Aftermarket Exhausts - Got one? Want one? Consider this...

[rlarsen]

A brief note about the Suzuki K5 and K6:

The intakes seem to be louder than the exhaust when the throttle is well open. I thought it was just my imagination, then I noted a reviewer in a motorcycle magazine had the same comment; he went on to remark that none of the other liter bikes he tested exhibited this characteristic.

The intakes are loud enough that I can hear them above wind noise at 150+ mph. I wonder if the sound they produce is exempt from Federal noise standards?

Lee

You're not kidding. I thought I was crazy until I realized I really WAS hearing nothing but intake noise when I was about 6000RPM on my K6. Even with an aftermarket slip-on, I can barely hear the exhaust over the intake at the same RPM range. It's really not unpeasant though, and I doubt would garner a lot of complaints on the "annoyance" scale.

[Spiderman]

A new saying is emerging "loud pipes risk rights" and I would have to agree. Some people believe the perception is often more important than reality.

Thank you, Rich. That's exactly why I posted this article.

And people, it doesn't matter if YOU think Harley's are louder - this isn't US vs. THEM - it's aimed at all motorcyclists, dirt and street. I'm not pointing fingers - I posted it here to try and raise awareness in the sportbike community.

Personally, I much prefer the sound of a screaming inline-4 to that of a loud v-twin (and I've been annoyed by more than a few loud v-twins), but as far as who is louder/more annoying, this is my experience:
A straight-piped Harley at full-throttle may be annoying as it approaches and even moreso as it passes, but once it's past, the annoying factor decreases rather quickly. A sportbike with a full-system at full throttle, IMHO, isn't as annoying on the approach, but as it passes it's painfully annoying (I was standing trackside along La Junta's straight this past weekend during several races, so trust me ), and it can be heard long into the distance, meaning the annoying factor doesn't decrease nearly as quickly as it does for a Harley.

Audiophiles already know that bass requires more wattage than treble so it can be enjoyed at the same level as treble, but bass is felt more than it is heard when amplified like that. Apply that same wattage to treble, and you get sounds that are painful and damaging.

I live less than a mile from C-470, and I've never noted hearing a straight-piped harley rolling past near my house. I have, however, on many occasions, heard the whine of inline-4's with aftermarket exhausts last seemingly forever.

The bottom line is, if you're thinking about getting an aftermarket exhaust, whether it be a slip-on or full system, consider that our right to ride may be revoked or reduced if we piss off enough people. And if you still decide to get that aftermarket exhaust, or you already have one, please be considerate of the people around you, and keep the revs low when riding in residential areas, or anywhere where there's a lot of people.

It's time to stop thinking

"[strike:6abe6ba0b9]Loud Pipes Save Lives[/strike:6abe6ba0b9]",

and start thinking:

"Ride Like You're Invisible, NOT Like You're Invincible"

[livinlife2themax]

"Well officer see what had happened was i was tryin to get out of the way of that crazy guy on 4 wheels. That is why i was speeding and my bike was so loud."

[dapper]

If you have the paperwork on the exhaust that says it's DOT legal, the ticket will be dismissed.

Siren's are on emergency vehicles for awareness, I hear them coming. Most people will hear the siren too.

Exhausts on bikes can help for awareness, even allows some of the day dreamers to hear them.

Open pipes are hated by most peeps, especially the hung over peeps.

Hypothetically, my Yosh system has decreased the car vs bike tango dancing. Defensive riding with my brakes and throttle obviously are involved too.

Failure is quickly accomplished by the attempt to please everyone. :P (Oldie but goody)

[JerseyMark]

The exhaust discussion is very interesting. Just a little information to support R1chie, the NHTSA reports that 76% of motorcycles involved in two-vehicle accidents were impacted from the front. 5% of the accidents were impacted from the rear. Because exhaust is facing the rear, loud mufflers have little affect on alerting other drivers. Especially oncoming and other directional traffic.

Colorado Statue 42-4-225 Mufflers-Prevention of Noise: Every motor vehicle subject to registration and operated on a highway shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and no such muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cut-off, bypass, or similar device. No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle, and such original muffler shall comply with all of the requirements of this section.

[kpp80202]

I think the only benefit of loud pipes is to let the driver next to you know you are there before they change lanes. Of course, you shouldn't hang out in that spot anyway, so...

Personally, I like the more gutteral sounds aftermarket pipes, and NOT the increased volume.

[SpecialED]

I think the only benefit of loud pipes is to let the driver next to you know you are there before they change lanes. Of course, you shouldn't hang out in that spot anyway, so...

Personally, I like the more gutteral sounds aftermarket pipes, and NOT the increased volume.

Agreed. Too bad it's virtually impossible to make a pipe that adds significantly more power w/o any additional noise. I'd buy that.

[RyGuy]

I'll put in my .02 on this issue. First off, I think that cops (I don't care where they are) have really no place to even think about ticketing a sport bike for exhaust being "too loud" without going after these guys on their Harleys, choppers, etc, which are so loud that in my buddy's 4Runner the other day (which has a bitchin' system in it) we were listening to music at a pretty high volume- to the point that we couldn't really talk to eachother, and we get passed by this Softtail that was so loud we couldn't hear the music. Now, is that a reasonable noise level? NO! Why do these guys all have such loud bikes? I don't see a point, louder doesn't mean more badass, it means more headache. The loud bikes save lives bit, like R1chie says, is quickly fading. If you ask me, I think that these insanely loud bikes are a hazard to their health because I'm to the point where I'm gonna put a nice .40 caliber sized hole thru their gas tank if they keep riding by my apartment at 3am! My CBR isn't loud and it's still a kickass bike, so wtf is the deal with joe schmo's Harley having to be earth shakingly loud to be cool? Just my opinion, don't like it? Move to Iran.

[wulf]

if you read that law, it says that you can mod your exhaust to make it not as loud, it does not say at what rpm and etc.

So Mac020 would be perfectly in his rights R1chie.

However, if you use a little throttle control, you can help with the sound issues.

That being said, this law sucks.

[Bueller]

Just my opinion, don't like it? Move to Iran.

One of the nice things about living in this country is, I can disagree with your half baked opinion, and I can stay here and continue to pay my taxes like a good little lemming.

[InlineSIX24]

Not to mention that if you move to Iran they have new noise ordinances on the rockets that they supply Hizballah with. You just can't win anywhere these days.

[R1chie]

if you read that law, it says that you can mod your exhaust to make it not as loud, it does not say at what rpm and etc.
So Mac020 would be perfectly in his rights R1chie.
However, if you use a little throttle control, you can help with the sound issues.
That being said, this law sucks.

I am not sure about the laws in your area but in Colorado Springs I know that you can mod all you want, but if they pull you over because they even think it is too loud and notice you have modified it they can give you a ticket without a DB meter. This is a valid reason why someone might say "Colorado Springs sucks and I would not want to live there" but the other side of the coin is that it tickets those who are offensive by using overyly loud pipes in city limits. The law below covers loud pipes, boom trucks, loud stereos, car alarms, well you can read it for yourself..

A. It is unlawful to make, create, or permit an excessive or unusually loud noise, or a noise which endangers public safety, or a noise which is harmful to any person, which can be heard without the use of an electronic measurement device or heard and measured in the manner prescribed in section 9.8.103 of this part; except when made under and in compliance with a permit issued pursuant to section 9.8.109 of this part.
http://www.nonoise.org/lawlib/cities...springs_co.htm

[firefghtr]

if you dont like the noise, who cares.... i do

[DiddysR6]

All I have to say is D&D pipes!

[BHeth]

Wow, I forgot about this thread. Has anyone actually been issued a ticket?

[giovannir6]

Yeah but the sound is worth every penny, unless your doing something illegal then not so cool.

My$.02

[macktastic brake grabber]

Loud pipes have nothing to do with safety. It’s your brain and your level of skill that determines your personal safety while on two wheels.

you know john i like you but that staement is BULLSHIT

i have stock pipes on my harley and i constantly have people right next to me shange into my lane because they dont look and they dont hear me. this summer i had a woman in a bmw directly next to me with her sun roof all the way open just run me right out of my lane. i didnt have anywhere to go so i had to split the lanes and lock up my rear and damn near locked up mt front to avoid getting hit. this is just one example of several in the last year .
if i am just cruising my bike is very quiet. more so than my old cbr 600 with a stock pipe.
i have had many times that i was driving my truck and about to change lanes to the left and i heard a loud ass harley or sport bike coming from behind me and it saved me from hitting them. i would say this has happened at least 30 times in the last ten years.
in all the cases that i was almost hit i was riding very safe , very alert and doing the speed limit or going with the flow of traffic.



there has to be a middle ground and it is a fact that loud pipes save many lives so do helmets and gear and so on yada yada
nuff
mack

[macktastic brake grabber]

Very interesting and enlightening post. Richie. Thanks. I understand what you mean. And im not arguing with you. I just wanted you to say just that. A lot of that stuff i did not know.

My point again was: "Why are they picking on our aftermarket exhausts and not Harleys stock." Which you explained.

Thanks richie.

they are picking on sport bike in general because of all the jackass publicity that the media have been able to collect from the sqids agreeing to be filmed doing wheelies on I-70 and stupid shit like that. i got pulled over all the time on my sport bike and since i bought my screaming eagle fat boy the cops wave at me as i speed by them. btw. i have factory pipes that are very quiet.
mack

[No-coast-punk]

A small minority of assholes ruining a good thing for the majority of the people is nothing new.

It is our responsibility as a community to dictate community standards. See some kid acting like a tool in traffic? Catch him at the next light and tell him he's acting like a tool. Enough people make fun of him and he may get the message. Asking people to leave meets that are drawing un-necessary attention is another great step.

I am probably as far from a fan of the pigs as it gets. That being said, there are enough people out there being complete retards on bikes of all sorts that I even get annoyed at the behavior of riders at times. It's not as if the pigs woke up one day with a hair up their ass about bikes. This is entirely our fault as a community. We can either stand up and take responsibility and police ourselves. Or wait until things get legislated to the point of what the Italians have to go through. In that part of the world it's so bad that simply REMOVING OEM REFLECTORS gives a pig the option to impound a bike on the spot.

Personally I like my titanium cans and the way they sound. I'd like to retain the ability to leave my driveway with said exhaust without getting 4 tickets before reaching the grocery store. As a result I keep 'em both on the ground when there are people around that might take exception. I also damn well make sure I keep the rev's as low as humanly possible when on surface streets. If we all behaved liked this the harrassment by the pigs would go away.

As for the power thing. Do some reading on the relationship between HP/torque. Do you really think those smart little asian men would go through all the trouble and expense of developing these super exotic engine technologies, only to slap on a restrictive exhaust system? It is possible to have an extremely free flowing system that is also quiet. Problem is that it has to be very large and heavy (look at the cans on a 'busa or ZX-14). All an aftermarket slip on does with ultra modern bikes is to increase VE at high RPM at the expense of VE at lower RPM. On paper HP increased, but torque remained the same. It just shifted the powerband higher without actually really increasing power. Full aftermarket systems are much the same. They just play tricks with where peak VE happens. Any increases in torque usually result from elimination of smog controls like cats. Extremely well designed slip on systems can result in miniscule torque increases, but nothing to write home about. Full systems can increase torque SLIGHTLY within a VERY narrow RPM range. Once again at the expense of power outside of that range. As time goes on and the manufacturers keep producing better and better factory exhausts there will be almost 0 performance boost from going with aftermarket systems. The real increases in power these days come from changing how the engine behaves with computer gadgets or headwork etc.

[V-Twin Villain]

I have a V-twin and a sportbike, both with exhaust systems. I lived in the "Springs" for three years and It has helped learn to tip toe around. We must be smart riders, and inform others of this issue. I would hate to have to put my stock exhaust back on. I know Harley has stopped selling aftermarket exhausts, and the stock exhaust conforms to Cali standards. Does anyone know what other aftermarket manufactures are doing decause of this issue? Also, is anyone a active member of AMA? I heard they are all for shuting down the noise, is that true?

[Carlsbad]

I would think that the issue is primarily with Hardleys and 20 y.o. idiots going WFO in the wrong places.

I could easily rant for days about how I loathe Hardleys, how godawful loud most of them are, and the bulk of chumps that ride them - but I'll save that for the proper thread

[American303]

If i see another 16 year old ride by with a d & d wrapped up to 8,000 rpm ill lose it.

[dillinger09]

any of you guys running dual duty on your street bikes (track and street)? im pretty sure that you cannot run a stock exhaust with race plastics on the r6 and im assuming that to be the case for the newer suzi's. so that kinda screws those of us with that issue

[Spiderman]

im pretty sure that you cannot run a stock exhaust with race plastics on the r6 and im assuming that to be the case for the newer suzi's.

Depends on the bike... race bodywork for some of the newer bikes may not have enough clearance with catalytic converters on the stock exhaust and might burn through the bodywork.