Struggling with the ethics of a loud can

[JonT]

Hi folks,

I've recently got a nice ART can fitted on my SV650 which also happens to be rather loud. At first I was immensely happy as it sounds absolutely awesome. However after something a friend has said to me I am starting to think twice.

He and his father are both into bikes and have had problems with neighbours complaining to them about noise. They said that I am not come arround on my bike with this can as it is well too loud apparantly.

I know its loud but I don't think it is earth shattering, yes I would feel bad if I had to start my bike up late at night or early in the morning since with the absolutely silence of night it would probably wake everyone up.

However I do not think it is any louder then the kids you hear ripping about on their 2stroke offroad bikes.

I've done a search on the forum and found a few threads that mostly state that people tend to have race cans with the baffles out but I haven't found a thread that really deals with why it is so wrong to have something that makes a loud noise for a short time while your passing/leaving/arriving.

[instigator]

They think your art can is noisy with a race can on, the baffle in job won't make much difference really. Not on an sv I've found.

You can ride the sv from 2750rpm onwards...stay in the lower gears...don't blip the throttle....get to their place, flick the kill switch asap...Push the bike down the road when you start it.

I have/had a sv with race can(s) on. Having said that, my neighbours aren'y RIGHT beside me. If I lived on a street with many houses close by, I'd put the standard can back on. Bit of consideration and respect. You could always get a can with a road legal baffle in and when they complain, they could reply with "it's legal"...but would you still be okay using it, knowing it pisses others off?

[JonT]

I don't want to piss people off but I think that my loud can should be within the confines of what they can accept.

[ZRX61]

I got pulled for a loud pipe Saturday night..... & my bike has registered 143.7Db, loud enough that it is physically painful if you are stood behind it. (a straight thru Muzzy megaphone)

Conversation went like this:
Sheriff: The bike seems to be a bit loud sir...
Me: Yes, the baffle fell out on the way home from work on the freeway & I didn't think it safe to stop & pick it up (it was sat on a shelf in my garage)
Sheriff: So you know about it then?
Me: Yup
Sheriff: Been drinking?
Me: Nope
Sheriff: Got a motorcycle licence?
Me: Yup, want to see it?
Sheriff: No, take it easy, cya.

Yanno, sometimes it pays to be an old fart

[BanditsHigh]

Easy ... get new friends ... either that or kill their neighbours.

I'm sorry, but people like your mates neighbours do my box in ... I could understand if you were revving the tits off it every couple of minutes, but just riding up and stopping is a different matter.

I'm on a GSX1400, with twin spout Blue Flame cans with no baffles ... I leave the house (in the middle of a scheme) every morning just after 6am ... no complaints yet!!!

All the best ... Barry

[Bendy]

I think if people start complaining, then it's time to evaluate what you want more - to make a nice noise or to visit your mate.

Why not try a baffle and see if it cuts the noise down? Are you making the minimum noise possible with the revs (should be able to ride an SV pretty much on idle)?

We're in a quiet cul-de-sac and if the neighbours were to complain (notably about Luke's unbaffled SV1000 that leaves at 8.30 every morning) then we'd do something about it - after all, the neighbours were here first and we'd rather have them on our side (ie. would bother to mention that some chavs were breaking into the garage or whatever). Hell, I love the bike and I still find it a bit annoying some mornings!

[feef]

my neighbour was moaning a bout the noise my Firestorm makes with the Microns on.....


... cos he used to ride and it makes him jealous as hell

a
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[Ninja]

I also live in a cul de sac ... I used to get particularly sensitive about starting my Neta piped 900R before 7.00 and that wasn't toooo loud ... but loud enough to have me walking the 'bike the 100 yards or so to the first junction before thumbing the starter.

There's a guy at the end of the road with an SP2 on LOUD pipes ... normally we only hear it on a Sunday or early evenings ... the other day he decided to go into work early ... 6.30 arrived with a window rattling BARRUMBAA BRAP BRAP BRAP BRAP ... not nice, even for someone who likes the sound.

To my point; I reckon if it's not early and not late, then there should be no problem with loud zorsts ... the only other ppotential wind up being regularity ... if the noise is there day in and day out at the same time it could easily become the somebody's bane ... it's just about a little consideration, you know you have a loud pipe, every so often you need to take a step back and evaluate the impact/ effect you're having on those around you ...
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James
4 wheels transport the Body ... 2 wheels transport the SOUL

[feef]

the regularlity bit is something i MUST address...

I don't have space in the garage for the firestorm at the moment, so it's on the drive, which means I don't have room to manouvre the FJR around it (load of slabs and the bins as well as the 'storm to negotiate)

the result is, I take the 'storm to work, so at 7:30 - 8am each morning for the lastweek, I've been rumbling about

I MUST move the bikes round and get the FJR back as my every-day ride.

a
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Mudskipper wrote: feef, that is such a beautiful post that it gave me a lady tingle
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[scampypants]

have you thought about that people hear you coming and take note its a bike , people dont cross infront of you, cars dont pull out on you.
id rather be safe with a slightly loud exhaust than dead with my neighbours happy

[Dark]

I think i've got past the point of caring how good my bike sounds, if it handles and goes well i'm happy, so i would never fit a race can for the sake of having one.

The only time i ever ran anything louder than standard was on my old 7R and that was mainly because of substantial weight saving.

I don't mind loud bikes myself, theres one that blasts through the village every night at silly o'clock, but it doesn't really bother me. I just don't want to p*ss anyone off and attract unwanted attention to myself.

Besides the my 10R goes well, handles and sounds very sweet as standard when in the higher revs.
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My Bikes in order:- Yamaha RXS100 / Suzuki X7 250 / Yamaha RD350LC / Kawasaki
KR1S 250 / Kawasaki ZXR750 H2 / Honda C50 / Kawasaki ZX7R P5 / Kawasaki ZX10R / Suzuki GSXR 400 / Honda CBR1100 Blackbird & Yamaha FZR 600

[innominate]

I worry a bit about the noise my can makes, but will not change it unless someone actualy complains to me.


I sincerely believe it has stopped a few people side swiping me when I am filtering. So since I use it for commuting on the motorway every day I am keeping the cans.


I try and ride sensibly in any built up areas.
FJR in 5th, idle is basically ~30mph cruise control
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I, as a responsible adult human being, will never concede the power to anyone to regulate my choice of what I put into my body, or where I go with my mind. From the skin inwards is my jurisdiction, is it not? I choose what may or may not cross that border. Here I am the customs agent. I am the coast-guard. I am the sole legal and spiritual government of this territory, and only the laws I choose to enact within myself are applicable.

[craigs23]

Loud Can ~ Ethics??? They're a safety measure surely?

My can's loud, but not excessively so. I keep the revs/start up volume low, even when cruising down the street. Never had any complaints/police intervention/complaining neighbours. It's nice to see other road users finally noticing your presence and moving aside - no more "sorry mate, didn't see you" now there's a few aural clues that I'm nearby.

[DEN MONKEY]

Sounds like you have an issue my friend.
While I respect that you have posted for opinions on here. I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong people.

Talk to the friend and if need be approach the neighbours and explain that while you don't wish to offend is there a compromise that can be reached. Times/days etc .

I can also appreciate that you are considering altering your bike for their benefit , but really I think this should go both ways.

Don't make the change until you are fully aware of your options.
You never know what might happen.
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meh

[ZRX61]

[Whosthedaddy]

I had a Yoshi race can on my ZXR and it was super loud

I work shifts, so starting the bike up from cold at 06.20 made me nervous, trying to warm a bike up and let it run for a while with the choke on full would wake the dead.

I found myself starting the bike ASAP and riding down the road several hundred yards before sometimes stopping to allow the bike to warm up. At least its not my neighbours who'd get pissed off

The only problem was that my choke cable was really tight and would snap shut, so I would have to physically hold the choke open whilst revving the gas to get the revs to settle high enough not to stall

I did contemplate putting the original can back on to try and stop any bad feelings from the neighbours, but its not like I was doing burn outs outside their windows.

Dont worry about it geezer, chavs make more noise than the can with their booming steroes and clanging of their bling bling
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[JonT]

Thankyou for your posts, I feel quite reassured now

[minesweeper]

If you have the standard can why not simply swap them over when visiting your mates? cant be more then a 5min jobby? takes me all of a minute thanks to spring mounted full system.

matt
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Rvf400, 955i daytona, 954 fireblade, cbr1000rr fireblade 06 Hm plant

[paulthewitt]

i have an sv650k3

my exhaust is a blueflame dual port exit. i remove the bottom baffle, making it loud enough to be a safety measure, but not the top one as this would be overkill (not too much louder anyway)

i worry sometimes about the noise, but if ever questioned i would be forced to point out the bs stamp (ahem....of course its legal ) and state the safety facter. as said above, id rather be loud and alive, with slightly annoyed neighbours, than dead, with happy neighbours.

having commuted onm a "quiet" bike then this one, the difference is huge, people see you and move, cos they heard you first. if your neighbours cant understand your will to live, then they become the unreasonable ones

Paul

[steveh]

my old fella's norton is farking loud, on one side of me is a guy but hes into bikes, the other is a moany old family.
My dad has straight throughs on his, but they had some wadding in the wall of the zaust or something.

I belive after a certain age, you can put whatever can you want onto it, its why they never bother with us.
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Current : 06 Zx10r, 07 Wr450f SM, 74 850 norton commando, 63 bsa b40, 1962 Triton 650, 67 Triumph Tr6r, 1955 Triton 750, 1978 TY250E.

[phantomtek]

To be honest, my neighbours are all chavvy arseholes, so when I get a bike worth putting a race can or loud system on, I'm going to do it, then I'm going to get the baffles taken out, and then I'm going to leave it idling at high revs on my front garden for 10 minutes while I get dressed for 6th form at 7.30am, at my own pace. And then when I get on the bike, I'll redline it outside their house a few times, just to make sure my throttle cable is working properly.

[veeeffarr]

And then get it nicked 2 days later

[Whosthedaddy]

[phantomtek]

[owdamer]

I live in a row of terraced houses, behind us is another row of houses. 3 doors up from me is a copper with a gsxr600 with a race can. He keeps the bike in a shed between the 2 rows of houses, and as he works shifts he tends to be coming or going between 6 & 7am. It wakes us up, but I can hardly complain as I have a race can on my bike. I've just started using my bike for work and he commented that his must sound similar, so he's aware of how loud it can be. In his defense he doesn't rev it up. he just starts and goes, or rides into the shed and switches off.

On the loud can subject, I was at the swan inn at fradley Junction, (not far from lichfield) on sunday & a few harley riders rode up.
Half of them had unsilenced bikes which were ridiculously loud, and one of them had an electronin horn on his bike which was emitting a very loud tarzan call every 30 seconds or so.
Now this is in a local beauty spot, which attracts lots of tourists, who will all be going around saying how noisy and anti social motorbikes are....
I love the sound of my can, but others can irritate. what do you do??