Quiet or Loud?

[TRF90]

Is it just me, or is there anyone else who really appreciates how quiet the Trail 125 is? I know a number of folks on the forum really appreciate their aftermarket exhaust systems. More power to ya! Literally. But I'll sacrifice a little power for a bit more peace and quiet.

 

[mcmd]

Is it just me, or is there anyone else who really appreciates how quiet the Trail 125 is? I know a number of folks on the forum really appreciate their aftermarket exhaust systems. More power to ya! Literally. But I'll sacrifice a little power for a bit more peace and quiet.

I'm definitely with you on the quiet qualities of the bike.

 

[RustyRodder]

I got a pipe for mine, put it on, but decided I liked it quieter better. I still plan on doing a 143cc kit, cam, and intake when the warranty is up at the end of the year- but most likely stock pipe.

 

[MisterB]

I love a quiet motorcycle! IMO any exhaust noice is too much. Hearing the internal sounds of the engine and gearbox, the tires on the road, sounds around me, etc.., all are far more pleasing than the drone of a tailpipe.
That said, I'll never consider an EV MC until they get new battery tech. John Goodenough had a good idea a few years ago, but the factories are all built and they're not retooling them any time soon.
Anywho, the Trail is nice and quiet. I switch between a GL1800F6B and the Trail 125 so I'm in quiet bike nirvana!
The crazy thing is that there are plenty of people with exactly the opposite preference and want the loudest motorcycle possible. You could probably have lunch with them and agree on a bunch of things and feel like you've met your lost brother but then they fire up their open-pipe ear reamer and say "Sounds great, eh?"

After stepping away from the screen and thinking about my preference I realized that there may be a reason or story behind all of our preferences. I wanted to add these life experiences just to see if anyone can think of something in their life that may explain their preference for loud or quiet mufflers:
*Dad worked swing-shifts for 40 years, all us kids had to be especially quiet every 3rd week when he was sleeping in the evening.
*I worked 24 years (48,000 hours!) at a shop with two late-60s Quincy 2-stage compressors that would cycle on every 5 minutes if we weren't using any air. More frequently if we were using it. They reverberated through the shop like a couple of ill-tuned Harleys and for quite a few years I worked 20' away from them. They had a strict "run it til it breaks" policy and I'd add oil every now and then and the damn things never broke. I have no desire to ride something that sounds even remotely like those compressors.
*I'm a night-owl and don't want to disturb the day shift family members who also inhabit the house.

I've worn earplugs when needed in my life and still have good hearing below 15Khz, (typical high frequency loss for my age) and truly enjoy being able to hear things in the world. Beyond music, conversation, and nature; hearing is useful in maintenance and troubleshooting. The list goes on and on. I'm familiar with the "loud pipes save lives" philosophy but I've heard motorcycles so loud it's hard to describe other than "well into the painful range" of decibels. Proximity and duration matter with sound levels and it seems impossible that those riders are unaffected. IDK, just overthinking it probably.

Short answer: yes, I also appreciate how quiet the Trail 125 is!

 

[Cubtestdummy]

My only comparison is the Super Cub and due to the leg shields it's not really a fair comparison. I also bought a new helmet to go with the Trail (a Shoei Ex-Zero) and again it's not a quiet helmet by design. While riding the CT struck me as a little noisier.
This got me thinking so I've just returned from the big room of toys after conducting a very unscientific set of measurements.





Like I said not at all scientific and my conclusions are that if you put the same engine in different model motorcycles they sound very similar.

My other pastimes include reading, birdwatching, amateur radio, walking and listening to music. All are done quietly apart from the music which tends to be rock, classical and techno/dance and all these are best enjoyed when turned up to 11, which probably explains why my hearing isn't a patch on what it once was.
I generally try to go through life quietly so I can go unnoticed until it suits me to be noticed.

 

[TrailBoss]

Put me in the "quiet" bucket. My first bike was a 1992 Suzuki VS800 that i bought used with an annoying loud aftermarket exhaust. The good thing is that loud exhaust quickly made me somebody who wears earplugs when they ride...

Hopefully not too controversial, but I'd also say that most aftermarket exhausts are not worth it for the money. IMO the worst use of "mod money" there is.

 

[TRF90]

I love a quiet motorcycle! IMO any exhaust noice is too much. Hearing the internal sounds of the engine and gearbox, the tires on the road, sounds around me, etc.., all are far more pleasing than the drone of a tailpipe.
That said, I'll never consider an EV MC until they get new battery tech. John Goodenough had a good idea a few years ago, but the factories are all built and they're not retooling them any time soon.
Anywho, the Trail is nice and quiet. I switch between a GL1800F6B and the Trail 125 so I'm in quiet bike nirvana!
The crazy thing is that there are plenty of people with exactly the opposite preference and want the loudest motorcycle possible. You could probably have lunch with them and agree on a bunch of things and feel like you've met your lost brother but then they fire up their open-pipe ear reamer and say "Sounds great, eh?"

After stepping away from the screen and thinking about my preference I realized that there may be a reason or story behind all of our preferences. I wanted to add these life experiences just to see if anyone can think of something in their life that may explain their preference for loud or quiet mufflers:
*Dad worked swing-shifts for 40 years, all us kids had to be especially quiet every 3rd week when he was sleeping in the evening.
*I worked 24 years (48,000 hours!) at a shop with two late-60s Quincy 2-stage compressors that would cycle on every 5 minutes if we weren't using any air. More frequently if we were using it. They reverberated through the shop like a couple of ill-tuned Harleys and for quite a few years I worked 20' away from them. They had a strict "run it til it breaks" policy and I'd add oil every now and then and the damn things never broke. I have no desire to ride something that sounds even remotely like those compressors.
*I'm a night-owl and don't want to disturb the day shift family members who also inhabit the house.

I've worn earplugs when needed in my life and still have good hearing below 15Khz, (typical high frequency loss for my age) and truly enjoy being able to hear things in the world. Beyond music, conversation, and nature; hearing is useful in maintenance and troubleshooting. The list goes on and on. I'm familiar with the "loud pipes save lives" philosophy but I've heard motorcycles so loud it's hard to describe other than "well into the painful range" of decibels. Proximity and duration matter with sound levels and it seems impossible that those riders are unaffected. IDK, just overthinking it probably.

Short answer: yes, I also appreciate how quiet the Trail 125 is!

I've spent most of my life in office related work, but I also had the pleasure of working in an air comppressor factory while in college. Loud is an apt description of that enviornment. I also came up riding two stroke motocross bikes, and I thnk that figures into it too. But mostly I think I just like to be left alone with my thoughts when I ride. Since I wear ear plugs when I'm on bigger bikes, engine noise is pretty much filtered out anyway.

 

[m in sc]

I dotn mind a quiet OR loud bike as long as its not for the sake of just being loud. My CB1100 for example has a full aftermarket system, but i also ordered the longest muffler i could. now, if i'm at like 8500 rpm at full throttle, you can hear it quite well, and it sound sgood.

the trail is pretty quiet as well, but not whisper drive, but i can hear the motor just fine itself and stuff around me.

straight pipe bikes are just stupid.

most of my bikes are chambered 2 strokes, so noise doesn't bother me, as long as it is tight. all the cars are relatively quiet, including the big block galaxie and falcon.

my CB1100 for reference.

 

[TRF90]

Put me in the "quiet" bucket. My first bike was a 1992 Suzuki VS800 that i bought used with an annoying loud aftermarket exhaust. The good thing is that loud exhaust quickly made me somebody who wears earplugs when they ride...

Hopefully not too controversial, but I'd also say that most aftermarket exhausts are not worth it for the money. IMO the worst use of "mod money" there is.

Pretty much agree. However, I did put a modern aftermarket expansion chamber on my 1973 CZ CR250 motocross bike a few years ago. Sound was becoming a problem for the motorcycle industry in the early 70s, and my CZ came with a wretched welded on silencer with an opening just a little larger than a pencil. When I restored the bike in 2016, I carefully stored the original exhaust and got a brand new one made by a vintage motocross supplier. Jetting went up several sizes and so did the midrange power. But, that's a track bike that I ride occasionally for 30 minutes at a time. For day to day droning along, I remain a fan of quiet.

 

[oldskool]

Put me in the "quiet" bucket. My first bike was a 1992 Suzuki VS800 that i bought used with an annoying loud aftermarket exhaust. The good thing is that loud exhaust quickly made me somebody who wears earplugs when they ride...

Hopefully not too controversial, but I'd also say that most aftermarket exhausts are not worth it for the money. IMO the worst use of "mod money" there is.

Yup, sometimes a louder exhaust will actually decrease the bikes performance. I enjoy the quiet exhaust on the trail. Quite a difference from the "Legal 48" exhaust on my Nightster.

 

[m in sc]

it will decrease it only if its not tuned to match it, (which is a vast majority of 'bolt on and go' guys) which includes taking into account scavenging properties, . that's a fact. Luckily on efi bikes, the fi can usually compensate for it pretty quickly.

 

[oldskool]

it will decrease it only if its not tuned to match it, (which is a vast majority of 'bolt on and go' guys) which includes taking into account scavenging properties, . that's a fact. Luckily on efi bikes, the fi can usually compensate for it pretty quickly.

That's the point it takes more than putting loud pipes on to gain much, if anything. Millions of cars have been hobbled by shade tree "race tech". Just saw that big ol muffler off and put on some cherry bombs. Listen to it it has too be faster

 

[m in sc]

well, dont blame the exhaust, blame the installer. thats my point. lol. fart cans are dumb. but a set of long tubes, cherry bombs and a proper tune def helps. 'back pressure' being needed is a myth. scavenging is a different story.

 

[MisterB]

I can't help but chuckle when I'm driving on the highway going 60 and hear a rally car or sport bike behind me coming up in the lane to my left to pass. They're going 61 and usually in a gear too low for the speed, RPMs way too high, emitting a sound that can be heard for miles. They slowly overtake me but sound like they should be going twice my speed.

I've spent most of my life in office related work, but I also had the pleasure of working in an air comppressor factory while in college. Loud is an apt description of that enviornment.

Cool college job and probably some great mechanical skills learned! Guessing earplugs were the norm in that environment.


Love these:

I dotn mind a quiet OR loud bike as long as it's not for the sake of just being loud.

I generally try to go through life quietly so I can go unnoticed until it suits me to be noticed.

Nice day here in Illinois, I'm off work today, wife works, rode the Trail to nowhere. Didn't garage it because I'll come up with some excuse to take it out later. Favorite time of the year.

 

[TRF90]

I still have one of the air compressors I helped to build. 45 years old and still runs like new. The brand was Emglo.

 

[Cpd419]

I like a push rod v twin to have a little thump. Just a little. I like a in-line four to have a baffled yoshimura. But I like this bike and my vstrom quiet. Some of the places I ride I don’t like any attention drawn to me.

 

[G19Tony]

Quiet for me, please.

 

[dmonkey]

You mean y'all don't show off the bike's call bouncing it off the rev limiter at every stop?

I have an Outex exhaust on my CT125 and it makes it sound more like a dirt bike which I appreciate the nostalgia of. It also makes the bike look a little bit more like a CT90/CT110 with the chrome exhaust shields and is about half the weight of the stock exhaust. It accepts a baffle (inline, not at the tip) and I'm running the one it came with. When I researched the exhaust I considered that I might try the quieter baffle if it bothered me, but it hasn't yet.


I can certainly appreciate a quiet bike though, being able to hear your environment more, less noise pollution, and not having to shout to other riders are all nice things. That's something I especially appreciate when riding an ebike on trails.

On bikes that see more highway use I'm a fan of removable silencers/baffles at the tip of the exhaust and being able to easily switch fuel mapping. It takes maybe 5 minutes for me to install silencers in the Agostini Mandello exhausts on my Moto Guzzi V7 and connect an UpMap to load the appropriate fuel map for having the silencers in.

 

[DJ427]

You mean y'all don't show off the bike's call bouncing it off the rev limiter at every stop?

Thats amazing

 

[fernf5]

dmonkey-

Really like the look of the Outex system as well as the weight loss (and cat loss). But I'm concerned about the noise level. Dirt bike noise level is probably more than I would like.

"It accepts a baffle (inline, not at the tip) and I'm running the one it came with. When I researched the exhaust I considered that I might try the quieter baffle if it bothered me, but it hasn't yet."

Are you saying that there is an additional baffle included with the system that could be used to quiet it down more? There is a baffle pictured on the Webike site. Is that the extra baffle you are referring to?

The Webike verbage is pretty unclear.