Total Motorcycle Community Forums

My good freind is looking at this bike. Im no mechanic, and hes looking for advice on how to make the bike quieter. Any suggestions? Thanx in advance

Turn it off?

Unless we know what noise you're complaining about we cannot offer any advice. Where is it coming from?

the exhaust. . he thinks the stock exhaust is too loud.

he lives in a quiet community and hes afraid neighbors will complain about how loud the bike is.

Wow, that is one you hardly ever hear, how to make a bike quieter.

I have a 2000 Shadow 1100 with stock pipes. I really do not consider them loud. Since it is used bike, is it possible that the pipes are either not stock or have been modified?

Greg

Gotta agree with that one. The stock pipes on the 1100 are pretty darned quiet. Maybe someone modified the stock pipes? It's not unheard of for people to drill out and yank the baffles on stock exhausts.

It's unlikely you'd find anything quieter than stock on the aftermarket. Aftermarket pipes are pretty much marketed to those who want louder pipes than stock.

A potato in the exhaust will make it quiet. Then add sour cream, chives and a dash of pepper. MMMMmmmmmmmmmm

In all seriousness though, stock exhausts are usually very quiet unless someone has drilled out the baffles.

I gave the owner of the bike a call. Come to find out, he has a Cobra exhaust on it, so that explains it all lol. Thanx for the fast replies everyone.

Now knowing that it's indeed an aftermarket system, he could go back to stock. Or... he could head over to his local cop shop and have them set up a noise decibel monitor to determine if his current pipes are in compliance his town's noise ordinances. If it's cool, then I'd say "oh well" to the neighbors. I can't count how many times I've had to put up with the dude across the street running his riding lawn mower (guy could use a walk anyway, and he wears his own hearing protection as well - nice). Noise is a part of living in a community. It's cool to try and be polite as possible - you can get through a neighborhood without making a spectacle of yourself with exhaust noise. And if the noise level isn't in any violation of any laws, then he should try to relax about it. The pipes he has may be providing better performance for the bike, and it'd be a shame to go back to stock over unnecessary concerns.

My husband's bike is obnoxiously loud when he's warming it up. He keeps it parked on the side of the house, which is also on the side of our neighbor's property. But it's not as if it's being run like that for extended periods of time. And we also let our neighbors know that if they are ever bothered by anything that we do, then they are welcome to talk to us about it. So far, so good. Keeping in good communications with neighbors can go a long way.

Cheers,
Loonette

Hes going to get the bike and grab a stock exhaust off ebay or somewhere. I think hell do fine with the bike.

Loonette wrote:
And we also let our neighbors know that if they are ever bothered by anything that we do, then they are welcome to talk to us about it.

hmmm... depending how you delivered that message, it could mean differently.

i bet you guys mentioned it while holding some heavy artillery. hence, they don't complain