The Shame Among Us

I thought this was an old column too.. did this originally run in MCN?



It is such a fine line between taking too much away and getting it right. I would hope people can learn to make cans that sound good without being excessively loud.



It seems like many new sportbikes with the catalytic converter in a separate "pod" are able to be modified in such a way as to keep the catalytic converter, put on aftermarket muffler(s), and sound good without being stupidly loud. My VFR is like this, and the Triumph 1050 motor is like this too.



The problem going forward seems to be race reps having the cataltytic converter in the race element. Change the muffler, you lost the cat and it's rudimentary baffling, cause the bike to be really really loud.



Or the cruiser... how and wear do you hide an ugly cat on a cruiser. How do you design a performance pipe for a cruiser with the classic look that is not excessively loud. Seems like the answer is a pipe like on the Yamaha Warrior.. which almost everyone seems to say is unforgiveably ugly.



I don't know enough about cruisers but you would hope H-D and others can relaunch a new line of pipes that gives people the performance they want, the "tone" of sound people want, and a manageable level of noise. (IMO the Buell XB9/XB12 motors have an awesome stock exhaust note so it can be done on a V-twin.. but those mufflers would also be unacceptably ugly on a cruiser.)

This is my first ever post, I'm pretty sure I've read everything in this thread. Please forgive me if I break some MO decorum, or if I repeat something someone's already pointed out, but I have a question.



If you have loud pipes because they make you more noticable in traffic, and you get killed because your pipes were so loud that you didn't hear the 16 year old in the Civic with the 3" exhaust and triplane wing, who's too busy watching his in-dash DVD player to pay attention to you, is that irony?



Now, full disclosure, I have an in-dash DVD player in my car and I consider a freer flowing intake and exhaust system pretty much mandatory equipment on any modified automobile. Shoot, I don't even own a bike. My wife got me MSF dirt courses for my birthday last year and we're both taking the beginner street course this fall (she wanted a scooter, I refused to sign off on it until she took an MSF course, so she figured if she's going to take the course she's going to get a motorcycle). What I'm saying is, I'm no expert here, I might even be a bit of a hypocrite (although, "freer flowing" isn't the same as "obnoxious and loud).



However, I've just never been able to reconcile the "loud pipes save lives" rhetoric with the fact that almost every person I know who rides (ESPECIALLY those with loud pipes) either wears earplugs or headphones while riding. So, it's safer for other people to hear YOU, but not for YOU to hear OTHER PEOPLE?



Could someone explain that to me, 'cos, you know, again, I'm new to the whole MC thing and I might be missing something.