The sounds of engines

[Lupine Lacuna]

1. Why do two inline fours of the same capacity sound different?

2. Why do Suzuki's inline fours sound better than Honda's inline fours?

Presumably the things that affect engine sound is(excluding capacity and cylinders):

1. exhaust
2. valves
3. strokes

anything else

[nowhere.elysium]

What is this I don't even?


Seriously - how the hell can you claim that Suzukis sound better than Hondas? You've owned one bike, and live in a place where you can't even wind the engine out properly.

They can sound different for a massive range of reasons: valvetrain setup (gear-driven/chain-driven/pushrod*/hydraulic), whether or not the bike's water-cooled or air-cooled, cylinder dimensions, firing order, whether or not the fuel feeds are balanced properly... There's a whole shedload of other reasons, but I really can't be bothered to go into it. It's a bloody stupid question; asking to apply objective reasoning to a subjective viewpoint makes no sense.



*I hope to God that there's never been a pushrod four, but I am ready to be corrected on that one.
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[jjdugen]

Ariel square four was pushrod....... Pretty sure the Hendersons were too... But, a silly thread non the less.
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[Lupine Lacuna]

Dont get caught up in what I say about Hondas (though I thought it was common knowkledge they have a more subdued engine note), I am simply asking an open ended as to what determines the sound

[P.addy]

Is this real life?

OP, lol

They sound different because they do.

They are made differently. My 600 XJ sounds miles different to my old Daytona 600. It just sounds different, it goes faster... stop being gay asking about noises and start twisting your throttle more. Scared of a Bandit

[D O G]

OP is becoming more annoying than warped.

[nowhere.elysium]

[G]

A hell of a lot of factors can change engine tone the sounds a bike makes.
Have a listen to the big bang R1s - actually sound more like a twin, which is what you'd expect as their firing order to some degree replicates the typical firing order of a twin.

[nowhere.elysium]

[daemonoid]

Didn't think it was that bad a question.

As has been said earlier various factors affect the normal engine sound, however in use the exhaust affects it the most, listen to the sounds of these:

stock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaOQmUPxPUU

poseur spec:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlNVelpT06A
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@thomasgarrard | www.straitjkt.com | www.racingseven.com

[Kickstart]

Hi

Probably one of the most important factors is cam timing, along with any resulting valve overlap. Firing order is important (ie, as G mentions the R1 has an odd firing order, while many V twins will have an uneven firing order as combustion strokes are not evenly spread).

After that you get all the other things in the engine that make noise. Primary drive, whether it is chain or gear, and if gear whether then are straight cut. Intake noise (which is carefully tuned to sound good to some people). Clutch rattle. Etc.

All the best

Keith
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[Polarbear]

the obvious thing is the exhaust, or silencer I should say.

My daughters CBR400 hasn't got one on at the moment and it sounds awesome
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[mistergixer]

[Lupine Lacuna]

I can see that. A gixxer always sounds better than a blade.

[Alpha-9]

Why do cats sound different to lions?


They're both cats right

[mistergixer]

[Fisty]

And a TL sounds better than a GSXR and blade
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Fatter and faster than Fret

[G]

[daemonoid]

[Alpha-9]

[_Iain_]

Regarding the suzuki vs honda noise wise, go on youtube and search CBR250RR, or VFR400.

I'd definately prefer the sound of that 250 over a gixxer!!

[truslack]

[P.addy]

[Moxey]

[P.addy]

It is in fact the one that is scared of non ABS bikes, even more scared of Bandits, that insane acceleration but they dont want to travel over 20mph