so the cobra can went on yesterday nite... and while the cool pipe cutter and live in mechanic made it much easier than it could have been, things still didn't line up.
so we went to the old mechanic standby and whacked it with a mallet to get all the mounts lined up.
of course as it is all clamped together not welded, that meant we got to look at it's guts... and I regret that... rotfl
the packing was a single non-symeterical wrapped layer held in place with good old masking tape    
-shudder-
I am kinda assuming this is going to mean that the cobra is one of those pipes that will need to be re-packed at some point, but the mechanic assures me that it's all ok and as it should be.
And my little gs beast now sounds louder and meaner than the stock gxxr600 it shares the garage with!!!
Even without the jetting (kit not arrived yet) it has more get up and go.
I just have to get used to "GROWL" instead of "grrrr".

did you cut in place or remove exhaust to cut?

Does it run fine without jet kit (enough to leave it as is for those of us that are lazy)?

The Cobra slips over existing pipe by about 4" or so? And held in place by clamp of some sort?

[I've really got to check one out in person!]

Thanks.

Cut in place.  Had to unbolt the pegs and move them out of the way to make sure that the cool cutting tool (looks like an oversized chain linkage with a handle on one end) would fit.
There is a clamp around the can itself, and a clamp to hold it onto the existing pipe.
It appears to run just fine without the jetting, and better than stock, but mind you this is just a couple runs around the block.

i've had mine on for about six months now and it runs great, sounds great, also no lag on high speed or on any speed. Great improvement on get up and go,and  that's without re-jetting.