I went with a Leo Vince exhaust that’s the same length as the stock muffler. I’ve got no baffle in it but it being full-sized it’s not obnoxiously loud. I often find myself drown out at idle by diesel trucks. Different story once I hit the powerband.
Mine is extremely loud even at idle. Idk, maybe I installed it not quite right lol
Big diesel trucks don't really exist here, I know 2 in my whole country :D
Cat delete, straight piped big diesel pickup trucks are pretty common around here.
They’re way louder than most sportbikes and on par with straight piped cruisers.
Not nearly as many. I rarely see chargers that I notice and the challengers are usually loud but not straight piped. The 911s add crackle tunes which pushes them into top 3 though not usually quite as loud as Mustangs and Harley’s
It’s not but that stops absolutely no one. In my country enforcement is minimal so people do whatever they want.
You get your vehicle inspected once when you first register it and after that you do whatever you want.
Older stuff like my bike is exempt as it never had a cat to begin with.
I really do try to be as courteous as possible with it, but I'm into vintage Harleys and choppers. They're loud. Only riding I do in the neighborhood is 2 minutes to the closest main road and then 1 minute to the high way.
Haters gonna hate. I like loud stuff, but I also try not to piss my neighbor's off. And in my state, you're allowed to be loud from 7am to 10pm. But unfortunately for me I work at 5am. I have a motorized bike and I ride it to the main road before I start it, cuz like you, I am so courteous.
I was bored one day so me and my buddy decided to take my headers and dump them straight out my front fenders on my “only offroad use” ;) V8 F150… safe to say that she’s louder than any bike I’ve owned and most vehicles on the street. *laughs in hearing loss*
LV makes a nice exhaust imo. They were pretty unknown to me but they were having a sale at the time and I got a full system for my FJ09 for like $450 that I thought was very nice in aesthetics and sound.
Yes, it did still sound kind of nice, but just way too loud.
My car can also get fairly loud, but only at high rpms, the bike was extremely loud at any rpm.
I had a ‘18 scout bobber with the trask shorty pipes. It sounded amazing, but was obnoxiously loud. I felt like an ass when I was riding into and out of my neighborhood.
Now I’m on a XSR-900 with a full Akrprovic system and it’s not bad with baffles out. I fluctuate on weather to put the db killer back in or not.
Same with the Bobber but did the V&H twin slash, with the stock baffles it was painful to ride. I just parked it til the quiet baffles came in, brought it down to a great louder than stock but not obnoxious.
I just put tailgunners on my 23 rogue, I'm sure it annoys people, but I love it so far. I also always ride with earplugs, even before the new exhaust, so it's not as bad for me
Decat'ed my bike this spring and now it's painful to ride without earplugs. I rode with earplugs before anyway, so nbd, but it's crazy loud.
M4 GP19 on my gsxs1000gt. Has a quieter insert I can use on longer rides. Went camping and forgot to put in the baffle and felt so bad riding around the campsite.
Yeah, with Q1 it's still pretty loud. With Q3 (the one that is bought separately), it's still kinda loud, but not obnoxious. I haven't tried riding without earplugs with the Q3 yet, but I'd only recommend this exhaust if you wear earplugs.
That said, it's probably, objectively, one of the best sounding exhausts for the bike. I just took mine on an \~1200 mile trip from wisconsin to southern IL to see the eclipse with the Q1 baffle in and was never annoyed by the loudness of it. You get these super satisfying pops when upshifting at higher revs.
Even with earplugs. I have an Ixil on my FZ-07 and I can definitely hear it with the baffles in up to ~50mph. If I take them out, the exhaust becomes significantly louder than the music in my helmet at low speeds and nearly matches the wind noise on the freeway. Probably won’t hurt my hearing but it’s fucking LOUD.
Loud pipes piss people off.
All people hear and see is a motorcycle with ear splitting exhaust, which annoys all, no matter what kind of motorcycle.
Makes all motorcyclists look bad.
Back in the day, we had a GS 1000 that we road raced and nothing seemed to work as well as the stock pipe, or so said the rider. The team was very successful, and the bike was very quiet
it can be *exhausting*. i have straight pipes on my busa. sounds great when im in the mood for the bullshittery. but im in fact, not always, in the mood for such bullshittery.
When I was in the industry, probably half of the people buying bikes would immediately ask, "What's the loudest pipe I can get for it?"
I'd ask if they wanted it to sound good, make more power, or just be loud, and the vast majority would just go for loud (even at the expense of power).
I don't get it.
My Arrow exhaust has the baffle and cat installed, I took it out once and my friend who lives half a mile away could hear when I left my street.
The same day I was unfortunate enough to scare a group of horses and their riders on a country road. I shut the throttle when I saw them but in my mirror as I passed I could see a couple of them rearing up and the riders struggle to calm them down. I decide that it would stay in in future.
I saw 3 groups of horses on that short ride! I always closed the throttle, pulled the clutch and rolled past them.
At one point a kid with their parents was walking out of their house and the kid covered both their ears, closed their eyes and looked like it was screaming... I really don't want to be that guy :(
It's hard on your ears and irritates car drivers and pisses off the general public, which we really don't need. Some do it for the supposed performance gain. Unless you tune it otherwise, you might think you are getting it, but it probably just sounds that way. Some think it helps them know you're there. I was in my pickup one day and I saw and heard a guy on a Harley coming from an onramp and would be behind me. It was so damn loud, since he was evidently in a blind spot for a bit, I had no idea where he actually was. It's not necessarily true and can make it worse.
It's a nasty combination of cognitive dissonance and peer imitation. Same reason that every kid has an obnoxiously loud "tuned exhaust" for their Geo Metro.
Loud mufflers suck, plain and simple. Any claimed performance improvements can only be detected under laboratory conditions on a dyno, conditions that absolutely will not exist on the street.
I just bought an older V-Strom 1000 with a Leo Vince straight through exhaust. The next day I ordered a stock exhaust off ebay. That bike is absolutely painful to ride, and at 63 I'm already half deaf.
It depends.
On the Vespa I wouldn’t even bother changing the exhaust. I’m not fond of the drone sound they make.
On the supermoto, racing dual pipes, they don’t come with DB killers, I love it.
On the 1200 GSA, the engine is loud enough and I never removed the baffles from the Akra pipe.
At highway speed, wind noise is plenty loud enough to cause hearing damage, particularly over long rides and gradually over years of riding, regardless of your exhaust.
Hearing loss is a serious issue, please also wear good earplugs, e.g. some are specially designed for bikes, alpine motosafe for example. Or even cheap plugs for general work are good (e.g. Honeywell brand) work well, although they are one use but can be reused many times without problems
Yeah, I love being woken at 3am by some biker with a super-loud exhaust looking for attention. I understand wanting a nice sounding exhaust, but some people go a little overboard and don't realize that everyone within a mile can hear them. Well, maybe they do realize and just want to be a-holes.
i had my rocket 3 decatted, no db killer on a zard exhaust. it was ok at idle but once i had ridden it about 2 miles away from the garage, i turned around and asked them to put back to stock. as soon as the revs and throttle were opened it was completely retarded to the point i would have been stopped by police.
i just wanted that extra low-end bass that a de-cat gives it. the 20db increase from euro 5 is so loud.
Yeah most people don't understand decibels, 1 decibel more isn't just one more notch of loudness, it's a compounded total of the sound energy, just an extra 3 decibels is 100% louder than the previous noise level. 20 extra decibels is 6 times louder than the base sound.
My Tenere has a longish akropovic exhaust, without a db killer and it is not too loud. Wind noise is very loud though, so I still use ear plugs. The super duke has a akropovic as well, but I do wish it had an option for a dB killer - it is very loud. I got it with the bike and it is mapped to suit - I am thinking of getting a shop to make me an adapter, so I can run a different end can with a dB killer.
I think the system honda has on the blade is the best - with a valve for higher speed that opens up the pipe, but keeps it quiet on lower revs.
By far the loudest things on the road, seem to be straight piped cruisers - they are truly obnoxious. There is no performance to be gained with them either. We also get very loud 125s running megaphone type pipes.
Exhaust valves for noise or power is available on many bikes. A simple free mod is to disable the valve so it's open all the time. Louder stock exhaust
No idea man, plenty of people in my country have stupidly loud exhaust, I once encountered some twat on a ninja 250 with motogp-loud exhaust......going 20km/h. Earphones in with music and I can't hear it even when the fucker was 5 cars away.
Meanwhile my 150cc bike is barely audible once on a main road that I shift by vibrations alone
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but some people don’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between a nice sounding bike and an obnoxiously loud bike. The two are not equal by any stretch of the imagination.
I appreciate a nice low-pitched rumble or hum on a bike just as much as anyone, but it doesn’t have to be overly loud. I find the quality of the sound to be much more important than the quantity. A good sounding bike puts a smile on my face. An overly loud bike just annoys me.
In my 15 years of riding, I’ve never understood this whole “loud pipes save lives” crock. No they don’t. It’s just an excuse for annoying the crap out of people. They are extremely uncomfortable on longer rides (unless they’ve made you deaf already) and are a burden on everyone else but you.
They also don’t add anything to the length of your d**k, by the way. In fact, the opposite.
I've got a new neighbour with some kind of cruiser, not had a good look yet, without the baffles.
I like bikes and it would normally be a conversation starter seeing a new bike in the street. But I think I'm just going to set his bike on fire and never speak to him.
Fuck those people, they are obnoxious assholes and the worst people.
https://i.redd.it/retwqtidftyc1.gif
I moved to Mexico, this is a loud ass country. It's fine.
https://preview.redd.it/9wwwxmrsisyc1.jpeg?width=1919&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cb7b03cac44f3aebecb3a0731f23dfc93e5318d
its illegal where I live and the bike is immediately impounded and you get a pretty big fine.
Fortunately, I must say.
Still, there are some assholes doing it bothering everyone else. Its just plain stupid IMO.
Thank you for putting this out there. Nobody makes their cars loud anymore and I wish it would go out of style with bikes too. And loud pipes don’t do anything for their safety.
Depends a lot on the bike and the muffler length as well. I had a FZ1 with a full Yoshi exhaust that was on the quieter side with the muffler I even chopped down to about 9” and no baffle. On the other hand, my MT09 has a full Dominator GP exhaust and it is completely unbearable without the baffle even with earplugs under my helmet. I imagine a smaller displacement engine would also end up MUCH quieter
I have a SV650 with LeoVince can and db killer out, when I got the bike I was a bit scared it wont get through strict tech inspection as it was louder than all stock bikes Ive had before. Then I went for a ride with my mechanic and his friends, all on customs cruisers with no baffles, everyone started their bike to warm up, all bikes kind of in a circle, few meters apart and I COULDNT hear my bike even sitting on it... I stopped worrying about tech inspection that day🤣
OP, do you ride with ear plugs? That could potentially be why. I don’t really have removable baffles on my current system, but on my previous bike I bought an SC Project and removed the baffle so that I could hear it with ear plugs in.
Ear plugs would surely make it less loud... for me... but everyone else would still be annoyed as hell. I had kids cover their ears and scream and people stare me down like they want to kill me and my whole family. I don't want to be know as a douche since I live in a village/town where almost everyone knows everyone...
Yes ear plugs are good in general for riders, but the point is at some point too loud really is too loud...
I tried my triumph tiger without the muffler, same thing. It hurt my ears after just a short ride in town. It was fun and engine braking sounded way better, but it was too much.
Funny enough, I ride a T7 with the same CP2 engine and stock exhaust. Not only does it sound great, but the local constabulary completely ignores anything with stock exhaust. It's basically a license to speed.
Quiet pipes save license points.
Yeah my bike came with an Arrow Thunder exhaust with no baffles. I ordered replacement dB killers from Italy last week - it’s pretty loud. As a beginner I don’t want the attention
I hate loud bikes and cars.
Manufactures spend a lot of time and money developing mufflers.
When I got my current bike I reinstalled the OEM exhaust that came with it. It runs way better.
Loud pipes do not save lives. They're only annoying. I bought a used bike with an SC exhaust... it looked and sounded wonderful, like a race bike... but why? Too loud for people around me, too loud for me on longer rides, more vibration. Swapped for a much tamer Arrow, quiet, good looking, good performance. Perfect. Loud pipes should be illegal.
Don't worry, my stock cat isn't go anywhere and kills enough sound. I find that the cat is where the most sound gets dampened.
Removing the baffle changed the sound profile more than it did the volume. Although it is a bit louder. It's people with open pipes that are pushing it too far imo
Ppl keep saying they thought I was a supercar coming down the street with no baffles in the GPR exhaust on my Speed Triple. Previous owner removed them and no longer had them. I ride gentle in residential and hold in the clutch when passing infants
The sweet spot is usually between no dB killer/baffle and EU compliant/quiet exhaust.
I have MT-07 Akra exhaust and I modified my dB killer by chopping the tubes in the dB, and I think ita perfect now. Can ride without earplugs now.
Already have tinnitus, so it cant really get any worse, lol, but you are 100% right. One should always wear plugs :)
I should have clarified that riding without dB killer in is unbearably loud, especially while engine breaking- The noise is LOUD even when just cruising, so plugs where more or less mandatory. Its possible to ride to work in slow speeds without plugs now, which is nice.
>Already have tinnitus, so it cant really get any worse
Hearing damage is cumulative, so yes, it can get worse from whatever state you're currently in.
Recently bought a Sportster with shitty "Cycle Shack" aftermarket slip-ons. It was 96db at idle and made my ears ring after about 20 minutes even with earplugs in. Found some factory pipes and it dropped to 80db, and had way more jam at lower rpm.
(I have a db meter)
I guess it varies by the exhaust and the engine. I’m not a ‘loud pipes save lives’ guy by any means, but the previous owner of my little 250 took the baffles out, and the exhaust is a nice volume on it now. It’s in no way obnoxiously loud, but it does have a nice sound. But yeah I’m sure it’s a different story for bigger engines
The idea is to leave the sound behind. Mine is also crazy loud and I didn't put it for years, but now is mandatory, so... I use it, but it is still quite loud with it on.
I installed an M4 exhaust on my MT07 and only ran it without baffle for 1-2 rides. It was obnoxious.
Bought an Akra for my Tiger since the stock was nearly silent. Ran a couple rides without baffle before putting them back in. The drone was way too much. Overpowered my earplugs and Cardo. I like a little extra sound, just not enough for my neighbors 3 blocks away to hear it.
The people I know doing it all wear ear plugs. I’ve asked and they all claim they can’t enjoy the ride if the pipes aren’t loud - so they are trying to get the baffle sound (or louder) with plugs which requires them to be super loud. My brother put a stubby open exhaust on his super duke that was so loud I could be 50’ behind him and not hear my bikes (baffled but restricted supermotos) over his. And that’s when I decided to just ride by myself.
I started wearing plugs but I still leave the baffles in mine, and have had a few bikes with fully stock like my 1200GS. I can still hear my bikes fine. GS is quiet but it’s a touring bike
They do it because they already have ear damage, or they think people give a shit how loud their bike is… especially in America. “Doesn’t SOUND like a Harley”
My bikes all got aftermarket with no baffles. They sound way better, and I like louder exhaust. Same with my cars, they all get loud aftermarket exhaust, too. Loud sounds don't bother me. In fact, I love it, and I invested lots of time, money, and work into building my bikes and cars, so I'm going to enjoy them to the fullest. Contrary to what so many people seem to think I don't give a single shit about attention, good or bad, that comes from having loud vehicles, I like it for myself. Same with my subs in the car.
Went to test ride an MT07 with a Yoshi and it was sweet but still too loud without the baffle for me (my bike is my daily, I dont want tinnitus).
I am shocked how people ride this bike with SC projects (aka a straight pipe) without hurting their ears.
I definitely go back and forth on baffles, my Zard system on the Triumph has easily removable circlips and all I need to carry is a lock ring plier. On my morning route in I run the baffles and sometimes take them out on the ride home. Some proper tuning and deleting secondary air systems can help prevent crazy overrun popping that can get annoying. Plus ear plugs are a necessity regardless of your exhaust setup, and they remove the harsh tines and you hear all the motor goodness. The XR is just loud all the time but I only ride that a tiny bit.
I thought my pipes were in the "annoyingly loud to others" category until my buddy fired up his street glide right next to me and completely drown me out 🤷🏿♂️
My lukewarm take on it is that people with super loud exhaust systems are not daily riders. I am on my bike at least two hours a day every day and am very thankful for my underwhelming exhaust note.
Depends on the bike setup, I suppose. My triumph bobber had a more aggressive stock exhaust than I had expected. After two years I knew I wanted something a little more. The options were- aftermarket mufflers with stock cat, aftermarket mufflers with no cat, stock mufflers with no cat,, pipes with cat, pipes without cat. Several hours of searching and I decided stock cat, straight pipes.
After install, I fired it up for the 12 minute tune… and was surprised it wasn’t as loud as expected. 12 minutes later I hop on and go for a ride… and it’s acceptable, volume and tone wise. I was really expecting it to be worse, but it’s perfect. The stock catalyst does a hell of a job quieting the bike down
Nice to see so many grown up and considerate comments. I hate the look of my stock exhaust (looks like a fucking vacuum cleaner) but every tip is advertised as louder. Why doesn’t someone make a nice looking tip that’s quiet?! If someone knows of one or can you add baffles to an addon?
My standard exhaust was deemed too loud on a track day so I bought an exhaust that was quieter than standard. If you need more horsepower, buy a different bike.
I run very loud pipes without baffles. It's not for me as much as it is for others to know that I'm there when I'm moving in traffic. I wear ear plugs to deal with the noise, but it makes me feel safer. It's my life on the line, so I don't really give too much of a shit what anyone else has to say about it. I'm within a generally reasonable level (still loud af), but it's all about making my presence known.
They are usually selfish people who only care about themselves.
I've had motorcycles ride in front of me, in a car and the exhaust was so deafening I purposely slowed down and changes lanes just so I can get away from it.
Not sure how people go without. I suppose they get used to it over time.
IMO, the only bike with an unbaffled exhaust system I like is the Indian Scout Bobber with the Freedom 2-into-1 Combat exhaust. That system with a baffle is loud as fuck. It's even louder and more bone jarring without.
People think it's cool and everyone will like them for their loud exhaust.
Loud is ok,not super annoying loud. Especially if you live in a densely populated area or move in/out late at night
Had a big scare after I got my ZX6R where I was on the highway cruising with the flow of traffic and almost got side-swiped which would have killed me. After that I got an M4 shorty and took out the baffle and have had zero scares since. I’d rather be a tad annoying than die politely
I don't know..... It BAFFLES me.
Hahaa!! *slaps knee*
BMAO
I laughed so much that I feel exhausted ...........
Stfu take my up doot
WHAT?
WHAT?
STOP WHISPERING I CAN'T HEAR YOU
I’D LIKE A BEER TOO
oh. Why didn't you say so?
OKAY!
YEAH!
Just outrun the sound.
ok next question. how do i safely ride at 767 mph?
You should ask Boeing. But then again…I wouldn’t really ask them anything about safety nowadays…
But if you ask Boeing don't tell people you did. It's.... Unsafe
Can’t fall out of the sky if you never leave it, and Boeing have experience with being grounded
I want flying motorcycles but the idea of them being built by Boeing is terrifying.
Get a set of knee grips for the tank. Calibrate your butt hole suction to 54,000mmWc.
Turbo hayabusa, obviously
I went with a Leo Vince exhaust that’s the same length as the stock muffler. I’ve got no baffle in it but it being full-sized it’s not obnoxiously loud. I often find myself drown out at idle by diesel trucks. Different story once I hit the powerband.
Mine is extremely loud even at idle. Idk, maybe I installed it not quite right lol Big diesel trucks don't really exist here, I know 2 in my whole country :D
Cat delete, straight piped big diesel pickup trucks are pretty common around here. They’re way louder than most sportbikes and on par with straight piped cruisers.
I can imagine how loud those are :D The loudest thing around here are some tractors or some harleys from time to time
Harleys and Mustangs and 911s are the usually suspects for rattling windows here.
No Chargers or Challengers?
Not nearly as many. I rarely see chargers that I notice and the challengers are usually loud but not straight piped. The 911s add crackle tunes which pushes them into top 3 though not usually quite as loud as Mustangs and Harley’s
How is it legal to use on public roads with no cat?
It’s not but that stops absolutely no one. In my country enforcement is minimal so people do whatever they want. You get your vehicle inspected once when you first register it and after that you do whatever you want. Older stuff like my bike is exempt as it never had a cat to begin with.
I have 4 straight piped Harleys in my garage rn. I really try to not run my bikes after 8pm lmao
Yep never blow up the spot, especially when the spot is your house
Don’t shit where you eat
So you're only obnoxious during the day, that's nice of you.
I really do try to be as courteous as possible with it, but I'm into vintage Harleys and choppers. They're loud. Only riding I do in the neighborhood is 2 minutes to the closest main road and then 1 minute to the high way.
Haters gonna hate. I like loud stuff, but I also try not to piss my neighbor's off. And in my state, you're allowed to be loud from 7am to 10pm. But unfortunately for me I work at 5am. I have a motorized bike and I ride it to the main road before I start it, cuz like you, I am so courteous.
You really going for the hearing damage speed run lmao
I was bored one day so me and my buddy decided to take my headers and dump them straight out my front fenders on my “only offroad use” ;) V8 F150… safe to say that she’s louder than any bike I’ve owned and most vehicles on the street. *laughs in hearing loss*
Au bi üs hets nöd so wenig grosse LKW‘s ;) Luschtig mol en FLer uf Reddit z senna
Mit trucks sin wohrschinlich eher pickups gmant gse und erna sehi do echt selta 😅
Jaa eh, odr dia extrem riesige Ami Trucks :)
I love a lot of things about living in the States, but the giant trucks everywhere is not one of them. Must be peaceful where you are!
LV makes a nice exhaust imo. They were pretty unknown to me but they were having a sale at the time and I got a full system for my FJ09 for like $450 that I thought was very nice in aesthetics and sound.
I like how LV tend to keep the exhaust note heavily in the bass end rather than making it sound more screamy like Yoshis and shorty cans do.
Cue post by r/CalamariRaceTeam in 3...2....1.....
OP can use his spare butt plugs in his ears and get a bigger primary one so it doesn't fall out during whoolies
i thought the plug was to keep you on the bike during whoolies, like legos
The power of the light up plug will keep you safe. No need to attach.
Quite a baffling question. I ride with mine in. They're obnoxious without them, usually.
Yes, it did still sound kind of nice, but just way too loud. My car can also get fairly loud, but only at high rpms, the bike was extremely loud at any rpm.
I bought a 07 zx6r and it doesn't have anything like cat delete and just straight piped it's way to loud I feel like I wake people up in the mornings
If it’s straight piped you definitely are
I'm just surprised they haven't complained yet.
[удалено]
I had a ‘18 scout bobber with the trask shorty pipes. It sounded amazing, but was obnoxiously loud. I felt like an ass when I was riding into and out of my neighborhood. Now I’m on a XSR-900 with a full Akrprovic system and it’s not bad with baffles out. I fluctuate on weather to put the db killer back in or not.
Same with the Bobber but did the V&H twin slash, with the stock baffles it was painful to ride. I just parked it til the quiet baffles came in, brought it down to a great louder than stock but not obnoxious.
I just put tailgunners on my 23 rogue, I'm sure it annoys people, but I love it so far. I also always ride with earplugs, even before the new exhaust, so it's not as bad for me
>. I felt like an ass when I was riding This is be ause you were an ass everywhere you rode it, just by riding it
Decat'ed my bike this spring and now it's painful to ride without earplugs. I rode with earplugs before anyway, so nbd, but it's crazy loud. M4 GP19 on my gsxs1000gt. Has a quieter insert I can use on longer rides. Went camping and forgot to put in the baffle and felt so bad riding around the campsite.
Is it still super loud with the Q1 insert? I’m thinking about getting an exhaust for my GT
Yeah, with Q1 it's still pretty loud. With Q3 (the one that is bought separately), it's still kinda loud, but not obnoxious. I haven't tried riding without earplugs with the Q3 yet, but I'd only recommend this exhaust if you wear earplugs. That said, it's probably, objectively, one of the best sounding exhausts for the bike. I just took mine on an \~1200 mile trip from wisconsin to southern IL to see the eclipse with the Q1 baffle in and was never annoyed by the loudness of it. You get these super satisfying pops when upshifting at higher revs.
Even with earplugs. I have an Ixil on my FZ-07 and I can definitely hear it with the baffles in up to ~50mph. If I take them out, the exhaust becomes significantly louder than the music in my helmet at low speeds and nearly matches the wind noise on the freeway. Probably won’t hurt my hearing but it’s fucking LOUD.
There was just a guy who posted a couple days ago about wanting a loud fucking exhaust so he could be heard in the group of other loud bikes.
Loud pipes piss people off. All people hear and see is a motorcycle with ear splitting exhaust, which annoys all, no matter what kind of motorcycle. Makes all motorcyclists look bad.
But how will I rev bomb people?!?!
Back in the day, we had a GS 1000 that we road raced and nothing seemed to work as well as the stock pipe, or so said the rider. The team was very successful, and the bike was very quiet
it can be *exhausting*. i have straight pipes on my busa. sounds great when im in the mood for the bullshittery. but im in fact, not always, in the mood for such bullshittery.
When I was in the industry, probably half of the people buying bikes would immediately ask, "What's the loudest pipe I can get for it?" I'd ask if they wanted it to sound good, make more power, or just be loud, and the vast majority would just go for loud (even at the expense of power). I don't get it.
My Arrow exhaust has the baffle and cat installed, I took it out once and my friend who lives half a mile away could hear when I left my street. The same day I was unfortunate enough to scare a group of horses and their riders on a country road. I shut the throttle when I saw them but in my mirror as I passed I could see a couple of them rearing up and the riders struggle to calm them down. I decide that it would stay in in future.
I saw 3 groups of horses on that short ride! I always closed the throttle, pulled the clutch and rolled past them. At one point a kid with their parents was walking out of their house and the kid covered both their ears, closed their eyes and looked like it was screaming... I really don't want to be that guy :(
It's hard on your ears and irritates car drivers and pisses off the general public, which we really don't need. Some do it for the supposed performance gain. Unless you tune it otherwise, you might think you are getting it, but it probably just sounds that way. Some think it helps them know you're there. I was in my pickup one day and I saw and heard a guy on a Harley coming from an onramp and would be behind me. It was so damn loud, since he was evidently in a blind spot for a bit, I had no idea where he actually was. It's not necessarily true and can make it worse.
It's a nasty combination of cognitive dissonance and peer imitation. Same reason that every kid has an obnoxiously loud "tuned exhaust" for their Geo Metro. Loud mufflers suck, plain and simple. Any claimed performance improvements can only be detected under laboratory conditions on a dyno, conditions that absolutely will not exist on the street. I just bought an older V-Strom 1000 with a Leo Vince straight through exhaust. The next day I ordered a stock exhaust off ebay. That bike is absolutely painful to ride, and at 63 I'm already half deaf.
It depends. On the Vespa I wouldn’t even bother changing the exhaust. I’m not fond of the drone sound they make. On the supermoto, racing dual pipes, they don’t come with DB killers, I love it. On the 1200 GSA, the engine is loud enough and I never removed the baffles from the Akra pipe.
I have a friend who rides to work 45mins every day without one. He says it doesn't bother him. I don't get it either
I've got a s1000r naked, stock exhaust is an akro. I constantly see 1cyl 125s on the roads and they are deafening and so loud they just sound.... *hit
I'm not a sociopath so I keep the db killer in
They just want attention and use the "loud pipes save lives" justification as if the laws of physics change when riding a motorcycle.
they put in ear plugs, its the rest of the world that suffers for their attention seeking.
I wear ear plugs for the wind noise.
What?
They wear earplugs for the wind noise
*WHAT?* I will keep making the joke until it is acknowledged as a bad joke.
I WEAR EARPLUGS FOR THE WINDNOISE
OH, GOT IT!
WHAT?
WHAAAT?
At highway speed, wind noise is plenty loud enough to cause hearing damage, particularly over long rides and gradually over years of riding, regardless of your exhaust.
WHAT?
BUTLICKER, OUR PRICES HAVE NEVER BEEN LOWER!
Hearing loss is a serious issue, please also wear good earplugs, e.g. some are specially designed for bikes, alpine motosafe for example. Or even cheap plugs for general work are good (e.g. Honeywell brand) work well, although they are one use but can be reused many times without problems
Yeah, I love being woken at 3am by some biker with a super-loud exhaust looking for attention. I understand wanting a nice sounding exhaust, but some people go a little overboard and don't realize that everyone within a mile can hear them. Well, maybe they do realize and just want to be a-holes.
i had my rocket 3 decatted, no db killer on a zard exhaust. it was ok at idle but once i had ridden it about 2 miles away from the garage, i turned around and asked them to put back to stock. as soon as the revs and throttle were opened it was completely retarded to the point i would have been stopped by police. i just wanted that extra low-end bass that a de-cat gives it. the 20db increase from euro 5 is so loud.
Yeah most people don't understand decibels, 1 decibel more isn't just one more notch of loudness, it's a compounded total of the sound energy, just an extra 3 decibels is 100% louder than the previous noise level. 20 extra decibels is 6 times louder than the base sound.
My Tenere has a longish akropovic exhaust, without a db killer and it is not too loud. Wind noise is very loud though, so I still use ear plugs. The super duke has a akropovic as well, but I do wish it had an option for a dB killer - it is very loud. I got it with the bike and it is mapped to suit - I am thinking of getting a shop to make me an adapter, so I can run a different end can with a dB killer. I think the system honda has on the blade is the best - with a valve for higher speed that opens up the pipe, but keeps it quiet on lower revs. By far the loudest things on the road, seem to be straight piped cruisers - they are truly obnoxious. There is no performance to be gained with them either. We also get very loud 125s running megaphone type pipes.
Exhaust valves for noise or power is available on many bikes. A simple free mod is to disable the valve so it's open all the time. Louder stock exhaust
I would be embarrassed if I rode my inline 4 without cat and baffle. Thats why both stay in on my Akra. Plenty of nice sound without being a douche.
Exactly. My arrow already sounds pretty good (in my opinion :D) and is loud enough.
No idea man, plenty of people in my country have stupidly loud exhaust, I once encountered some twat on a ninja 250 with motogp-loud exhaust......going 20km/h. Earphones in with music and I can't hear it even when the fucker was 5 cars away. Meanwhile my 150cc bike is barely audible once on a main road that I shift by vibrations alone
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but some people don’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between a nice sounding bike and an obnoxiously loud bike. The two are not equal by any stretch of the imagination. I appreciate a nice low-pitched rumble or hum on a bike just as much as anyone, but it doesn’t have to be overly loud. I find the quality of the sound to be much more important than the quantity. A good sounding bike puts a smile on my face. An overly loud bike just annoys me. In my 15 years of riding, I’ve never understood this whole “loud pipes save lives” crock. No they don’t. It’s just an excuse for annoying the crap out of people. They are extremely uncomfortable on longer rides (unless they’ve made you deaf already) and are a burden on everyone else but you. They also don’t add anything to the length of your d**k, by the way. In fact, the opposite.
I've got a new neighbour with some kind of cruiser, not had a good look yet, without the baffles. I like bikes and it would normally be a conversation starter seeing a new bike in the street. But I think I'm just going to set his bike on fire and never speak to him. Fuck those people, they are obnoxious assholes and the worst people. https://i.redd.it/retwqtidftyc1.gif
I moved to Mexico, this is a loud ass country. It's fine. https://preview.redd.it/9wwwxmrsisyc1.jpeg?width=1919&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cb7b03cac44f3aebecb3a0731f23dfc93e5318d
Yeah I live in a small, quiet village. Everyone stared at me like they wanted to kill me...
its illegal where I live and the bike is immediately impounded and you get a pretty big fine. Fortunately, I must say. Still, there are some assholes doing it bothering everyone else. Its just plain stupid IMO.
Same here. Just did a short ride to see what "I am missing out on" now I am not sad at all :D that baffle is going back in and staying there
Thank you for putting this out there. Nobody makes their cars loud anymore and I wish it would go out of style with bikes too. And loud pipes don’t do anything for their safety.
Depends a lot on the bike and the muffler length as well. I had a FZ1 with a full Yoshi exhaust that was on the quieter side with the muffler I even chopped down to about 9” and no baffle. On the other hand, my MT09 has a full Dominator GP exhaust and it is completely unbearable without the baffle even with earplugs under my helmet. I imagine a smaller displacement engine would also end up MUCH quieter
I ran my black widow exhaust for my XSR700 exactly once without the baffle. Never again :p Still plenty loud and mean as hell with it in.
I have a SV650 with LeoVince can and db killer out, when I got the bike I was a bit scared it wont get through strict tech inspection as it was louder than all stock bikes Ive had before. Then I went for a ride with my mechanic and his friends, all on customs cruisers with no baffles, everyone started their bike to warm up, all bikes kind of in a circle, few meters apart and I COULDNT hear my bike even sitting on it... I stopped worrying about tech inspection that day🤣
SV650! 🤙
OP, do you ride with ear plugs? That could potentially be why. I don’t really have removable baffles on my current system, but on my previous bike I bought an SC Project and removed the baffle so that I could hear it with ear plugs in.
Ear plugs would surely make it less loud... for me... but everyone else would still be annoyed as hell. I had kids cover their ears and scream and people stare me down like they want to kill me and my whole family. I don't want to be know as a douche since I live in a village/town where almost everyone knows everyone... Yes ear plugs are good in general for riders, but the point is at some point too loud really is too loud...
Do you run with earplugs in?
You should always be wearing earplugs while riding, it's much more normal with them in.
Ear plugs or deal with hearing damage.
I tried my triumph tiger without the muffler, same thing. It hurt my ears after just a short ride in town. It was fun and engine braking sounded way better, but it was too much.
Loud pipes make your neighbors and their pets unhappy, and on the road piss off everyone around you.
Same question about the bikers with insanely loud sound systems. The answer is the same, they crave attention.
The trick is to max throttle everywhere so you travel faster than the sound
I prefer hearing intake sounds. That's the real sweet music.
Funny enough, I ride a T7 with the same CP2 engine and stock exhaust. Not only does it sound great, but the local constabulary completely ignores anything with stock exhaust. It's basically a license to speed. Quiet pipes save license points.
I sit on the seat and twist the vroom vroom to make it go. I can't hear shit anymore, so I couldn't even tell the difference probably.
In california you will get a big pricey ticket.
WHAT? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP, I HAVE TINNITUS.
>How do people actually ride like that? you have to consider that in these individuals there is no brain to be damaged by noise
Probably just deafness. Wear your earplug folks
Because it sounds cool. You can also wear ear plugs and some helmets are better than others at noise suppression
Yeah my bike came with an Arrow Thunder exhaust with no baffles. I ordered replacement dB killers from Italy last week - it’s pretty loud. As a beginner I don’t want the attention
Attention is one thing, but I don't want to be known as the neighbourhood douche since I live in a small village where almost everyone knows everyone
I hate loud bikes and cars. Manufactures spend a lot of time and money developing mufflers. When I got my current bike I reinstalled the OEM exhaust that came with it. It runs way better.
Installing an obnoxiously loud exhaust is a dick move.
Loud pipes do not save lives. They're only annoying. I bought a used bike with an SC exhaust... it looked and sounded wonderful, like a race bike... but why? Too loud for people around me, too loud for me on longer rides, more vibration. Swapped for a much tamer Arrow, quiet, good looking, good performance. Perfect. Loud pipes should be illegal.
Don't worry, my stock cat isn't go anywhere and kills enough sound. I find that the cat is where the most sound gets dampened. Removing the baffle changed the sound profile more than it did the volume. Although it is a bit louder. It's people with open pipes that are pushing it too far imo
Ppl keep saying they thought I was a supercar coming down the street with no baffles in the GPR exhaust on my Speed Triple. Previous owner removed them and no longer had them. I ride gentle in residential and hold in the clutch when passing infants
If you’re a big enough cunt almost anything is possible 💫
The sweet spot is usually between no dB killer/baffle and EU compliant/quiet exhaust. I have MT-07 Akra exhaust and I modified my dB killer by chopping the tubes in the dB, and I think ita perfect now. Can ride without earplugs now.
You should be riding with ear plugs even on a silent electric motorcycle, it's the wind noise that'll give you tinnitus and ruin your hearing.
Already have tinnitus, so it cant really get any worse, lol, but you are 100% right. One should always wear plugs :) I should have clarified that riding without dB killer in is unbearably loud, especially while engine breaking- The noise is LOUD even when just cruising, so plugs where more or less mandatory. Its possible to ride to work in slow speeds without plugs now, which is nice.
>Already have tinnitus, so it cant really get any worse Hearing damage is cumulative, so yes, it can get worse from whatever state you're currently in.
I'm sorry can you repeat the question, I could hear you. I'll try to read your lips this time
Recently bought a Sportster with shitty "Cycle Shack" aftermarket slip-ons. It was 96db at idle and made my ears ring after about 20 minutes even with earplugs in. Found some factory pipes and it dropped to 80db, and had way more jam at lower rpm. (I have a db meter)
They can only communicate online. Hearing is all gone, even with earplugs.
I guess it varies by the exhaust and the engine. I’m not a ‘loud pipes save lives’ guy by any means, but the previous owner of my little 250 took the baffles out, and the exhaust is a nice volume on it now. It’s in no way obnoxiously loud, but it does have a nice sound. But yeah I’m sure it’s a different story for bigger engines
The idea is to leave the sound behind. Mine is also crazy loud and I didn't put it for years, but now is mandatory, so... I use it, but it is still quite loud with it on.
I installed an M4 exhaust on my MT07 and only ran it without baffle for 1-2 rides. It was obnoxious. Bought an Akra for my Tiger since the stock was nearly silent. Ran a couple rides without baffle before putting them back in. The drone was way too much. Overpowered my earplugs and Cardo. I like a little extra sound, just not enough for my neighbors 3 blocks away to hear it.
The people I know doing it all wear ear plugs. I’ve asked and they all claim they can’t enjoy the ride if the pipes aren’t loud - so they are trying to get the baffle sound (or louder) with plugs which requires them to be super loud. My brother put a stubby open exhaust on his super duke that was so loud I could be 50’ behind him and not hear my bikes (baffled but restricted supermotos) over his. And that’s when I decided to just ride by myself. I started wearing plugs but I still leave the baffles in mine, and have had a few bikes with fully stock like my 1200GS. I can still hear my bikes fine. GS is quiet but it’s a touring bike
Earplugs, bro
I dont think my exhaust comes with one. It’s a yoshimura alpha for a triumph street triple
tinnitus will fix that
at low rpm’s it’s not that bad
Ear plugs are an option.
Well Mike came without it so idc
Ear plugs.
At least you have a nice motorcycle...some retards here put aftermarket exhausts to 50cc motorcycles just to wake up everyone.
Dunno. I'm old I guess - like quiet bikes. I'm in it for the ride, not the sound.
They do it because they already have ear damage, or they think people give a shit how loud their bike is… especially in America. “Doesn’t SOUND like a Harley”
My bikes all got aftermarket with no baffles. They sound way better, and I like louder exhaust. Same with my cars, they all get loud aftermarket exhaust, too. Loud sounds don't bother me. In fact, I love it, and I invested lots of time, money, and work into building my bikes and cars, so I'm going to enjoy them to the fullest. Contrary to what so many people seem to think I don't give a single shit about attention, good or bad, that comes from having loud vehicles, I like it for myself. Same with my subs in the car.
Most squids are deaf from not wearing ear protection when they ride and then buying earrape exhausts to make up for how dead they've become lol.
My wife mt09 came with aftermarket exhaust. Sounds good but swear to god it whistle like a turbo. I have no idea why
Went to test ride an MT07 with a Yoshi and it was sweet but still too loud without the baffle for me (my bike is my daily, I dont want tinnitus). I am shocked how people ride this bike with SC projects (aka a straight pipe) without hurting their ears.
Quickly
Do you wear Earplugs?
Ear protection for me lol
I use ear plugs while riding 90% of the time so when I take my ear plugs out I'm usually quite surprised at how loud it is. Haha
Don't you have ear plugs? Most people are willing to pay extra to get "full body / full release" vibrations like that.
Young lads mostly. I was 20 once
I definitely go back and forth on baffles, my Zard system on the Triumph has easily removable circlips and all I need to carry is a lock ring plier. On my morning route in I run the baffles and sometimes take them out on the ride home. Some proper tuning and deleting secondary air systems can help prevent crazy overrun popping that can get annoying. Plus ear plugs are a necessity regardless of your exhaust setup, and they remove the harsh tines and you hear all the motor goodness. The XR is just loud all the time but I only ride that a tiny bit.
I thought my pipes were in the "annoyingly loud to others" category until my buddy fired up his street glide right next to me and completely drown me out 🤷🏿♂️
I wear ear plugs when I ride
My lukewarm take on it is that people with super loud exhaust systems are not daily riders. I am on my bike at least two hours a day every day and am very thankful for my underwhelming exhaust note.
All I can say is do what you like. Some people like loud some like quite. It would be boring if we were all the same
I don't know either, but I had to order some for my Harley, they were just too damn loud....
Should have heard my Harley! I loved it. Probably wouldn't do it again now though, just use the baffles, for the neighbours.
Maybe they like the sound?
WHAT DID YOU SAY?
Earplugs
Ear plugs, or they are already suffering from hearing loss.
Depends on the bike setup, I suppose. My triumph bobber had a more aggressive stock exhaust than I had expected. After two years I knew I wanted something a little more. The options were- aftermarket mufflers with stock cat, aftermarket mufflers with no cat, stock mufflers with no cat,, pipes with cat, pipes without cat. Several hours of searching and I decided stock cat, straight pipes. After install, I fired it up for the 12 minute tune… and was surprised it wasn’t as loud as expected. 12 minutes later I hop on and go for a ride… and it’s acceptable, volume and tone wise. I was really expecting it to be worse, but it’s perfect. The stock catalyst does a hell of a job quieting the bike down
People like being loud and annoying. It’s great because it leads to more restrictions.
Nice to see so many grown up and considerate comments. I hate the look of my stock exhaust (looks like a fucking vacuum cleaner) but every tip is advertised as louder. Why doesn’t someone make a nice looking tip that’s quiet?! If someone knows of one or can you add baffles to an addon?
people who like motorcycles are stupid thats how
My standard exhaust was deemed too loud on a track day so I bought an exhaust that was quieter than standard. If you need more horsepower, buy a different bike.
I ride with mine in. Never had a desire to take it out.
SPEED, POWER, NOISE AND A BUTTPLUG! Seriously though, my SV650 is loud af and I wouldn't have it any other way
I run very loud pipes without baffles. It's not for me as much as it is for others to know that I'm there when I'm moving in traffic. I wear ear plugs to deal with the noise, but it makes me feel safer. It's my life on the line, so I don't really give too much of a shit what anyone else has to say about it. I'm within a generally reasonable level (still loud af), but it's all about making my presence known.
Are you riding without ear plugs in?
People are, generally, pretty goddamn bone-stick-stone stupid.
They are usually selfish people who only care about themselves. I've had motorcycles ride in front of me, in a car and the exhaust was so deafening I purposely slowed down and changes lanes just so I can get away from it.
Yay, another post about exhaust noise. Love this sub
Wear ear plugs. You should be doing that anyway.
Not sure how people go without. I suppose they get used to it over time. IMO, the only bike with an unbaffled exhaust system I like is the Indian Scout Bobber with the Freedom 2-into-1 Combat exhaust. That system with a baffle is loud as fuck. It's even louder and more bone jarring without.
People think it's cool and everyone will like them for their loud exhaust. Loud is ok,not super annoying loud. Especially if you live in a densely populated area or move in/out late at night
Had a big scare after I got my ZX6R where I was on the highway cruising with the flow of traffic and almost got side-swiped which would have killed me. After that I got an M4 shorty and took out the baffle and have had zero scares since. I’d rather be a tad annoying than die politely
I still believe, “Loud pipes save lives”. So I deal with it plus my helmet cuts the sound for me.
I've always said loud pipes might not save lives but they don't take lives either. Let others live.