Has anyone tried to do this?
 

Yup , it's a well known thing to grind those beads out to open them up .



.

But whether it actually makes a difference ....

Dont need to grind when you buy the stainless, its bigger and direct flow.

You will feel no difference from this alone, but it feels good to do anyway =)

My oversize SS headers vere horrible, and needed it more than the stock ones.
The left one has had some work by me, although still not finished, the right was what they came like.
http://www.tenere.dk/forumnew/upload...roarsammen.jpg

Header Pipe Weld Restriction
 

I did this year's ago on my then DR650. I can't say that I felt any difference, but it made total sense to reduce the restriction. Why not do it when it's fairly quick and easy to do?

very good idea Jens! I have a completely stainless steel exhaust (from the front to the back) , but with the oem headers because I didn't want to fiddle with them... can you please measure those headers for me?

Which meassurements do you need?
The bike is loaned out to my brother, so currently not available to me.

it's okay Jens I went to the guy who build mine! but you giving your bike to your brother is great ... if you ever come to Crete hit me up and i will loan you mine !

I think it is entirely possible that the bead is there for a reason. You might find a drop in low-end and maybe middle rev power with the bead removed.

Turbulance
 

I can't imagine that an automotive design engineer would intentionally design in something that creates turbulance. I could accept that the modest amount of turbulance created from this weld has a negligible effect on mass air flow, but cannot think of any possible benefit from restricting it.
To increase back pressure for some reason???

Ya , it has nothing to with designed power characteristics , it's just there because they had to weld the pipe to the seal boss and rather than using a TIG welder for a smooth non-built up bead, they used a MIG which makes a bead that stick out . Many these days are TIG welded so no beads to look ugly or get in the way , unfortunately some companies still use the crap welder method , not the known brand performance companies .

Ye thats true, always ask for picture of the weld before buying stainless, mine didnt have any problem like that.