Thanks for the link Exonian. But yeah probably not my thing so I have decided to keep the OEM tails - as the main thing i liked was the sequential indicators really. So i purchased some modules from Amazon that are plug and play and will not need any coding. I also got a set of the sweeping side mirror indicators too. But i'm not 100% sold on whether I will like them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W70keAJdD7QI brought my Ed40 with 20,000km on the clock, and there were no audible pops or bangs with the stock exhaust, it was once I deleted the resonator that they were there in full force. So your theory is likely right scanesare, the soot probably does mute the sound over time. The pops are so addicting on decel, there is also some minor drone for sure but not enough to bother me at this point.