NITRO RACING: Exhausts for Classic Japanese Muscle Bikes

August 7, 2025

NITRO RACING: Exhausts for Classic Japanese Muscle Bikes

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Table of Contents

1 Story
- 1.1 The culture of "BAKU-ON"
- 1.2 NITRO
2 NITRO RACING Product Lineup
3 Products

Story

The culture of "BAKU-ON"

Before introducing the brand, I would like to tell you about the Japanese word "BAKUON". This word literally means "explosion sound". In the past, Japanese biker gangs would remove their silencers (or intentionally break them) in order to make loud noises referred to as "BAKUON". You could consider these noises as being caused by explosions, but nowadays the word simply refers to any very loud sound.

There may be much debate on whether this massive exhaust sound is good or not, but riders who like it still like it. And if you have Japanese friends who love classic Japanese muscle bikes like air-cooled Zs, KATANAs, NINJAs, and other famous models produced around 1980, they will definitely recommend you the brand NITRO RACING.

NITRO

Now the reason I mentioned the Japanese word "BAKUON" is because, as you'd likely assume, the brand name "NITRO" comes from the explosive substance, nitroglycerin. But the term "BAKUON" can be divided into both good and bad, and it is clear that the sound made by NITRO RACING exhausts is not the kind that causes distress, but rather a cool sporty sound. I once saw a GPZ900R with a NITRO RACING DOUBLE EX exhaust on the street, and I still can't forget that sound. Although the sound was not quiet, it didn't cause any unpleasant feeling, at least not for me.

■KAWASAKI GPZ900R with 4-in-1 Machine Bent Titanium EX exhaust (short tail)

NITRO RACING mainly develops parts for large Japanese on-road machines, focusing on models produced around 1980 that are considered classic motorcycles, such as the air-cooled Z, KATANA, and NINJA. They are well known for creating titanium exhausts, and universal silencers also come to mind when thinking about their product lineup. But they also offer rearsets, reduction kits, fenders, and many other original hard parts for the air-cooled Z and NINJA.

All of these parts were designed with sport riding in mind, to assist riders in controlling their machines, and to bring the potential of bikes produced in the 80s to a higher level.

Recently, NITRO RACING has started to focus on developing parts for models produced after 1990, such as the ZEPHYR1100, but the basic concept remains the same. From the street to the track, their parts are able to have an immediate impact on riders who are looking for a better riding experience.

NITRO RACING Product Lineup

NITRO RACING has many product lines and categories. Here we'll take a look at three of them.

Titan EX Series

Pursuing the beauty of curves and exhaust efficiency to match the body of the motorcycle. A choice of 30 different silencers. In addition to the simple half-polished silencer, a new heat-polished silencer with a beautiful titanium color is now available.

Megaphone EX

The Steel Megaphone EX series is a high-mount type with a specially designed tail profile. The pipeline is designed to match the layout of the frame, which is not possible with orthodox megaphone exhausts that have the tail raised by post processing.

Fork Brace & Fender

NITRO RACING front fenders bolt on to the stock GSX-R or GSF1200 forks, and can also be used with the NITRO RACING Fork Brace (Stabilizer) to fit a variety of machines. To match the color of your bike, the brace is available in 3 different anodized aluminum colors for a total of 9 different combinations. There are two types of front fender shapes to choose from for naked bikes and sport bikes.