Unleashing the BMW F700GS / F800GS Roar: MIVV Slip-On Exhaust Installation and Review

The BMW F700GS and F800GS are capable, versatile, and reliable adventure motorcycles. They carry themselves with a German business-like demeaner in all the tasks you throw at them. This makes them excellent all-rounders, but also terribly boring motorcycles. So I when I spoke to Ed at MotoMachines.com, he recommended I check out the MIVV exhaust pipe for the F700GS and F800GS.

In the past I’ve tried experimenting with an Akrapovic exhaust pipe on BMW’s 800cc parallel twin, but the Akrapovic had no roar too it. It was especially bad considering it would cost a rider over $1,000 USD. Luckily I bought mine second hand, and sold it soon after. You can read about that here. This MIVV Oval Slip-On was only $479 from Moto Machines, less than half the price of the Akrapovic. Would it be too good to be true?

Join me as we review the MIVV slip on exhaust for BMW’s F700GS and F800GS motorcycles. We’ll be exploring removal of the original muffer, a weight comparison versus the original, installation of the MIVV slip on exhaust, and how it sounds and performs, both with and without the DB killer.

Remove the OEM Exhaust

The first thing you’ll need to do is remove the OEM muffler. You can do this with a Torx T45 to remove one bolt, followed by a spring puller (or pliers) to remove two springs that connect the exhaust to the header pipe. From there you’ll be able to twist and pull back the original exhaust until it comes off of the header pipe.

Be careful, if the exhaust is still hot you could burn yourself, and it does weigh over 10 lbs, so don’t drop it!

OEM vs. MIVV: A Weight Comparison

Weight reduction is a nice upside to switching over to an aftermarket exhaust pipe. The stock OEM exhaust on the BMW F700GS and F800GS are large, heavy, and that weight is placed up above the motorcycle’s center of gravity.

Weight up high will raise your motorcycle’s overall center of gravity, which can make it a little less stable. When you reduce weight up high, you’ll decrease inertia and your motorcycle’s handling will feel more responsive, less tipsy mid-cornering.

I weighed both the original BMW exhaust and hardware and found it weighed 10.6 lbs, whereas the MIVV exhaust and hardware weighed only 5.0 lbs. This is only a 1.2% weight reduction, but weight up high “feels” heavier than weight down low when riding, so every bit helps.

MIVV Exhaust Installation: Easy peasy

The MIVV slip on exhaust wasn’t hard to install. The hardest parts will be putting the rubber cover over the springs, and getting the rubber in place around the support bracket. I talk about both parts in the video above.

Next you’ll simply put on the link pipe, put on the exhaust, and play around with the two pieces until you line up the exhaust in a way that you’re happy with and fits your F700GS or F800GS.

MIVV Exhaust Defects: MotoMachines to the rescue

Every manufacturer can occasionally have defects, and unfortunately, even the Made in Italy MIVV brand is no exception. I discovered two flaws in my BMW F700GS/F800GS MIVV exhaust.

1. The logo was placed at the side of the exhaust furthest from the header, rather than nearest. This means that the MIVV logo is covered by the exhaust support bracket.
2. The exhaust is supposed to have two tabs for the springs to mount the exhaust to the header pipe. Two sets of springs came with the exhaust, but the exhaust itself only had one tab on it.

I called MotoMachines.com since I got the exhaust pipe from them, and overall, it was a great experience.

First, after only three rings, Tom from MotoMachines answered the phone. Tom was a real life human, not a chat bot, or even a pre-recorded voice. He understood right away what the issues were, apologized for the inconvenience, and asked me to send him some pictures.

It was late afternoon when I spoke with Tom and sent him the pictures. By the time I woke up the next morning, Tom had sent me a reply letting me know that MotoMachines had spoken to MIVV. All parties agreed that the exhaust was defective, and MIVV would work with MotoMachines to get me a replacement exhaust pipe, and I could keep the current one. Sweet deal!

It was encouraging to see both companies acknowledge the issue, apologize, and quickly come to a resolution that benefited the customer. Kudos to Motomachines for making that happen for me.

MIVV Sound Test and On-Road Experience

The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the sound test. Right away you can tell that the exhaust tone is not very loud at all. The MIVV exhaust is maybe just a few decibels louder than the original BMW F700GS / F800GS stock exhaust, but that doesn’t mean the two sound the same.

The MIVV exhaust sounds much less restricted and much less muffled. It sounds like it’s able to breathe much better and gives much more of a deeper, more raw engine tone compared to the original exhaust. Despite not being much louder, MIVV manages to make the F700GS/F800GS motor sound much better.

DB-Killer/Baffle Removal: Unleashing the Beast

Part of why I got rid of my Akrapovic exhaust pipe on my F700GS was because the DB killer was too difficult to remove. There was a half dozen rivets to remove, followed by sawing after that, and then having to put everything all back together. It seemed like far too much work.

Where Akrapovic over-engineered their baffle (DB killer), MIVV kept it simple. To remove the baffle on the MIVV exhaust pipe, all you need to do is drill from the hole at the bottom back end of the slip on exhaust, and drill through the rivet holding the exhaust and the baffle in place.

Once you’ve drilled all the way through, you can use pliers to pull out the DB killer. The metal will be very hot, so be careful not to burn yourself (like I did).

DB-Killer Out: Unleashed Test Ride

Once the db-killer was removed from the MIVV exhaust, the F700GS/F800GS motor really comes to life from the moment you hit the starter. The new sound of the motorcycle with the db-killer out is very deep, and very good. It’s not too loud, but it lets out loud but low and macho tone, from an otherwise very plain-Jane vanilla motorcycle.

I particularly liked the way the MIVV exhaust sounded around 3,000 to 5,00 rpm. The exhaust without the baffle has completely changed the way I look at this motorcycle. It was always functional and versatile, but now it’s so much more bad ass, exciting, and fun.

For the city I’ll be keeping the DB-killer out, but I found myself wondering if I would put it back in if I was doing some extended touring…

Fine-Tuning the Sound: DB-Killer Modification

I didn’t find the MIVV exhaust with the DB killer out to be obnoxiously loud. It seemed just right to me, however, that’s subjective.

Some may want to put the db-killer back in. All you’ll need to do for that is drop it into the exhaust and use a little nut and bolt through the hole to hold it tight in place.

For those seeking a compromise between the volume with the db-killer in, and the volume with the db-killer out, good news: you can simply modify the baffle.You can drill holes into the baffle, allowing more noise to directly pass through, or you can the end of the DB-killer down a bit, to allow more noise to pass through more directly. You have options to help you fine-tune the sound.

Final Thoughts: A Game-Changer for the BMW F700GS & F800GS

At the beginning of this article I asked if the MIVV exhaust for the F700GS and F800GS was too good to be true, and in a way it was. It came with two defects!

Once my replacement comes in, what will I be left with? A very good exhaust, with a very easy to remove db-killer, that gives my motorcycle character and personality. This fantastic upgrade has changed the way I see my GS, and how I feel when I ride it. I can’t believe it is less than half the price of the Akrapovic, which I listed for sale right away after I installed it because it was such a let down.

Moto Machines took excellent care of me, both getting me my exhaust within a matter of days, and then working with MIVV to set me up with a replacement, and MIVV made an excellent product for the F700GS and F800GS, even if they did happen to make mine wrong.