Thats a good question. I know that back in my dirt bike days, having a tuned exhaust system made a big difference in the way a 2 stroke ran. With our older long stroke 2 cycle motors, I don't know if the rules are the same.
In wollards book, he talks about how the bikes with 2 long pipes ran better when when pipe was plugged and the other had a restricter in it. (although my pipes are open on the ends).
Many years ago I worked for AMF wheeled goods (the little red tricycles you had when you were a kid) & we made mopeds in the 70's. We had 2 different horsepower models. The only difference between the 2 were the size of the intake manifold and the muffler.
Mike Sal