Modify stock exhaust 1150RT?

[Matts_12GS]

I would like to know how many of the same self righteous folks who complain about noisy motorcycles have radar detectors? I know for a fact there are more than a few of you out there, who's got the guts to fess up to it?

 

Otherwise, Ken, I think that while you're entitled to your opinion, many of the rest of us can do with out it.

 

Peace out, don't make me move in next door to you because I'd have no means of resisting tweaking you on this until your head exploded or you went postal!

[PASSMORE]

Whilst waiting for my lovely wife to pick up some photos in Costco, I made use of my time and conducted an informal survey seeing as I parked on the sidewalk next to the entry...

 

2 out 37 "reasonable" people survey felt my exhaust was too loud...

 

Those surveyed were anyone who walked past me - women, men, couples (although they were tallied seperately), kids under 18 answer's were discarded (although all of them liked it).

 

The two who said it was too loud allowed that it was OK at idle to a few thousand RPM, but too much for them (standing 3-5 feet away to the side of the bike) when I lit it up...

 

Hmmmm, reasonable people...

[Francis]

"We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not an Act, but a habit"

 

 

The fallacy of this statement is compelling.

[Ken H.]

It's what others around you think that matters to the future of our sport.

 

Now I am REALLY confused...

 

Are we talking about loud exhaust in motorcycle "sports" now or on our road going motorcycles?

 

BTW, will you define your criteria for loud? Is it based on your perception of annoyance or law (dB) based?

In this context I'm defining the sport of riding motorcycles as any riding of them. Regardless of where and how.

[Ken H.]

folks who complain about noisy motorcycles have radar detectors?

What the heck has one got to do with the other?

[Ken H.]

Otherwise, Ken, I think that while you're entitled to your opinion, many of the rest of us can do with out it.

So someone can't, or shouldn't, post an opinion on a subject this board unless it agrees with you? Or with, "the rest of us." Whomever that is.

[Matts_12GS]

Ken,

Sorry if I befuddled you with the radar detector. I was going toward the fact that you are such a contrarian against anything other than stock exhaust, but IIRC you have been known to bend a speed limit more than a little. I was pointing at those of this group who bitch about noise and mark it as a harbinger of the end of sport motorcycling but are such hippocrites that they get out and haul ass and ride FAR beyond the speed limits and other traffic laws (e.g. threads on double yellow passes etc.) Selective adherence to the laws is pure scat no matter which side of the law you are on.

 

Better now?

[Matts_12GS]

How about this Ken, if I say, "you're entitled to your opinion, please keep it too yourself?" I really don't give a tinker's damn what your opinion is about noisy motorcycles. I maintain that all my bikes, even those with exhaust mods, are within local noise standards and I am adamant about being a good neighbor with my bikes meaning that I don't speed in the residential areas and I am usually up at least a gear more than necessary to slow the motor down to ensure it's quiet.

 

It seems you have an axe to grind with anyone who wants to have their motorcycle make more noise, and that you disguise your bias under the umbrella of "endangering motorcycling" for everyone. That is the same BS that the government has used to remove freedoms from the rest of society because it's "for the children."

 

And you think that I'm the one who has issues with people disagreeing with me. You're funny man, damn funny.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Matt,

FWIW, I pretty much agree with Ken and that pretty much makes me a hypocrite as I have modified the exhausts on 3 of my motorcycles with the LaFranconia pipes on my Guzzi boardering on too loud.

 

My 1100S had and aftermarket pipe on it and my RS has a VFR muffler and cat eliminator. I would not classify either of these bikes as "loud". They are louder than stock though. I would place the 1100S as a bit snarly if I'm really getting into the throttle and unobtrusive otherwise. The RS is no louder, and may actually be quieter, than my Honda Blackbird which has stock cans on it.

 

I do object to the cruiser crowd's idea of sound. At least around here. Between the straight pipes and various after market "muffler" systems, the cacaphony is such that you cannot carry on a conversation in an outdoor restaurant 25 yards from the street. That is discourteous, rude, unnecessary and just plain wrong. I'm typing this at 6:45 AM and two HD's just went up the freeway, 1/4 mile from my house. They drowned out the freight train 1/4 mile away in the other direction! That is scat. There is no need, other than the "Look at Meeeeee" factor, for a motorcycle to be that loud. To be fair, I sometimes hear inline 4 cylinder bikes in the same enviornment. Don't like that idea much either.

 

PS, Matt, you live closer than I, been out to any of the plantations on Hilton Head? Get to tour past them on your nice, quiet BMW?. NO? Thank the loud bike crowd. The citizens of the community decided they were tired of the loud things disturbing their peace and quiet and banned them. So now you can go to Hilton Head Island if you wish but can't ride your bike anywhere near the ocean.

[SDMike]

My take? There's loud, then there's LOUD.

 

When the dB level goes beyond the legal limit, its too much. Under that and why bother with complaining?

 

Course, I LIKE having a quiet bike... Makes it easier to sneak by Johnny Law at warp speeds!

 

M

[Matts_12GS]

Ed,

I rode my modified Vulcan which like your bikes, was louder, but not illegally so past the plantations in New Orleans last year, but that's a different story. Generally, I don't go to Hilton Head, it's not that much fun to me there.

 

As I have stated, I am not against noise statutes, I am against the assumption that any aftermarket exhaust is bad. I do agree with you that the too loud set has damaged perceptions as have the too fast crowds. I get more grief from non riders about xyz dumbass flying through traffic at extralegal speeds than I did about abc dubmass revving his engine next door at 5 in the morning....

 

Ed, what kind of pipes are on the S? I have a Remus on the R1100SBX and it sounds wonderful to me.

Matt

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Ztechnic on the S. Nice deep rumble that is more audible from the rider's seat than it is to the outside world. I spent about 500 miles behind it going up to the Blackwater a couple of weeks ago. Barely noticed that it was there. It does get a bit louder when you are really on the throttle but, as you said, by that point you are enraging the folks you pass at silly speeds more by your speed than the sound.

 

Had breakfast this morning with one of the guys from the Blackbird site and he had a pair of rude D&D's on his bike. I flat don't understand it. Then the flatulant set showed up. 5 HD's and a guy on a K12GT with a fairly obnoxious pipe on it. Rev, rev, paddle, paddle. It's no wonder the most common thing that breaks on a HD is the throttle cable.

[Matts_12GS]

I always thought it was because there wasn't enough engine vacuum to keep it idling on it's own and that's why they had to rev them all the time...

 

My metric cruiser would just purr, and the Muzzy pipe I put on it was really mellow until you hit the power band and then it got fairly noisy. I miss that bike.... <sigh>

[Ken H.]

I was pointing at those of this group who bitch about noise and mark it as a harbinger of the end of sport motorcycling but are such hippocrites that they get out and haul ass and ride FAR beyond the speed limits and other traffic laws

Hypocrite

n : a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold.

 

If I complained about loud pipes on bikes and had them on mine, that would make me a hypocrite. Any other thing no more makes me so than wearing a blue shirt does.

 

A person who speeds on a quiet bike may be a lot of things, but a hypocrite about loud pipes (s)he is not.

[PASSMORE]

Nope...

 

You are splitting hairs again Ken. One of the key facets of your argument against loud pipes was the issue of them being illegal and annoying....

 

Whether you run loud pipes if you engage in an act that is illegal (i.e. - speeding) and/or annoying as you are asserting that all loud pipes are than a reasonable person could logically deduce that you are being a hipocrite.

 

Not saying you are, just saying...

 

 

I was pointing at those of this group who bitch about noise and mark it as a harbinger of the end of sport motorcycling but are such hippocrites that they get out and haul ass and ride FAR beyond the speed limits and other traffic laws

Hypocrite

n : a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold.

 

If I complained about loud pipes on bikes and had them on mine, that would make me a hypocrite. Any other thing no more makes me so than wearing a blue shirt does.

 

A person who speeds on a quiet bike may be a lot of things, but a hypocrite about loud pipes (s)he is not.

[jgrant]

I always thought it was because there wasn't enough engine vacuum to keep it idling on it's own and that's why they had to rev them all the time...

 

I used to think the same thing. I tested a Street Glide this weekend at the Long Beach Motorcycle Show and can personally attest to the fact that they idle just fine on their own. I think it is the "look at me factor" more than anything else.

[Husker Red]

We always end up comparing the legality of speeding to loud pipes in these threads and many/most folks say that speeding is not as bad. I disagree.

 

There is no doubt that speed kills. I can say with absolute certainty that your chances of injury and or death are statitically greater as speed increases. Everyone around a speeder is in greater danger.

 

Loud pipes annoy, but nobody dies of annoyance or rap music would have killed us all years ago. There is even the smallest nugget of truth to "Loud pipes Save Lives."

 

The jackass revving his Harley aggrivates me too, but I just can't agree that loud pipes are a greater evil than speeding.

[russell_bynum]

The jackass revving his Harley aggrivates me too, but I just can't agree that loud pipes are a greater evil than peeding.

 

The difference is that you can choose when to speed. If you've got loud pipes, you've got loud pipes everywhere.

[baggerchris]

I just think you hear more Harley riders blipping their throttles because the sound is pleasant to their ears, versus the sound of a stock Beemer which they would say reminds them of a Sewing machine being used. I love the sound of a well tuned Harley, and I don't particularly like the sound of a stock BMW Boxer, however I DO like the Beemer's all-around performance.

[Matts_12GS]

First, I agree, Ken is splitting hairs.

Second, I was kidding about that vacuum thing, I've ridden many a big twin and know they'll idle fine.

Third, if you have chosen wisely, you can be somewhat quiet even with loud pipes by keeping your RPM's down in residential areas.

Fourth, there is truth to the notion that loud pipes damage relations with non-bikers, hasn't anyone ever heard that "Loud Pipes Wake Wives?" How the hell can you sneak home late and drunk with those things?