You Know Your Exhaust's Too Loud When...

[vifferman]

You have to coast with the clutch in, whenever you see anything that looks remotely like a policeman.
Your progress down the road is heralded by a symphony (or is that, cacophany?) of car alarms going off.
Dogs run away, whimpering, tails between their legs.
Everyone turns to see what's coming down the road.
There's a spate of "unexplained accidents", involving cars running into each other, and the drivers report, "Everything suddenly went blank for a few seconds."
Even though it's raining, you stay dry, due to the sonic bubble around your bike.
Your fillings vibrate at 7000 RPM.
The engine misfires, due to cavitation in the fuel lines.
When you arrive at work, people ask, "Are you OK?", because of the evil grin on your face.
Your partner suspects you are having an affair, because you look like have a naughty secret.

[JohnBoy]

my favourite saying when i brought my new exhaust was "loud pipes save lives"..... lets just say i feel very safe on my zed! :whistle:

[The Tazman]

Nice one Vifferman :D

Volume and the note are good things I say. It hekps the cagers know you are there.

[Riff Raff]

Your progress down the road is heralded by a symphony (or is that, cacophany?) of car alarms going off.

That would be Loose Bruce - his neighbours must really love him!

[Lou Girardin]

How do you know this Viffer? I thought VFR's emitted less noise than a sodomised sparrows fart.

[badlieutenant]

sounds like viffer has done the same as me. throw out stock and put something on that lets you hear the vfour. Improves performance heaps.

[vifferman]

How do you know this Viffer? I thought VFR's emitted less noise than a sodomised sparrows fart.
Actually, some of the tests I've read of the VFR800 said they thought the muffler was a bit loud. :spudwhat:
However, mine's equipped with a Satantune :devil2: high-mount, to show off the single-sided swingarm/wheel. The Satantunes come with a "spud" (zorst restrictor) held in by an allen key. I've got two (2) for mine - one which imbues the bike with Stealth characteristics (well, it would, if the cam gear whine wasn't so friggin' loud), and one which has a "NaughtyButNice" flavour: loudish, but not annoying or offensive. The last coupla days, I've been in Evil mode (no spud). To be honest, 1, 2, 4 and maybe 10 (this one's untested) are actually true, which is why I started this silly thread. I'll probably put the spud back in at lunchtime, as I've found after a while I get paranoid about all the attention (and possible attention), and the 7K rpm wail makes me ride too aggressively. And I don't want my ears to bleed (the invisible point 11 on the list).:confused:

[marty]

go the yoshis on the TL.....:mega: :mega:

[vifferman]

sounds like viffer has done the same as me. throw out stock and put something on that lets you hear the vfour. Improves performance heaps.
Nah, it was on there when I bought it. Tests I've read indicate that the Staintune adds only 2 HP at most, but I've noticed that the bike definitely notices the difference between the three modes (easily re-tuned for by forcing the ECU to reset). The high-mount also has different characterisitics to the low-mount, as it is a slightly smaller canister, and has a longer connection pipe.

[vifferman]

go the yoshis on the TL.....:mega: :mega:
Yeah.
Love the sound of decent zorsts on a big V-twin (I'm not talking about HDs here). The VTR had vandalised OEM mufflers, and they were REALLY loud (until I had some spuds made) and didn't sound too good.
The best has to be a 916/996/998 with Termignonis.

[marty]

rode a K4 viffer with under seat carbon yoshis a couple of weeks back - the booming thru the seat was phenominal! could still hear the whine from the front though...

also rode a 'busa with tri-oval single yoshi. holy shit! no hiding that one in the shadows - especially at 10000rpm!

[chickenfunkstar]

11. People take a step or two back when you start the bike.
12. Random person walking along the road dives into the ditch when you're about 50m away. :killingme :killingme :killingme

[James Deuce]

Mooch and I used to love doing laps of the Martinborough square when I had the TRX with practically no baffles. We used to point and laugh as more expensive cars indicators blinked because of course over the roar of the 748 with Arrows, and the TRX we couldn't hear the alarms going off. Marvellous stuff.

[Wolf]

You have to coast with the clutch in, whenever you see anything that looks remotely like a policeman.
Your progress down the road is heralded by a symphony (or is that, cacophany?) of car alarms going off.
Dogs run away, whimpering, tails between their legs.
Everyone turns to see what's coming down the road.
There's a spate of "unexplained accidents", involving cars running into each other, and the drivers report, "Everything suddenly went blank for a few seconds."
Even though it's raining, you stay dry, due to the sonic bubble around your bike.
Your fillings vibrate at 7000 RPM.
The engine misfires, due to cavitation in the fuel lines.
When you arrive at work, people ask, "Are you OK?", because of the evil grin on your face.
Your partner suspects you are having an affair, because you look like have a naughty secret.


12*: When you pop in to a friend's house for a surprise visit and your coffee is ready before you shut the engine down.

*Bearing in mind Vifferman's "invisible number 11"

[Wolf]

12*: When you pop in to a friend's house for a surprise visit and your coffee is ready before you shut the engine down.

And I'm not quite making that up - My friends used to at least have the jug on by the time I rolled up on the TS125 - they reckoned they could hear me several streets away.

[vifferman]

rode a K4 viffer with under seat carbon yoshis a couple of weeks back - the booming thru the seat was phenominal! could still hear the whine from the front though...
Ahhh - the 2002 and later VFRs don't have gear-driven cams; they were replaced with conventional camchains, supposedly to 'save weight', but in reality I think it was to reduce the noise emissions. When (in 1998) Honda moved the VFR's cam drive to the right-hand side of the cams (it was previously in the middle), it made it much louder. The noise really gets on my nerves sometimes, especially riding on a constant throttle downhill.

11. People take a step or two back when you start the bike.
Heh heh... When I first got the VTR, we went to visit my sister-in-law in Oratia. I went on the bike because the battery was flat and I needed to give it a run to charge it and no battery charger. (It turned out to be a faulty R/R, but that's another story). When I left, I had the bike sitting in her gargre, and she came to say goodbye. When I cranked it up, she did literally jump backwards, and nearly pissed herself. Yup, it was loud alright!

Same thing wouldn't happen with the VFR, as it doesn't like starting with any throttle; just turn it on, wait for the FI light to go out (signalling the error-checking's complete), tap the starter button, and away it goes. :yes:

[vifferman]

My friends used to at least have the jug on by the time I rolled up on the TS125 - they reckoned they could hear me several streets away.
I can believe that. When I was at high school, I had a friend with a BSA 250 Star that his Dad had bought for $50. It was a bargain - apart from needing the seat recovered, and the forks straightened (easily done), the only problem was a coked-up muffler. When they cleaned it out, the broomstick knocked the baffles out. Ooops...
I lived up the top of a street about 1.5 km long, and could hear my friend coming from about 2 km or so away. It wasn't actually LOUD, just loud and distinctive. Very nice bike it was, and capable of 85mph two-up.

[Bren_chch]

Cant beat a louder than usual exhaust in traffic, when I go thru stopped traffic towards the lights or just riding generally in the city I can actually see people looking in mirros to see whats coming, which is a good thing makes me feel comfy that they know i'm there!

[marty]

my wife has the garage door opener next to the bed, and the door is always open(ing) for me when i aqrrive home at 0530am.

so is it the fairing design channelling drive train noise up that makes the k4 viffer engine noise pronounced? it's much louder than the TL or a busa.

[Lou Girardin]

Eh! What's that? Speak up will you!

[marty]

i've heard the occasional bandit that was a little louder than stock too. and how about the gsx1400 with single carbon pipe - they sound GRUNTY (silly word i know, but can't think of anything else)

[vifferman]

my wife has the garage door opener next to the bed, and the door is always open(ing) for me when i aqrrive home at 0530am.
I've got mine in my jacket pocket, and push the button when I'm about 50m away. Sectional door's so slow to open though that I still have to wait for it to go up. Apart from one time, when I misjudged it slightly, and whacked my helmet on the bottom of the door as it was going up... OOps...
I'd planned to install the opener inside the fairing somewhere, and hook it up to the headlight flasher via a relay (to keep my hands free), but decided in the end that the KISS principle was best, and just left it in my pocket. Usually works, although a few times I've had it open/shut when I've bent down and activated it by mistake.


so is it the fairing design channelling drive train noise up that makes the k4 viffer engine noise pronounced? it's much louder than the TL or a busa.
I dunno.
The one I rode sounded pretty quiet, but I know what you mean - the camchain whine/whirr from both that and the CBR600RR I rode are louder than some other makes of bike. Better that though, than the horrible rattle many Hondas get (like 4 of the ones I've owned) when the camchain and/or tensioner craps out.

[vifferman]

Incidentally - has anyone ever been pulled up for having a too-loud zorst on their bike? Or been pulled up for summat else and been told off for this? :spudwhat:

I short-circuited this on the VTR, by checking with a testing station and a bike shop about whether the modified zorsts would pass, then had the 'spuds' made for it. Never had an issue once these were fitted, even though it would've failed a formal dBa meter test. (Didn't help that the cans were stamped with some bollocks about "These mufflers comply with blah blah blah and have been certified as not exceeding 92 dBa blah blah", because a particularly picky/observant/bureaucratic tester would've been able to determine they'd been modified.

[Wolf]

Incidentally - has anyone ever been pulled up for having a too-loud zorst on their bike? Or been pulled up for summat else and been told off for this? :spudwhat:
Yep - on the TS125 (it's long gone but, Gods, I'm making it infamous).

I got pulled up and told to get it fixed - much to my relief, as I thought I was being pulled up for an 80km/h blat down Norton Road (50k zone for them furreners) Cop asked me where my baffles were - the baffles were fine, there was a whacking great hole in the exhaust.

Honestly, at low revs it sounded like someone taking to the side of a corrugated iron barn with a steel pipe. Open the throttle and the increase in frequency and volume would "aggravate the problem".

[James Deuce]

Incidentally - has anyone ever been pulled up for having a too-loud zorst on their bike? Or been pulled up for summat else and been told off for this? :spudwhat:

Yes. Two weeks after I got the TRX. No ticket though, because of the Yamaha logo, part no and dBA rating stamped on them. Annoying to get pulled up on Christmas day though.

[bugjuice]

I'm always stuck with #9 with my bike.. and it's not overly loud - yet... :devil2:

I have been pulled for having an excessive exhaust on my CBR250RR tho, and given a ticket. From a bike cop too.
But, the story was that one of the headers had gone with a big hole, so I showed it to him, and said I was on the way to Custom Chanbers to fix it, which I really was, so he said "well here's the ticket, but write in and contest it", which I did, with a recipt of the work, and I was let off.. 'this time'...

[chickenfunkstar]

Incidentally - has anyone ever been pulled up for having a too-loud zorst on their bike? Or been pulled up for summat else and been told off for this? :spudwhat:

I short-circuited this on the VTR, by checking with a testing station and a bike shop about whether the modified zorsts would pass, then had the 'spuds' made for it. Never had an issue once these were fitted, even though it would've failed a formal dBa meter test. (Didn't help that the cans were stamped with some bollocks about "These mufflers comply with blah blah blah and have been certified as not exceeding 92 dBa blah blah", because a particularly picky/observant/bureaucratic tester would've been able to determine they'd been modified.

Haven't been pulled up on the SV yet. (luckily)
Last time i got a warrent I was told that the exhaust was marginal. It looks like i'll have to get it repacked for the next one.

Do you have to have baffles?

[Eurodave]

I reckon its not so much the volume of sound/noise but more the quality of it. If you want to hear a good sounding bike listen to my old 850T Guzzi with Contis fitted..... a nice pure deep THUMPING, not offensively loud but music to the ears!!

[Oakie]

Incidentally - has anyone ever been pulled up for having a too-loud zorst on their bike? Or been pulled up for summat else and been told off for this? :spudwhat:

My very first ticket 1 day short of my 18th birthday was for a noisy exhaust. The cop reckoned he could hear me coming 200 metres away and I was approaching him from behind. (OK, so I guess the chicken wire stuffed up the baffle-less exhaust on the Kwaka 100 didn't work that well). I had a feeling that was the case though as a few days earlier an old fella had come out of his house waving his walking stick at me as I sat at the side of the road trying to get the damned thing to run for more than 10 seconds.

[vifferman]

I reckon its not so much the volume of sound/noise but more the quality of it. If you want to hear a good sounding bike listen to my old 850T Guzzi with Contis fitted..... a nice pure deep THUMPING, not offensively loud but music to the ears!!
Yeah, I know what you mean. :yes:
That's what that old Beeza was like, and what many of the V-twins with aftermarket zorsts sound like. Unfortunately, the Satantune on the VFR has too small a volume, and so it tends to shriek above about 7K rpm. With the V4 engine, it sounds nice though, like a small-block V* with race exhaust, but not quite as nice as other aftermarket cans (like Micron).
Can't beat that shiny polished finish, no repacking to do, and the removable restrictor though!

[Wolf]

OK, so I guess the chicken wire stuffed up the baffle-less exhaust on the Kwaka 100 didn't work that well
Sounds like we shopped at the same places. It's not a real "kiwi" bike unless bits are held on with number 8 wire and the baffles are scrunched-up chicken wire - patches of grey primer on the tank and duct tape on the seat are optional extras, for the connoisseurs amongst us...

[Oakie]

Sounds like we shopped at the same places. It's not a real "kiwi" bike unless bits are held on with number 8 wire and the baffles are scrunched-up chicken wire - patches of grey primer on the tank and duct tape on the seat are optional extras, for the connoisseurs amongst us...

And don't forget the fuse that kept blowing so was replaced by either a nail or some rolled up foil ... I can't quite remember which worked.

And duct tape?! LUXURY. It was insulation tape for me.

[MSTRS]

Baffles?? Chickenwire?? Pah!! Straight thru pipe on my old TS125 and a few drops of Castor Oil in the tank each time I filled it up. An old trick to fool the punters (smells just like racing fuel). The council cops we had in Lower Hutt in those days certainly 'bought it'.

[phantom]

The zorst on my GB400 is a bit old ladyish. Any recommendations on an aftermarket noise maker that wouldn't look too out of place or bodge and would help to share round the sound of a mighty Honda 400 single :whistle:

[NordieBoy]

Never been pulled over on the Nordie.
Can be heard from miles away though but it's just that the noise carries well.
The loudest place is on it.

SuperTrapp IDS with race core.
About as big as a steering damper on a crotch rocket.

Must be no louder than standard?
Well I'm not going to tell them what standard is.

[spudchucka]

How do you know this Viffer? I thought VFR's emitted less noise than a sodomised sparrows fart.
Leave the sparrows alone Lou or I'm calling the SPCA. :msn-wink:

[Lou Girardin]

i've heard the occasional bandit that was a little louder than stock too. and how about the gsx1400 with single carbon pipe - they sound GRUNTY (silly word i know, but can't think of anything else)

You should hear a Bandit with a micron can. I can hear my brothers wind up from 50 metres behind me, earplugs 'n all.

[Lou Girardin]

Leave the sparrows alone Lou or I'm calling the SPCA. :msn-wink:

Not me, I just heard about it. Any pics on the Police email system? I'll trade you for some special anti-laser CD's.

[spudchucka]

Not me, I just heard about it. Any pics on the Police email system? I'll trade you for some special anti-laser CD's.
"Not me", come on Lou, thats what they all say.

[gamgee]

"Not me", come on Lou, thats what they all say.

so what do you say then spud?

[Waylander]

Need to add one.


When you start up your bike and someone 15 feet away screams.:msn-wink:

[Wolf]

so what do you say then spud?
I suspect he's already said it:

"Not me", come on Lou, thats what they all say.

[Wolf]

You should hear a Bandit with a micron can. I can hear my brothers wind up from 50 metres behind me, earplugs 'n all.
50 metres. Fucking amateur! :killingme

[loosebruce]

That would be Loose Bruce - his neighbours must really love him!

My neighbours love me, thank you very much, I most consideratly switch off and coast home at the early hours of the morning.

Uh everywhere else though :whistle:

[Wolf]

Need to add one.


When you start up your bike and someone 15 feet away screams.:msn-wink:
I've had people physically jump in fright, does that count? The sound of the TS firing up was probably the cause of more than one case of whiplash around Hamilton.

[Waylander]

I've had people physically jump in fright, does that count? The sound of the TS firing up was probably the cause of more than one case of whiplash around Hamilton.

Lol yea that works. I was refering to Aff-man cause he has had it happen to him twice. Though it's more cause he revs the hell out of it every start-up. Sadly my bike is only loud enough to rattle a few cage windows when idleing at the lights.:devil2:

[Oakie]

Just for a little contrast then ...

when I took my CB400 out for it's first test ride along Moorhouse Ave one lunchtime 9 weeks ago, it was so quiet that when I pulled up at an intersection I had to look down at the rev counter just to confirm that it was still going.
It whispers....then it purrs...and then occasionaly it howls.

[Lou Girardin]

"Not me", come on Lou, thats what they all say.

No bestiality for me, although it's been a close call with a 'dingo' or two.

[Velox]

My exhaust is full of holes and when I come back home at night my goat hears me and starts "baa-ing" before the rest of the family hear me! Trained him well eh.

[Motu]

My exhaust is full of holes and when I come back home at night my goat hears me and starts "baa-ing" before the rest of the family hear me! Trained him well eh.
I've PMed Goatfood - he's very concerned about the behaviour of your goat,he thinks there are some deep seated issues as to why your goat acts like this...you will have to work out a therapy regime,goatfood will run through this with you....it could be a long process....

[Oakie]

My exhaust is full of holes and when I come back home at night my goat hears me and starts "baa-ing" before the rest of the family hear me! Trained him well eh.

Perhaps the goat is telling you to get some baaaa-ffles? :killingme

[SPman]

I reckon its not so much the volume of sound/noise but more the quality of it. If you want to hear a good sounding bike listen to my old 850T Guzzi with Contis fitted..... a nice pure deep THUMPING, not offensively loud but music to the ears!!

Ahhh.....Conti's.
Mrs eX reckoned she could hear me from over 2k away, comin home on the 750GT. Not offensively loud....no...but....

Mind you, the Kerker on the current stead is fairly loud......

[speedpro]

I had a flat at the back of Whenuapai and we could hear my girlfriend on her Z1 coming down Greenhithe bridge (towards us) on the way home from work. We could hear that thing howl most of the way home. Brother Doug had a pipe on his CB900 that we plainly heard from the Hobsonville main gate, from our flat on the other side of the married quarters. He got a ticket for that - excessive noise, operating in a noisy manner, and exceeding 50kmh-speed estimated by sound at 140kmh (flatout in 2nd) which was a very good guess.

[250learna]

my zxr is stock and not too bad, but my car had 2.5inch stright through and an rps muff with 4 inch tip (no cat on this bad boy :msn-wink: ), and it sets off alarms when it drives past some cars and my neighbours hate me... feel kinda stink as neighbours have youngsters so i freewheel at night :confused:
but some old guy few houses down had a spestic at me one day, were not friends any more :whistle:
and silancer has to go in for the warants

[N4CR]

I am the proud owner of two cans, one WOFCAN eg stock and one de-baffled/de-meshed munted as hell whatever brand it used to be 'can'. After 3 days in a row of people trying to kill me I decided to de baffle it completely... no incidents (usually one a week at least) after 2 weeks of riding :D so I'm happy but definately not getting lax or anything!!

I have only set off one alarm - outside uni... nothing else. It took me a while to realise I had set it off (made me feel weird).
I love my zorst, has a shut the hell up zone at 6.5k for cruising (56~kmh.. perfect).. really noisy from 7.5k upwards... screams at 16k+ etc. Everyone thinks its a 400/600 etc now :msn-wink: 'I wish' :whistle:

A loud exhaust is highly reccomended for commuting!

[John]

Mine satisfies me in bed, its shiny it has 1 hole and It pleasures me unlike any woman.

[Waylander]

It worries me that I was once jealous of you two...

[Ixion]

Mine satisfies me in bed, its shiny it has 1 hole and It pleasures me unlike any woman.
Odd, they usually have two.:innocent: Doesn't that lead to a lot of backpressure

[Velox]

I've PMed Goatfood - he's very concerned about the behaviour of your goat,he thinks there are some deep seated issues as to why your goat acts like this...you will have to work out a therapy regime,goatfood will run through this with you....it could be a long process....

Hey, thanks for that. He has actually been seeing someone about it but progress is slow at the moment. Evidently it's some childhood dependency thing from when he was much younger and was abandoned by his parents. We've had a chat about it once or twice (it's quite a sensitive issue though) and he's let it slip that he does feel a sense of "belonging" with the bike. I figure it's a reasonably healthy reaction given his past, but we thought it would be best to explore the meaning behind his behaviour, and just to analyse who he is as a goat. He'll get there.

[Ixion]

Hey, thanks for that. He has actually been seeing someone about it but progress is slow at the moment. Evidently it's some childhood dependency thing from when he was much younger and was abandoned by his parents. We've had a chat about it once or twice (it's quite a sensitive issue though) and he's let it slip that he does feel a sense of "belonging" with the bike. I figure it's a reasonably healthy reaction given his past, but we thought it would be best to explore the meaning behind his behaviour, and just to analyse who he is as a goat. He'll get there.

face facts. he's a goat. He doesn't analyse things, he eats them. He wants to eat your bike :msn-wink:

[Lou Girardin]

50 metres. Fucking amateur! :killingme

Did I say 50? I really meant 150 metres, with earplugs in and being deaf and with a 747 overhead and Suzanne Paul yelling from the pillion seat.

[Wolf]

Did I say 50? I really meant 150 metres, with earplugs in and being deaf and with a 747 overhead and Suzanne Paul yelling from the pillion seat.
Suzanne Paul? Whew, any thing that can be heard over her... :not: We're not worthy. We're not worthy.

Hehe.

The worst my TS ever got was the day I dropped it and ripped the pipe free of the muffler so the exhaust gases (and noise) were venting out of a short curved pipe affixed to the front of the engine. When I fired it up (of course I stalled it when I dropped it), the noise was physically painful. I rode it up the road and passed under the Whitiora bridge which reflected a lot of the sound back at me from the left and above - it sucked to be me at that moment. Compared with that, all the cracks and leaks that gave the TS its "distinctive" sound were inconsequential.

Looking back, the amount I spent on muffler bandages for that bike I could have bought a decent second hand exhaust from the wreckers. (and missed out having my coffee halfway ready by the time I arrived at my mates' house...)

[strayjuliet]

Geez it all sounds very much like my car at the moment. The trouble is i can't sneak anywhere, not if i take the car that is. :angry2: