Hi all,

Very silly question but I don't want to go out and buy a new set of exhausts.

The problem - I changed the carb's on my 99 m900 for FRC's.  I don't have a choke so it's a little harder to start the bike and ride off. So when i take the bike to work ( which I do on a regular basis) I wake up all the neighbours as i try to start the bike.

My question - besides adjusting the carb ( which I already did and this is the best configuration I can get) or changing my pipes ( I have Ducati performance pipes which have been shortened) is there a way to reduce the noise form the pipes at starting and then ride the bike normally(muffle the sound).  I love my pipes but I don't want to get the neighbours upset.

thanks

Richard

Push the bike a block down the road and then start it.  You may still be pissing people off, but at least they aren't your neighbor.

sounds like you are screwed... you got ducati performance slip ons which immediately make the bike louder bc they are basically almost straight pipes with minimal baffle and then to top it off they are cut even shorter, thus making them even louder... sorry but its pretty obvious when doing this that the bike would get louder.

sorry to say unless you can fabricate a baffle or get s termi baffle and see if it fits your only option is to get new slip ons.

good luck.

Post in the Parts Wanted section that you want some Db killers, and long with the description/part # of the cans you have.  Someone's gotta have a set laying around...

Be as gracious as you possibly can when your neighbors come over and complain.

Otherwise, you don't really have a problem.

LA

fit some little flaps like trucks often run on the tops of their stacks that you can adjust with a rigged up cable mechanism.  run them almost closed when you want it to be quiet.  that's basically what the baffles are and how the supertrapp system works ith the plates you can add or remove.  they'll look cool when they can just move around on their own too.

otherwise fit baffles or std mufflers.  i run std mufflers for this reason.  i find riding my bike with loud mufflers a bit embarrasing these days, especially when i pass a car with a baby sleeping in the back or the like.  it's no wonder the general public don't like us.

and i don't live in a country where everyone can carry a gun.

Quote from: LA on July 25, 2008, 07:51:22 PM
Be as gracious as you possibly can when your neighbors come over and complain.

Otherwise, you don't really have a problem.

LA

Quote from: brad black on July 25, 2008, 09:38:30 PM
otherwise fit baffles or std mufflers.  i run std mufflers for this reason.  i find riding my bike with loud mufflers a bit embarrasing these days, especially when i pass a car with a baby sleeping in the back or the like.  it's no wonder the general public don't like us.

I probably have the only neighbor in the world who doesn't care.  He actually COMPLAINED when I took my louder than god RoadRacing exhaust off and replaced it with a (little bit) quieter Galasetti 2-1.

My suggestion is get a little more time with the carbs.  I took me a week or so after replacing my OEMs (with their choke) with FCRs to find a good proceedure for starting.  Now it's two quick blips, hit the starter with one more, and the bike is idling fine.  Then I ride off asap with about 1500 rpms and it's as quiet as it's going to be.

Quoteand i don't live in a country where everyone can carry a gun.

fwiw, I did a dyno w the RR before the FCRs and I found it gave 6 more ft/lbs of torque @ 3500-4500 rpm and lost 2 hp on the top end.  Loud or not, it's going back on.  [moto]

I recently had my Termi slip-ons/airbox/DP ECU on my S2R1K upgraded to a full Termi system. I normally run without baffles so it's bloody loud. I never had anyone complain but I thought I'd be a little considerate and put the baffles back in yesterday. I ran it for about 5 minutes and it sounded like ass. My neighbour from across the street even came over and asked what was wrong with it since it didn't sound right. Well that experiment is over and it's now back to normal. I just try not to rev it too hard when I leave  in the morning until I'm at least a few blocks away...then the fire-breathing monster lets out it's roar. 

Can you fit some kind of rubber hose over the tailpipe, maybe an 8 or 10 foot piece to use until its warmed up.

gangsters sometimes tape a litre pop bottle over the end of a pistol for use as a silencer.  You might could rig up something similar.   

Of course, these would only be used to warm it up, then take them off and throw them in the corner of the garage.

Quote from: DucAtomic on July 27, 2008, 09:01:20 AM
My neighbour from across the street even came over and asked what was wrong with it since it didn't sound right. 

I think just about everyone on my street has asked me what was "wrong" with my Duc since I put the open clutch cover on.  It's funny, I have a few bikes, some of them really cool.  None of my neighbors give a shit about any of the others.   

Consider where the pipes are aimed.  Aiming them into the garage during startup will muffle the sound a bit.  (Careful that you don't start up and run the bike in a closed garage, though, because of carbon monoxide being bad for you.)

First, I love the sound of the full Termis on my 695.  Sounds great.  But I don't live in town so my neighbors aren't very close.

Second, I'm not trying to be the sound police.  But if you are going to run loud pipes, you are going to cause some serious problems for yourself and others.  If there is a noise ordinance, and they are becoming more and more common, you may find yourself on the losing side of a "fix it" ticket.  If you choose not to fix it, you won't be able to get license plates.  You draw more attention to yourself and the cops may be more watchful than usual, especially if you chose not to "fix" the pipes.

There is a lot of backlash to bikers running loud pipes (mostly but not all HDs) and if we as motorcyclists aren't careful we will find ourselves without any legal way to change the exhaust AT ALL.  Sometimes the sound we want is not going to be the sound a neighbor wants to hear and they will have the law on their side.  When that happens we all have lost.

I can't say that I disagree with you, but a couple of quick points.

Quote from: speedevil on August 06, 2008, 05:44:43 AM
..we will find ourselves without any legal way to change the exhaust AT ALL. 

That time is now.  AFAIK, it has been illegal to modify anything that might possibly affect emissions on a motor vehicle licensed for the street since the regs went into effect in 1967.  (May have been '73 for MCs)  That includes carbs, pistons, ing. timing, and exhausts.

QuoteThere is a lot of backlash to bikers running loud pipes (mostly but not all HDs)

The motor patrolmen here in Las Vegas mostly ride Harleys, many of them with open pipes.

IMO, it's mostly a "good neighbor/golden rule" issue right now.  I, for one, never whack my throttle open in town, or continually blip my throttle at stoplights like many Harley owners do (if it won't idle, you have to do somehting) and other than my next door neighbor complaing that my bike is too quiet without the RR exhaust on it, I've never had a complaint.

As discussed in countless home owner's association meetings, my neighbors are infinitely more upset by the incessant whine of two-stroke weed-whackers and leaf blowers used by the landscapers than they are about my bikes.  And I don't plan on doing any burnouts in front of my house, any time soon.   

Quote from: dlearl476IMO, it's mostly a "good neighbor/golden rule" issue right now.

And you've summed it up nicely in one sentence.  A little consideration goes a long way towards keeping the peace.

But it won't take too many bikers saying "it's my bike and I'll do what I want with it - including open pipes" and the rules about aftermarket exhausts, PCIII's, ECU, airbox, etc. will be enforced much more harshly than they are now.  There are a number of towns that are rigidly enforcing noise ordinances with spl meters.  Some bikers are finding out that there is such a thing as too loud.

Of course, when that happens there will be more money for cosmetic mods - I guess we all have to choose a side in this one.

Quote from: speedevil on August 06, 2008, 01:41:30 PM
And you've summed it up nicely in one sentence.  A little consideration goes a long way towards keeping the peace.

But it won't take too many bikers saying "it's my bike and I'll do what I want with it - including open pipes" and the rules about aftermarket exhausts, PCIII's, ECU, airbox, etc. will be enforced much more harshly than they are now.  There are a number of towns that are rigidly enforcing noise ordinances with spl meters.  Some bikers are finding out that there is such a thing as too loud.

Of course, when that happens there will be more money for cosmetic mods - I guess we all have to choose a side in this one.

but the only cosmetic mods I do are taking things off.