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How loud is too loud?

G

Greenman

Lifer
I was tinkering with the mufflers on my scooter the other day, and on a whim I cut the baffles out. It sounds fantastic, but it's loud as hell at anything over an idle (my wife could here me 3 blocks away). As I ponder how to alter the baffles to get just the right sound, I keep asking myself, how loud should a bike be? I don't like roaring engines or fart cans, but I do like a very low rumble out of a bike. Where is the line between a nice meaty sound and a Harley i love you (south park reference)?
Any thoughts?
 
If you can hear it in a suburban neighborhood from more than a quarter mile, it's too loud. If you can hear it in a suburban neighborhood from a mile away, it's way too fucking loud.
 
when people start telling you that your car (or bike) is too loud... then its too loud. Or if you rev it in your garage and your ears start bleeding... its too loud.
 
Whenever I am modifying exhaust I go more for tone then volume. If you just cut a muffler off great its loud but sounds like poo. You do it up right and the tone sounds good most cases it is not too loud.
 
You aren't going to get a deep meaty low rumble sound out of a 100 cc scooter no matter what you do. You need volume, as in cubic feet of air flow, to make low sounds. That means large bass speakers and large displacement engines make deep sounds. Just fix your exhaust and stop annoying your entire neighborhood.
 
I can hear my neighbor's Harley from anywhere inside my house with all the doors and windows shut, he lives across the street from me. Doesn't really bother me though because he never leaves or comes home late at night. He only rides it when I'm awake.

Is this a scooter (moped) or a real motorcycle?
 
exdeath said:
You aren't going to get a deep meaty low rumble sound out of a 100 cc scooter no matter what you do. You need volume, as in cubic feet of air flow, to make low sounds. That means large bass speakers and large displacement engines make deep sounds. Just fix your exhaust and stop annoying your entire neighborhood.
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My scooter is a v-rod. The sound is a very low rumble when idling. The problem is when I twist the throttle it's way to loud. I have no desire to annoy the people around me. But it's all very subjective.
 
Greenman said:
My scooter is a v-rod. The sound is a very low rumble when idling. The problem is when I twist the throttle it's way to loud. I have no desire to annoy the people around me. But it's all very subjective.
Click to expand...

I have a neighbor with a Harley... Open pipes. Stupid loud. He is a nice guy in person, but all the neighbors want him dead.

Why? Because he feels the need to run only 1st gear through our neighborhood which rattles your teeth... We get it, you have a loud pipe... we got it the first fucking time too asshole. When he gets stuck behind another car however, the bike doesn't sound all that bad. The first time he wakes up our baby is the last time I'll have any tolerance for him.

I also ride bikes. I put a two bros pipe on my current ride last year before changing back to stock for a long trip... It was loud, but mostly had a great tone. I took my time leaving the neighborhood and entering it as I didn't want to piss off the neighbors.
 
Anything over 95db (ish) at WOT is too loud for anything road-legal.

A glass-pack type muffler with some choice baffling might be the easiest way to go, but sizing a chambered muffler will be the only way to really tune the sound without modifying other parts of the exhaust, if memory serves.
 
JCH13 said:
Anything over 95db (ish) at WOT is too loud for anything road-legal.

A glass-pack type muffler with some choice baffling might be the easiest way to go, but sizing a chambered muffler will be the only way to really tune the sound without modifying other parts of the exhaust, if memory serves.
Click to expand...

Anything louder than your typical 4 door sedan is too fucking loud.

Loud pipes save lives is bullshit. Wear bright colors instead of drab black leather you idiots and don't weave in and out of traffic like you are on a light cycle. Oh, and might think about wearing a helmet. For every motorcycle rider I see wearing a helmet, 10 don't, and of those 10, at least half are harley riders.
 
Anything above about 70db is loud enough to cause hearing damage after prolonged exposure. Do you wear ear plugs when you ride? Do you know what tinnitus is? Think about your future, will it be less satisfying with hearing damage?
 
kornphlake said:
There is some disagreement where hearing loss begins, your reference claims 90-95dB, this claims 85dB http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/noise-induced-hearing-loss/ I may have used a bit of hyperbole when I claimed 70dB, I was going by memory. Regardless, noise, especially for prolonged periods, is unhealthy.
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This is why I wear earplugs when I ride. My bike is pretty loud but I can barely hear it at freeway speeds over the roar of air rushing past my helmet.
 
JulesMaximus said:
This is why I wear earplugs when I ride. My bike is pretty loud but I can barely hear it at freeway speeds over the roar of air rushing past my helmet.
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According to this chart wind noise can reach 110 dB at 100 MPH. Lots of reasons to wear plugs when riding a motorcycle. If you're going for a quick ride down to the corner market it's probably not a big deal, if you're going on a 200 mile ride through suburbia into the mountains and back you're going to be exposed to dangerous levels for a period of time long enough to damage your hearing, it may not have a noticeable effect after the first trip, but over time it will.
motorcycle-graph.gif
 
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WackyDan said:
I have a neighbor with a Harley... Open pipes. Stupid loud. He is a nice guy in person, but all the neighbors want him dead.

Why? Because he feels the need to run only 1st gear through our neighborhood which rattles your teeth... We get it, you have a loud pipe... we got it the first fucking time too asshole. When he gets stuck behind another car however, the bike doesn't sound all that bad. The first time he wakes up our baby is the last time I'll have any tolerance for him.

I also ride bikes. I put a two bros pipe on my current ride last year before changing back to stock for a long trip... It was loud, but mostly had a great tone. I took my time leaving the neighborhood and entering it as I didn't want to piss off the neighbors.
Click to expand...

There's a guy that lives by me that does the same thing. Middle of the afternoon, fine. This idiot goes WOT up and down my hill at any hour, 2:00AM, 6:00AM, doesn't matter. Complete and utter asshole, must have a miniscule penis.
 
Everyone has a different threshold, Apparently you can hear my setup a block away at wot, like a low engine/exhaust note sound when cruising its almost dead quiet though.
 
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