by
Alex Edge
August 10th, 2007 6:00 AM
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At Area P, it’s a family affair for the Bryants. Kerry, seated at center with Australian Cattle Dog Zorro, is the progenitor. Sons Kenny (aboard the ZX-14) and Kelly (on the left) get their hands dirty with fabrication and production. At right is Kerry’s wife, Jenny, who handles sales and marketing.
A Yamaha R6 equipped with Area P’s stylish megaphone slip-on sits next to a Dynojet dyno. In the corner is the computer Kerry uses to compare horsepower and air/fuel readings between runs and make changes while tuning.
A display rack in the waiting room shows off some of Area P’s products - a few complete mufflers, as well as some of the components used to build them (perforated cores, billet end caps, exhaust hanger brackets) and offers a small selection of Area P apparel. The headers lying on the floor are prototypes Area P built while working towards a final design for a customer.
Area P’s waiting room also showcases some old-school racing photos and a set of old-school leathers. The ZX-10R is something Kerry did for fun - it features a full superbike-spec custom exhaust, which he somehow obtained and then modified himself just to see what would happen.
Here’s a close look at the Area P’s header pipes on a Kawasaki ZX-14 in a very early stage of development. In the quest for ultimate performance, the Bryants go through multiple prototypes, each one featuring slight changes to areas like the collector or the length and diameter of the header primaries.
Area P is developing a full-length exhaust system for the ZX-14. This system is being designed for an exhaust manufacturer, but Kerry was tight-lipped about who it is.
Bent sections of tubing are mounted to fabricated jigs like these before welding, helping to ensure consistency from part to part.
The picnic-sized CNC plasma cutter isn’t usually used for having picnics. Instead, Kenny programs it to rapidly cut large numbers of exhaust hanger brackets or other small parts needed for production exhaust systems.
This is about a quarter of the total space available in the entire Area P shop - it’s not a massive complex by any means. The table on the right is where Area P’s slip-on exhaust systems (and systems produced for other companies) are assembled.
Fabricating exhaust systems requires countless hours running bikes on a dyno. Here’s Kerry aboard Area P’s well-used Dynojet 200i.
The spindle and control arms on this race truck are an example of the work Kenny does at Alliance Fabrication. Looks a little bit beefier than the stock parts, right?
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