Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Loud pipes

You might get disagreement but you'd better not get any crap.

You have an opinion too.

I have to agree. Sure having pipes with a descent note that allow our bikes to breath and even, may help "cagers" as many call them, be aware of our presence, but the loud for loud sake is doing more of a disservice to us bikers than any real good.

The way I see it is, eventually the law makers (they're doing it now) will say, "ok enough is enough" Time to rid our roads of the lot of em. Hence all of us will be given our marching orders to revert our pipes back to stock and subsequently, sewing maching tone and performance

I just think we need to be a little bit smarter on this one.

Sorry if I have offended anyone but I just think we don't need to give them "biker haters" any more ammo cos many of them may just be the bureaucrats who also determine laws

Thanks for the comments, Staffo. Agree 100%. Most of us avoid criticizing other bikers even when they're spouting nonsense, but the loud pipe bunch is about to spoil the fun for all of us. Don't get me wrong, I have five cages, and none of them have stock exhaust systems. They're all performance setups, and they're all louder than stock, but none of them are loud enough to disturb the neighbors or other drivers. I've been looking for aftermarket pipes since I got my SM last spring, but so far, everything I've heard is too loud. I wouldn't mind a modest increase in volume, but what I've heard so far easily triples the stock sound level. I know perfectly well that rattling windows from the next block isn't necessary to increase performance. I guess I'll stay with OEM unless some aftermarket outfit comes up with better performance pipes that can't be heard from a mile away.

I like my -3 baffle stock pipes. Had Epcos on for about a week, stock pipes have deeper note. Switching to bone stock pipes for an upcoming road trip (Barber, Yahoo!!). Going thru too many podunk jurisdictions. I'll switch back when I get home. These are loud, but nothing compared to ugly loud like some of the HDs and V-clones around here.

but at the risk of being cheezy... they can help save a life. You can't force someone to look but ya sure as ****** can make sure they hear ya.

I agree with the loud for louds sake is a problem. I rum open stock pipes with the reducer cone and packing left in. They are pretty loud when I get on it but if I am just putting around they are pretty tame by my standards. My main objective was allowing the engine to breathe. That I have accomplished. I love the sound of a loud bike and always will. But I do believe there comes a point when it is too loud and causes a problem. My friends hotrod shovel will literally hurt your ears if you are on the exhaust side of his bike, and I mean a physical pain not just an expression. Thats too loud. A nice low rumble is pleasing to my ear.

I've gotten to the point that I think my SS Long Cannons are a bit too loud so when the rainy season begins I'm going to attempt to beef up the baffle packing a bit to tame the volume and still keep the engine breathing properly. I want the rumble and free flowing air but I would appreciate less overt volume. Stupid, obnoxious loud for loud's sake is juvenile and I don't want to participate.

Ed, my understanding is that if you add the extra material, it takes some of the max. volume down without hurting the low throaty sound the SS pipes are noted for. If you try it, please post your results - I'd love to hear your opinion.

Great comments all of them. That's what I like about you guys, being able to balance the difference between a rumble and just plain noise. It's not that easy to achieve and many of the pipes on offer could be considered either on the edge or over the top, Most of us I believe like a deep yet not too noisy a tone and of course we all have different levels that we enjoy, but achieving this can be difficult. Especially since all I can go by for instance is listening to "sound clips".

That's why I love it when someone uploads clips of their bikes in action cos it just gives me another piece of info to put into my memory banks for future.


Anyway Who knows, if we all adopted a sensible yet not Dorky approach to what pipes we use, we may just create a level of respect from the law makers who then leave us law abiding Triumph enthusiasts alone so they can focus on a different crowd At least from the comments here, it seems we are on the right track anyway.

no one with the Triumph Offroad pipes ?.. they are quiet at idle but when you rev up...

Any of these aftermarkets have the EPA stamp? 500 buck fine in Denver for riding a bike without the stamp-no need for the police to have a decibel meter.

Rene, we are talking about Loud here. Your understanding of Tors being loud when revved has merit yes but again in the context of this discussion, most of us I think would believe they are tame in comparison to the ear splitting and raucous type pipes we are refering to.

For instance Tors or even Most of the pipes our members have would not be in the Deafening and painful category. Yes when opened up some hedge into this area but again we don't really want to split hairs here. It is a grey area and everyone has an interpretaton of it. What I believe is important though is for anyone with aftermarket pipes to ask themselves this: If I was the neighbour of me so to speak, would it bother me. The answer I believe is NO because Tors and the majority of others are timid in comparison to the Over The Top arrangements being discussed here. Don't ask me to name which ones they are cos I don't know but around where I live, the pipes in question normally belong to the HD crowd (I'm not having a go at them BTW).

Also, I am fully aware that "opening up" or "Revving" as you call it may "disturb the piece and tranquility" during the early morning for instance and therefore I'm always aware of this and predominantly ride my bike accordingly. I also think I can vouch for many if not most of us here who have after markets. Most of us Triumph riders I belive are a civil and law abiding bunch who as has been mentioned, want a certain tone and performance from their pipes. Sure many of us may at certain times feel a rush of blood and just want to hammer and if this means "oops, bit noisy there, might tone it down a bit", then we do.

In other words we understand and respect our neighbours and ride accordingly without needing to screem around the streets thereby making a nuisance of ourselves.

So what we are talking about really, are the pipes that obviously draw Real attention from everyone including those in authority. I think you know the pipes we are refering to.

Anyway that's how I see it. It's not cut and dried No and it takes a "war and peace" abstract like this one to explain but I hope your referal to Tors being in the "Bad Boy" category when revved has been effectively questioned and disproved in this instance. Safe riding mate

at wot my totally gutted tor's make my tba sound like a raspy dirt bike, imho. there's got to be a better alternative. for outside appearance i really like the specialy spare's. i heard a slew of triumph "loud pipes" over the weekend and fred's d&d's were the cat's meow; however, i prefer the long cannon look. what am i to do?

My long cannon pipes are 04 Speedmaster pipes with the taper cut off and gutted. I left the outer lining of mesh and packing as well as the reducer cone for some back pressure. Has a nice low rumble, not too loud unless I am hard on the throttle but can still hear it.

Green,

I have the Thunderbikes. I like em, but if you want volume, I'd look elsewhere. They're downright quiet at idle.

ok staffo i understand

Where are people finding these awsome custom pipes?
I recently have stopped riding long enough to figure out i really want to custom out my bonnie. Pipes, triple tree, white walls, more power, etc. not sure where to begin. Please help

I don't even know what my pipes are... some one take a look at the pic in my sig and tell me.

Theyv'e had something cut out of them from looking inside... I love the sound of mine

All the ones I can think of in alphabetical order. There are others....

Bubs
D&D pipes
Epcos
Mad Dog Pipes
Sceptre pipes
Specialty Spares
Thunderbike

My father in law and I were at a PGR run Friday, where he spotted a "Loud Pipes etc." patch.
We decided right then and there we're guttin' the pipes on his Dodge Intrepid 4 door

30" JC Whitney turn-outs for me @ $70 ea. Great price, great sound....

I knew my bike was loud, then I learned just how loud it could be.
I had to park ,3 days in a row, in an underground parking garage.
I thought the roof was going to fall in.
It was bad enough going in, the engine was warm and I could let it mostly idle, but leaving...
Start it up, full choke, and every alarm in the place goes off.
A young realtor lady had impressive hang time on her jump.

Best to keep these beasts outside.

Does anyone in San Diego have the SuperTrapp pipes that Rocket Motorcycles offers?
I would really like to hear them running before I put down $900 for a set of pipes that I don't like the sound of.

Love my J.C. Whitney mufflers and at the price offered they can't be beat.... heard several others and none compare to them... Now I have had my say once again, try 'em and am sure you will like 'em and so will your wife when she looks at the check book... LOL

Finally got the fishtails worked out. I wound up with 4" drag baffles (the kind with the oil can punch outs) at the rear exit right at the end of the pipe before the 'tail with the narrow end facing the head. I put a 4" baffle of the same type at the header exit, but cut it into a 2" baffle and put it in backwards. It acts as an anti-reversion chamber. It idles at what I'd call quite, but still barks when you poke at it. I'll post numbers with the db meter tomorrow.

My D&D's made me deaf once they had about 500 miles on them. I think they have a good sound, which doesn't bring wrath from the neighbors when you putt thru the neighborhood, but crack the throttle and they are definately going to put out

Not sure of Phil's order, but Sceptres are louder than Epcos.

I think the loudest pipes are the triple set up on a T-Bird Sport from D&D,I hear a few guys on the RAT boards say how they stand out at big bike rallies..way loud!

When & where is the Northeast Rally?

06 TBA with OEM long slashcuts with baffles removed leaving lining and reducer intact. Made an insert adapter to fit into the id of the muffler at the first rearmost baffle plate.

2 7/8" X 1 1/2" X approx 2 1/2" adaptor with 15" X 1 1/2" capped pipe welded to the adapter. The capped pipe has two 3/4" holes opposite each other approx. 2" from the cap. Used grinder to cut rolled edges off the ends of pipes in order to slide the inserts in.

The result is a nice deep throaty sound I can hear in a pack of V-thumpers. Good performance, nice sound, plenty loud.

Without the inserts the pipes hurt my ears. Got my idea for the inserts from Dinqua's web page article on his factory pipe mod. The difference is that I didn't use baffles but straight pipe, capped and drilled, instead.