What does an exhaust servo motor do?

An exhaust servo motor is one component of the exhaust valve system (sometimes called the ex-up or power valve system) found on almost every modern sportbike including all Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, Ducati, Triumph and a few others. The system consist of a few parts, the first is the valve assembly inside the exhaust pipe. This is a simple butterfly valve that can open or close to change the amount of exhaust flow. Connected to this valve is a set of cables that run to the other part of the system, the servo motor. This motor, which is controlled by the engine control unit, has a pulley on top that rotates the cables to open and close the valve in the exhaust. The cables are used to isolate the motor from the hot exhaust and allow it to be placed in a more convenient place on the bike.

The purpose of this system according to the motorcycle manufacturers’ marketing departments is to create back-pressure at lower RPM’s to increase torque. Unfortunately, this probably isn’t the real reason; the true purpose of the exup valves is to meet noise regulations. The exhaust valves are partially closed at idle and low rpm to reduce noise, and closed again at the upper RPMs to meet peak noise regulations. The proof of this has been shown on the dyno where removing the valves and retuning the engine creates a flatter better torque curve. Additionally, in the USA, most bikes close the valve again at the upper RPM range, but in Europe they do not (different regulations) and the European bikes typically create a few more HP on the top end as a result.