I swap between the stock pipes and the short TORs. I like the sound of the TORs (I think mine are some very early ones, which I gather are louder than the later versions), but I'm conscious that not everyone else (ie non-biking neighbours) does!
The other reason for running the stock pipes is horses
There're a lot of horses ridden around the lanes where I live (often by young riders), and there's no denying that they don't like the louder pipes. Even passing them at not much over tickover they often take fright, and I don't want to be responsible for a kid coming off a runaway horse.
The other point at the back of my mind is that they're illegal. Don't get me wrong - I'm not claiming never to break any laws when I'm out on the bike - but it does mean more chance of being stopped and fined.
What I really need is a switch on the handlebar that will let me mute the sound when I'm tootling through villages and passing horses, and then switch to full straight through volume when I'm in the middle of towns (so cars can hear me) or out for a blast where no-one else is around
I keep looking out for a cheap pair of standard pipes that I can have a play with. I think that a lightly modded standard pipe will give the compromise (between making the bike sound like a bike and at the same time not being offensive to the neighbours), that I'm looking for.
