far. But, if I drilled a hole on the other end of the front mounting bracket, it should fit nicely. I drilled the hole here:
Let me tell you, drilling a hole through solid steel is NOT easy. Also, here's a note for all you kiddies: do NOT touch or try to pick up a piece of metal you've been drilling a hole in, which means you touch your skin to hot metal, or else this will be the result:
Just a little pro tip for ya.
Anyway, back on track...after drilling the hole, I used a small flat chrome metal bracket that came with everything, which extended the mounting hole that I just drilled to just about perfect. Here's the Big Shot Exhaust and the Little Shot Oil Catch Can all mounted up:
Hey, remember that pro tip I gave you earlier, about not touching your skin to hot metal? You'd think that I would remember my own advice, right? Nope, you'd be wrong.
This happened right before I installed the Little Shot Oil Catch Can tube; I ran 3 tablespoons of Seafoam through the oil for about ~10 minutes, then went to take the oil dipstick off. Which is right above the nice, new, shiny chrome exhaust pipe. Which, by the way, gets really hot when the bike is running.
And finally, here's the rear view of everything mounted and bolted up:
I started with upjetting the carb with a 110 main jet, but based on recommendations and opinions of others (especially a few others who have this same setup), I went ahead and installed a 115 main jet. I tuned the a/f screw and adjusted the idle, and she's running nicely now.
I am curious as to why there is a hole drilled in the end of the exhaust pipe; I emailed Jon @ Dragon Custom (who I bought all this from), but haven't heard back from him. (edit: Apparently the hole on the tip is for a silencer you can install to muffle the noise. I didn't get that when I bought this. Curious what it would sound like with that installed...)
Also, wondering if water might collect in the ends of the tubes if it rains, what with the way they're angled upwards now...
As for the sound...whoa. HUGE difference!
She's got a really nice, rich baritone exhaust sound now; almost like a motor cycle. Maybe even a baby Harley.
Total cost: $315 (shipped) for Big Shot Exhaust, Big Shot Air Intake, and Little Shot Oil Catch Can; $21.27 for the K&N RC-1060 air filter; $8 for the carb jets. Total:
$344.27 + two blisters and a few hours of my time.
Worth it? Absolutely.
