Exhaust noise levels

Deputy

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I've seen a lot of posts on here where guys ask about increasing or changing the sound of the exhaust note.
I can understand it. The stock exhaust is pretty quiet.
And a nice throaty rumble does sound pretty cool.

BUT....

Increasing the exhaust noise level also increases awareness of you getting on the throttle and can be a magnet for the LEO that are in your area. Yes...it also increases awareness to the 4-wheel loonies that you are there and is a sort of "safety factor". And it probably does a good intimidation job in some instances. I'm just wondering if the benefit of louder mufflers is offset by the amount of attention paid to you by people you DON'T want taking a closer look at what you're doing. You know...like..."don't look at me...I'm nice and quiet and obeying the law. Look at that guy over there with the loud mufflers that's obviously breaking a hundred laws"
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Opinions and feedback welcome. But don't get me wrong. I'm just spitballing a possibility. Not saying anything negative about guys that install louder mufflers.

Dep
 
Good question...I have a partner on a 12 that has done all sorts of mods...Exception he has not altered the stock exhaust...When he runs someone they think awe he's stock and then he tears their a$$ off the frame...So yeah it can definitely have it's advantage's...
 
LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES! I will live with a ticket but you can't live with a car on your lap! I use the pipes to let people know I am there.

Marc "Howlin Mad"
 
<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'></span><span style='color:red'></span> LOUD AND PROUD



<span style='color:darkblue'></span><span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'></span> Let them who and where you are especially the no driving idiots on their cell phones that do not pay attention is nice to roll up beside them while they are talking with the window down and crank it up to around 8K just to annoy them for being too stupid to stay in their lane and not driving the car they way they should ...................LOUD AND PROUD !!!
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Louder the better. I use to ride my drag bike around town with an open header. Everyone in a two mile radius knew I was coming.
 
I'm with the LOUD CROWD on this issue. Given the fact that cars have a harder time seeing bikes, I want them to hear me coming! Just put my D&D bolt-ons on last week and it really works. Love to see the look on people's faces on the highway when I'm on the throttle.
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Heh...I figured folks would be lining up to take the "louder is safer" as their reason for loud pipes.
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I undestand the theory and I suppose it does have some merit. However, disdain for traffic tickets I can NOT understand. More tickets = higher insurance rates and possibly NO insurance. I'm an old geezer so that's the only way I can afford the insurance rates for my toys.
But I also have ZERO tickets and a good driving record. That makes a big difference. And no way I'm driving with NO insurance. I have too much to lose in a lawsuit.

I did drive with drag pipes and no mufflers when I had my Harley FX back in the late 70's. My neighbors said it sounded like a B-17 taking off when I pulled away (my neighbors were pretty old back then). I can sympathize with loud pipes. Coolness factor is way up there. I just don't buy into the safety reason. But that's just me
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Dep
 
I have to agree I have a full d&d exhaust on the busa. I just ordered a full yosh 4-2-1 for the busa I hope that it is loud.
 
In the last Hurt Report, reporting on accidents involving motorcycles, it was proven, and this is backed up by Motorcyclist Magazine, that Loud Pipe Do NOT save lives. There is no proof that they do.
 
I like the idea that cages drivers will hear me as well as see me. But in practice I'm not sure how much help that noise really is. I try not to rev too much or blast away with all that sonic beauty while I'm in town.

Afterall, it does nothing for my public image (or sportbike riders in general) to be seen as a hooligan by my neighbors. Sometimes I work pretty hard at keeping the bike as quiet as I can (wishing I could hush it just a bit more.) Not that I regret my Yoshi slip-ons.

So, how much safety by noise am I benefiting from? Those situations when I am statistically most likely to be hit (like intersections) I'm intentionally avoiding making obnoxious levels of noise. And I think I am probably not alone in this.
 
I've got Micron bolt-ons and I like the sound and the rumble. And I think it lets some people know that coming, but I but more faith in the safety skills I practice than in the loudness of my pipes.

Skilz save lives not pipes. I once heard a riding instructor say, "Most people don't run out of road, they run out of skill". I agree, and practice not only my cornering skills but my 'avoidance' skills as well. And I even practive what i call my "stop light" skills, what I mean by that is that when ever i pull up to a red light i'm checking my rear view mirrors and always looking and stopping in a spot where i can get out the way in case the cager behind me looks like he/she doesn't want to stop.

Skilz save lives ....... One other thing I think the Hurt Report also reported that most bike accidents are one person accidents... which could indicate the rider was distracted by the LOUD PIPES ..

Got em loud, but working on my skilz as well
 
My V Max had a header that made it sound like a built V8 chevy, it sounded great... But there is something to be said for very fast and quiet to..... The busa is still stock....
 
Everything in moderation, HA! Funny coming from a Busa owner...

But seriously The loud pipes saving lives is crap, I noticed on my old (LOUD) 750 that when cage dwellers are plodding pathetically down the highway they don't see/hear EMT's, Flourescent Orange Fire Trucks or LEO's, what chance did my <span style='color:red'>REAR</span> facing Exhaust pipes have of penetrating the cage coma these folks were in? None!!!!  All the noise was behind me...

Please don't baste me for this ya'll I am a lover of good noise but irritating your neighbors, or those you have to share the road with just pisses folks off.  Besides with all the pinheads out there strapping the Howitzer sized cans on their little Import tuner "Fart" machines and the "Thumpin" concert hall on wheels crap-heads, your average citizen is so tired of others Noise Pollution that I fear the <span style='color:red'>REAL</span> Loud cans are going to hurt all of us in the end.  Eventually we will be just as screwed as the Germans, no mods without G-mans approval.  Man that would suck.  

Holy Crap! I need Less caffine in the blood
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Am I looking for some slip-ons?  Yes, But I was hoping to find some Yoshi Zyclones or something similar that can give my Busa a good Voice without yelling so loud that I leave folks with a bad impression.

The next time you rev your machine just to annoy someone think about the next Busa rider that rolls up on that cage, how are they going to get viewed/treated?  

I used to push my 750 down the road in the early mornings so I wouldn't wake up my neighbors, they noticed, and appreciated it, I got thanked for my efforts and when I would <span style='color:red'>ROAR</span> home occasionally they would remember my courtesy and not get all bent...

If we all thought of the other guy a little more, the streets would be alot safer for all of us...

And the BOTTOM Line is your Skills and Strategy...

IMNSHO
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Excuse my ignorance, but what is a "LEO"
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RE topic, I side with "Quiet Performer". No point in letting the cop hiding under the bush know you are coming. Also its great for creeping up on friends on the motorways. Or blowing past others before they know you are coming.

There is always the horn and the highbeam for getting attention.
 
I used to push my 750 down the road in the early mornings so I wouldn't wake up my neighbors, they noticed, and appreciated it, I got thanked for my efforts and when I would <span style='color:red'>ROAR</span> home occasionally they would remember my courtesy and not get all bent...
<span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'>RESPECT!</span>
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HayAbuseD,
 Hey, Sorry about that, Law Enforcement Officer, "LEO". It covers them all, Sheriff, Trooper, Feds, Local cops...

RE Topic- Yeah, but I think it may be difficult to find pipes that produce the right sound with getting <span style='color:orange'>too</span> loud.  Now by too loud I mean the howlin banshee screaming you can hear from three or four blocks away.  I am not talking about good healthy powerful noise. A balance is what I am looking for, deep and rumbly low RPM opening up to a good roar at high revs, so I can get home late at night without waking everyone around.

Now to get attention, I have been thinking about one of those headlight wobler things...
 
i'm with the quiet on this one.
i have an rs-3 on my katana, and u can hear it for like 2km, i prefer not to have anyone know i'm coming til the last minute. i drive too fast for that :p
 
It all depends on how the law acts in your town , In my town I prefer to be stealthy with a Yosh quite race system,

However with my zx-11 I have a Muzzy race system with no guts and you could hear it for ever if I opened it up , The law frowned on it. lol

So instead of wakeing up the law as I go by, among others on my block I chose to get a quite pipe for the Busa. I don't need any Tickets for Noise Polution as the po po calls it, Insurance is already high enough.
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As far as a bikes being loud saving lives I'm not sure of most people have their radios turned up too loud or are talikng on a cell phone so they are not paying any attention anyway to even hear a loud pipe..

I'm sure some can say the same thing about train whistles being loud also before it tears the holy hell out of some car on the tracks, most say( that lived) they didn't even hear the train blow its whistle before they were crushed, and if they can't hear a train whistle, they sure as heck won't hear a puny race pipe
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