would like louder pipes, got another ?

I try to be very concious of what streets I travel down, and how much Noise (objective word) that I produce. Around here, this thing is like driving a mo-ped.. and you don't want to know how many time's I've seen people cutting/taking out those. Main road just down from me, and this year already, there's been 4 taken out.

When I go down the road, I want people to Know I'm Coming.. Watch where the hell your going and what your doing!

And last but not least, I have a neighbour that is an absolute A$$-Muncher... He Started his bull crap that I can't go between the houses to my Shed out back where I park my bike. I've never ran the bike between the houses or tried to be a nuasecne (sp) in any way. Because an Inch of the handle bars goes over the property line I can't use my shed to park the bike.. So If I have to rip my mufflers off without rejetting then cool.. When the bike warms up I point it's ass between the building and let it idle for 5-10 minutes.. 5 in the morning.. 2 in the morning.. 3 in the afternoon.. whenever I damn well please, and there's Jack he can do about it. So If I can make it louder.. it's one HUge ass Echo chamber between the houses =).. Piss on him and he suck my fumes.

 

You are relying on the senses to have people notice you.

Obviously smell, touch and taste are out.

All that is left is see and hear.

If they can't see you, which 99% of the time is the problem, doesn't matter how many lights, how bright, waving your arms etc... if you are in a blind spot, or around a corner...

THEY WON'T SEE YOU.

Common bumper sticker here in NH (laconia etc) is
LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES.

They do.

Not saying loud like straight pipe vtwin huge displacement loud.

Saying louder than your average stock exhaust.

A perfect exhaust system is just a hair louder than stock at idle ~ 3k RPM.

But when you are on it, over 3K... time to make some noise.

The waking babies exhaust is ridiculous.

There is a lot of middle-ground.

 

How about, Loud pipes just sound good.
True?
Shoot i'll wake a baby or two up
-SLK

 

this whole project i started was for the reason to be able to be noticed a little more easily, im not out to annoy people, im out to help stay alive, as it is the bike is rather small in comparrison to some of the cruisers, but hey if it does annoy someone while im riding then at least i know they herd me, it doesnt hurt that i like the sound too, i dont rip on the revs when im in residential areas, so the sound shouldnt bother anyone except for those over sensitive butt munches who just dont like bikes at all !!!!!!!!!

 

Check out my WWW on the bottom, I had a set of Jardines that the PO gave me. I made custom baffles, i don't think there any pics of it, i took 1 1/4" pipe slit it and pushed the slits in, wrapped it in fiberglass batting and installed. It was too loud so i added more slits and more fiberglass and now it sounds sweet. Not too loud but louder than stock and i can always "tune" my baffles or make new ones, or remove. I did have to re jet, the pilots are now #42 and the mains #114. I just got it back together and did one plug chop and it looks TAN!!!

 

I added three holes around the muffler backplate and I got exactly the results I was looking for, a slightly louder, deeper rumble; nothing too obnoxious, but just enough to be heard. Thanks to schmauster920 for the knowledge.

 

The PO cut the baffles out of my bike, it sounds like a USAC Silver Crown car now, a shade to loud for me. :lol:
But I agree the cagers need to hear us and see us so they dont kill off anymore of us.
A few babies wake up, a small price to pay to save a life I say!

 

haha yup. i love it

 

The biggest problem with the loud pipes save lives argument is you only hear them really loud if they're in front of you...

 

I was just wondering for all you people that have altered their stock exhaust or went straigh pipes or what ever. Did you have to re jet or is every thing still withing tolerance? If it does not require to many changes it might be something I would look into.

 

I drilled holes into the end of my exhaust pipes on the flat end. So now it looks like there are six exhuast holes on my bike lol. Sounds deeper, more resiliant. Not exactly what I'm looking for but closer.

 

Just an update on the whole louder pipes scenario. I pulled the exhaust for polishing. I re-attached the headers just to keep them safe: read- I have kids. So, having open headers, I decided to take a short trip around town, almost immediately, two young ladies in a car, stopped next to me and started asking me about my bike. This leads me to 1 conclusion. TRUTH = Cute, young, sexy girls will talk to you if you run open headers.

 

Chicks dig loud bikes. I think something in the sound triggers something in a girls brain that makes them cream themseleves for it. Just ask my gf.
She drives a Diesel on the 80% fact that its REALLY loud
-Chris

 

Ok, now here's MY questions --

1. How can I make my stock exhaust QUIETER? I'd like it to be as quiet (or quieter) than a new Goldwing. I DON'T like loud, I ride with earplugs anyway, cuz I value my hearing and I value other people's as well.

2. The whole "loud pipes save lives" thing.....where's the proof? How come virtually all of the accidents in this area over the past several years had nothing to do with loud pipes-- riding w/o alcohol, w/o stupidity, w/o excessive speed, and w/o doing wheelies while drunk and going too fast on windy back road with 'funbumps' will save lives.

3. My personal feeling, and you can argue all you want, but it won't change anything.... Loud pipes risk lives Virtually every bike that I've heard with loud pipes is only audible after the guy gets just either right beside, or slightly in front of, someone and then hammers the throttle. THAT doesn't save lives, it scares the crap out of some old lady or unsuspecting driver and they jerk the wheel and cause an accident.

Looking at the whole thread, seems like everyone that wants louder pipes SAYS so other people can be safe, but the posts seem to indicate
'I want louder pipes so I can hear me'
'I want louder pipes so I can annoy my neighbor'
'I want louder pipes cuz I just don't give a #$%^&'

Reminds me of a sort-of unrelated incident;

About 20 years ago I was living in NJ, and the town had just gotten some new fire engines that were a flourescent yellow/green color rather than the traditional red. One day a truck was out on a call, and a lady pulled out in front of the truck and got totalled. She was obviously found at fault. She claimed she never saw the truck coming because it wasn't red. She even put that in the paper in a letter to the editor. The fire chief likewise replied via a letter to the editor stating: .....so, you didn't see a big many thousand-pound limegreen firetruck with lights flashing all over it, the horn blaring and the sirens wailing? You need more checked then just your vision.

Point is, people aren't listening for bikes. People aren't looking for bikes. Doesn't matter what they sound like, Loud pipes DON'T save lives. I've yet to hear of one person that can say, Wow, good thing I heard him coming..........

End of rant.

Dave

 

Loud pipes cause Rider Fatigue.
Read the study done by BMW.
Beemer started making Bikes that were as quiet as they could get them.
Honda took the ball and ran with it on the Late Model Goldwings.

The only thing you really NEED to know about Loud Pipes is:

Hearing Loss is >> Cumulative!

 

i like them to be quietish and very low pitched

i took the first pipe extending into the muffler out (from eh engine side)

and drilled four 1/4" holes though the middle plate and welded up the holes on the outer most plate

made it sound good to my ears but once it gets up to high rpm it sounds kinda crappy

 

I just like the way it sounds and feels. When I hit that throttle and my bike purrs with a happy, Vrrrraaaaaamm! I just grin and there is nothing in the world that'll wipe that smile off my face
Loud pipes sounds good. There is such a thing as too loud. But I like to be heard leaving the house. My neighbors usually come out and watch me pull away
-Chris

 

My straight pipes sound awesome! Not too loud, not too soft! Riding motorcycles is inherently more dangerous than driving a car, obviously. Whether you want them loud or not, for safety or to prevent hearing loss. Who cares? It's an expression of your personality. Nobody is going to change anybody's mind, so how about this....Just don't hate on anybody for doing what they want to do. I personally don't care if my pipes save my life or don't. I like them! So i guess I fall into the category " I just don't give a %&@$" but at least I'll die on my motorcycle happy! What more could you ask for really? I mean it all depends on how you want to be remembered!

 

Drilled holes in my pipes. Check it out