Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => Accessories and modifications - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: Eric119 on July 30, 2011, 11:04:53 PM
-
Anyone else drill out their baffles yet? Well I did. Nice sound. 8) It's louder but too loud. I drilled out the solid baffle. Upon inspection I could see a second screen baffle or perforated baffle. Think I'll drill that one out next. Performance wise there is no noticeable change, not that I expected any without an air-box mod completed.
Anyone else out there tried it yet. Its a poor man's way of changing the sound. all that's needed is an 1 1/4" hole saw and a extension rod. Home depot sells a rigid hole saw. Both items were about $30. ;)
-
I cut two of the chambers off when I chopped 9 inches off my bazooka. I has a nice burble at idle and it sounds less like a vacuum when I get on it. Good luck drilling the rest out.
-
I'd like to offer some real-life experience concerning this post and another than said (I'm paraphrasing), "more exhaust flow equals more power".
I build scale models of old engines, steam & Internal combustion. The last one I built was a double-acting, single cylinder, 6-cycle gas engine that, in addition to the normal 4-cycles, performed the exhaust stroke, held the Ex. valve open for an additional intake & exhaust stroke to purge the cylinder, then did the usual intake-combustion stroke. The cylinder is approx. 1.250 diameter and the plans specified a restriction in the exhaust pipe of .048 diameter! That's smaller than a pencil-lead! Well my instinct told me "more is better", I knew that had to be wrong so I made it a 3/8" pipe. Long story short I could not get it to run. As a last resort after days of tinkering, I put in a restriction smaller than specified in the exhaust pipe and it ran perfectly. Even with the full exhaust-intake-exhaust through that tiny hole, and one additional revolution of the flywheel without a power stroke, it would not run with a free flow of gases!
Sometimes intuition isn't correct and just maybe the engineers building today's sophisticated engines know what they're doing. It's easy to equate more noise with more power, just ask the Hardley owners. :o
-
It's easy to equate more noise with more power, just ask the Hardley owners. :o
:rotflmao:
-
Anyone else drill out their baffles yet? Well I did. Nice sound. 8) It's louder but too loud. I drilled out the solid baffle. Upon inspection I could see a second screen baffle or perforated baffle. Think I'll drill that one out next.
I still fail to understand why someone would WANT to make a vehicle louder. It is just more noise, and more annoyance.
-
I'd like to offer some real-life experience concerning this post and another than said (I'm paraphrasing), "more exhaust flow equals more power".[...] I put in a restriction smaller than specified in the exhaust pipe and it ran perfectly. Even with the full exhaust-intake-exhaust through that tiny hole, and one additional revolution of the flywheel without a power stroke, it would not run with a free flow of gases!
Sometimes intuition isn't correct and just maybe the engineers building today's sophisticated engines know what they're doing.
I already suggested, in the other thread, that perhaps the Kawasaki engineers knew what they were doing and matched the muffler with the rest of the exhaust system...
-
I still fail to understand why someone would WANT to make a vehicle louder. It is just more noise, and more annoyance.
Oh come on now, you're just being rational. Stop That! :)
-
Oh come on now, you're just being rational. Stop That! :)
+1... boring... (http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb336/jaywilcox/sleep1.gif)
-
I live in an area with a lot of deer and have noticed my louder Muzzy pipe has them running back in the woods. With the stock pipe they just stand on the side of the road and I'm not sure what they're gonna do.
-
I live in an area with a lot of deer and have noticed my louder Muzzy pipe has them running back in the woods. With the stock pipe they just stand on the side of the road and I'm not sure what they're gonna do.
Kewl Avatar!!!!!!!!! Love it!!! OK, I hate mine now. Let's try this new one and see (a zoom with a bit of Gimp "painting" effect). It is interesting, although a tad bit scary looking.
As far as the deer go- they are so unpredictable, it is hard to say what they will do, regardless.
-
Oh come on now, you're just being rational. Stop That! :)
Yeah, I have been accused of being related to Mr. Spock before :/
-
Kewl Avatar!!!!!!!!! Love it!!!
As far as the deer go- they are so unpredictable, it is hard to say what they will do, regardless.
Thanks!
Yes, they are unpredictable, but my experience over the years tells me to stick with the louder pipe. I've had many close calls with deer and even hit one when in stock stealth mode. With a louder pipe I see them run the other way. If I can make them just a little more predictable it might put the odds in my favor.
Aside from running better, it gives me another excuse to have a loud pipe and oh yeah almost forgot, they sound cool too. 8)
-
Years ago in the dark ages when I was a kid...I owned a loud Harley and several Mustangs including a '65 and a '69. One of my learning experiences was when I took the stock mufflers and cross-over exhaust pipes off my '69 Mustang and replaced them with single pipes with glass packs attached to new headers. Result: I wasted a lot of time and money but had a vehicle that sounded loud and cool but with poorer performance in the end...Not to mention no longer being able to carry on a conversation inside the car or hear the radio when on the hiway. I Found out the hard way some engines need some back pressure to work better AND there is a reason mufflers are called 'mufflers'.
The moral of the story (as stated well by Phil at the beginning of this thread) more air flow does not relate to better performance nor does a substantial increase in db's mean you have a better performing machine....UNLESS you are perhaps driving or riding a model-t or a harley and/or have an insecurity complex or poor social life with a demand for attention. Personally I can't say I have any desire to have any vehicle I drive or ride so loud it requires ear protection nor any vehicle that is so low in HP that you have to remove the baffles from the exhaust to enhance your low social personal esteem...so why mess with a good thing?
I also live in an area filled with deer...and honestly there is NO scientific basis to believe deer are frightened by noise or that they avoid it (I see people with those 'deer whistles' with just as many totaled cars as those without). If a person counts road kill you'll find just as many deer are killed on noisey hiways (with loud semi's) as are killed on dirt roads in my area of Kansas. Anyone that thinks a bike making more noise is some sort of means of making yourself less inclined to a collision with a deer or anything else must be one of those Harley dudes that think cars will hear them and therefore keep them safe from collisions. ::)
-
Years ago in the dark ages when I was a kid...I owned a loud Harley and several Mustangs including a '65 and a '69. One of my learning experiences was when I took the stock mufflers and cross-over exhaust pipes off my '69 Mustang and replaced them with single pipes with glass packs attached to new headers. Result: I wasted a lot of time and money but had a vehicle that sounded loud and cool but with poorer performance in the end...Not to mention no longer being able to carry on a conversation inside the car or hear the radio when on the hiway. I Found out the hard way some engines need some back pressure to work better AND there is a reason mufflers are called 'mufflers'.
The moral of the story (as stated well by Phil at the beginning of this thread) more air flow does not relate to better performance nor does a substantial increase in db's mean you have a better performing machine....UNLESS you are perhaps driving or riding a model-t or a harley and/or have an insecurity complex or poor social life with a demand for attention. Personally I can't say I have any desire to have any vehicle I drive or ride so loud it requires ear protection nor any vehicle that is so low in HP that you have to remove the baffles from the exhaust to enhance your low social personal esteem...so why mess with a good thing?
I also live in an area filled with deer...and honestly there is NO scientific basis to believe deer are frightened by noise or that they avoid it (I see people with those 'deer whistles' with just as many totaled cars as those without). If a person counts road kill you'll find just as many deer are killed on noisey hiways (with loud semi's) as are killed on dirt roads in my area of Kansas. Anyone that thinks a bike making more noise is some sort of means of making yourself less inclined to a collision with a deer or anything else must be one of those Harley dudes that think cars will hear them and therefore keep them safe from collisions. ::)
Yeah, I guess all those tuned aftermarket exhaust systems really don't produce any more power and those big ears ;D aren't hearing much either. :deadhorse:
-
Yeah, I guess all those tuned aftermarket exhaust systems really don't produce any more power and those big ears ;D aren't hearing much either. :deadhorse:
Well, there is a big difference between a complete, tuned exhaust system (usually combined with a better filter and FI reprogramming), and just swapping a muffler with a slip-on or drilling out baffles.
-
Well, there is a big difference between a complete, tuned exhaust system (usually combined with a better filter and FI reprogramming), and just swapping a muffler with a slip-on or drilling out baffles.
:goodpost:
+1 to that Max!
-
This thread is worthless without pictures! Show us wot u dun :P
-
This thread is worthless without pictures! Show us wot u dun :P
Full 4-2-1 Muzzy.
Notice, there are no deer around. ;)
-
The deer excuse doesn't work for me either.
A. You are coming toward them, and the sound is projected out the back of the bike, away from them, so all it's going to do is make them stop munching grass and look up sooner.
B. If you are sane, you'll be on the brakes when you see the deer, not the throttle, meaning the sound will be much lower anyway.
C. I have really loud exhaust right now (I'm working on it), and 4 of the 8 deer I saw last weekend ran in front of me (to be fare, 2 were not near me though, so it's more like 4 of 6). The last one didn't really run across the road, more like pranced. As I was passing it, I beeped the horn to get it to hurry up a little.
My buddy has those deer whistles on his bike. One of these days I'll take him with me, and let him lead. Then I'll see if they run from him.
-
Full 4-2-1 Muzzy.
Notice, there are no deer around. ;)
Very nice Z! :thumbs: 8)
-
The deer excuse doesn't work for me either.
A. You are coming toward them, and the sound is projected out the back of the bike, away from them, so all it's going to do is make them stop munching grass and look up sooner.
B. If you are sane, you'll be on the brakes when you see the deer, not the throttle, meaning the sound will be much lower anyway.
C. I have really loud exhaust right now (I'm working on it), and 4 of the 8 deer I saw last weekend ran in front of me (to be fare, 2 were not near me though, so it's more like 4 of 6). The last one didn't really run across the road, more like pranced. As I was passing it, I beeped the horn to get it to hurry up a little.
My buddy has those deer whistles on his bike. One of these days I'll take him with me, and let him lead. Then I'll see if they run from him.
So your horn scared em but that really loud pipe didn't. ::)
-
Very nice Z! :thumbs: 8)
Thanks :chugbeer:
-
Sorry for the thread hijack Eric.
-
Sorry for the thread hijack Eric.
My last bike was a TL1000R with Yosh exhaust on it and it was nice and loud, yet I almost hit a doe and her brother last year on our big summer ride. They didn't care about the pipes.
-
My last bike was a TL1000R with Yosh exhaust on it and it was nice and loud, yet I almost hit a doe and her brother last year on our big summer ride. They didn't care about the pipes.
With stealth pipes that "almost" word may not be there. Glad you made it by em.
-
So your horn scared em but that really loud pipe didn't. ::)
Not really, but I was already passing it so there was no risk of hitting it by then. I was just trying to coax it off the road a little quicker, since it didn't seem to be in a hurry. I think all I did was make it hop one more time. ;)
-
So your horn scared em but that really loud pipe didn't. ::)
Strange, agreed. But horns do face forward, and their frequencies are much different. Plus it might have been a combination of being visible and sound. I don't have any reason not to believe him. I still say that, when it comes to deer, nothing is reliable or predictable.
-
I'm gonna go scare some deer now. ;D
Hopefully the sound of my pipe will emanate enough to alert some deer, not every deer, not all deer, not big deer, not small deer, just some deer.
-
I'd like to offer some real-life experience concerning this post and another than said (I'm paraphrasing), "more exhaust flow equals more power".
I build scale models of old engines, steam & Internal combustion. The last one I built was a double-acting, single cylinder, 6-cycle gas engine that, in addition to the normal 4-cycles, performed the exhaust stroke, held the Ex. valve open for an additional intake & exhaust stroke to purge the cylinder, then did the usual intake-combustion stroke. The cylinder is approx. 1.250 diameter and the plans specified a restriction in the exhaust pipe of .048 diameter! That's smaller than a pencil-lead! Well my instinct told me "more is better", I knew that had to be wrong so I made it a 3/8" pipe. Long story short I could not get it to run. As a last resort after days of tinkering, I put in a restriction smaller than specified in the exhaust pipe and it ran perfectly. Even with the full exhaust-intake-exhaust through that tiny hole, and one additional revolution of the flywheel without a power stroke, it would not run with a free flow of gases!
Sometimes intuition isn't correct and just maybe the engineers building today's sophisticated engines know what they're doing. It's easy to equate more noise with more power, just ask the Hardley owners. :o
Very interesting, I'd love to understand that design better! On a similar note, having worked with 2 stroke motors for a while back in the day, similarly if you tried any of this funny business with one of their pipes the engine *might* run, but it would run very poorly. They relied, as well, on the tuning harmonic nature of the pipe to extract gases as well as to stop the extraction at a precise interval. The pressure wave in the expansion chamber would bounce back and actually slow or stop the escaping gas from entering the exhaust pipe. I still love the 2 stroke motor designs. But alas, apparently every time I start a 2 stroke motor a baby kitten dies somewhere, so they are all but extinct now.
-
Strange, agreed. But horns do face forward, and their frequencies are much different. Plus it might have been a combination of being visible and sound. I don't have any reason not to believe him. I still say that, when it comes to deer, nothing is reliable or predictable.
I didn't hit the horn button until I knew I was safely past it. I don't think that it's a good idea to scare a animal that's already spooked. If it's moving in a direction, let it continue and don't distract it from doing that until you are clear of it. Otherwise, it may panic more, and reverse direction again, possibly into your path.
I've heard others tell tales of deer running into the sides of their cars / trucks, while driving down the road. I also saw the aftermath of a deer running into the side of a BMW motorcycle while the guy was riding down the road. He kept the bike upright, but it tore the right saddle bag right off the bike. It broke the mounts, so his buddy carried the bag back to town for him. They were able to strap it on with nylon tie down straps, so he could make it home.
Long story short, once they are spooked, they don't always look for what's coming, they just run. It's almost always safer to let them do that without distracting or scaring them more, and try not to get in their way.
-
Very interesting, I'd love to understand that design better! On a similar note, having worked with 2 stroke motors for a while back in the day, similarly if you tried any of this funny business with one of their pipes the engine *might* run, but it would run very poorly. They relied, as well, on the tuning harmonic nature of the pipe to extract gases as well as to stop the extraction at a precise interval. The pressure wave in the expansion chamber would bounce back and actually slow or stop the escaping gas from entering the exhaust pipe. I still love the 2 stroke motor designs. But alas, apparently every time I start a 2 stroke motor a baby kitten dies somewhere, so they are all but extinct now.
Or as Jeremy Clarkson would say "club a baby harp seal" ;D
-
This thread is worthless without pictures! Show us wot u dun :P
Good point. Next weekend I'll post some pics.
-
Sorry for the thread hijack Eric.
No worries. Its all part of the fun. Actually its interesting to see far the conversation is derailed off the original post. 8)
-
In response to Fred's post , what the OP did , is this not effectively what all the aftermarket slip ons are doing. Having looked down some of them , they are an open tube with some baffle fibre material packed around it. This would then give the same effect as drilling out the baffle plates in the potato launcher. Bit more noise , less back pressure , maybe more top end but loss of some low down torque
-
Sorry , should read Phil's post
-
OK so don't get off topic here...is there REALLY only one guy that has drilled out the baffle plates on his stock exhaust? I was thinking about doing the same thing.
-
The ONLY reason I kept the OEM exhaust-bazooka after installing my Two Brothers is because it is QUIET !! Why would anyone want an ugly, boat-anchor of a muffler that is LOUD? Just sayin'........
-
The ONLY reason I kept the OEM exhaust-bazooka after installing my Two Brothers is because it is QUIET !! Why would anyone want an ugly, boat-anchor of a muffler that is LOUD? Just sayin'........
Perhaps not everyone has $400 to $600 to invest in new slip-on. Even the used ones go for $250 to $300. $30 modifying an existing component just makes economical sense in these financialliy challenging times. ;) Just sayin'
-
OK so after looking at the areaP slip-on it says that a power commander is not required. So do you have to remap if you drill out your baffles?
-
OK so after looking at the areaP slip-on it says that a power commander is not required. So do you have to remap if you drill out your baffles?
I doubt it. It is not like ruining the muffler to make it noisy actually changes much that would affect the engine (like add performance) :)
-
Did you ever drill out the second mesh plate? I did the first plate just as you said...1-1/4 hole saw with ext rod...I like the new sound :)
-
Sorry for the thread hijack Eric.
No worries. This is kind of fun. Hey whats wrong with turning up the exhuast sound to suit? After all don't we all like put our unique style to our bikes?
-
I'm also one of *those* who went the full-throated Muzzys dual exhaust route, but it isn't cheap.
There are several people on this forum and the old one that did the ZX-14 dual exhaust conversion (pre-2008 models IIRC due to cats being in the header on 09+) and those worked out well when the person had the mechanical expertise to shoehorn the system into the Connie. I'd heard where some found the parts for next to nothing on eBay.
BTW interesting side thread on deer encounters; here I was thinking that only 'roos were batsh*t crazy lol...
-
I'm also one of *those* who went the full-throated Muzzys dual exhaust route, but it isn't cheap.
It was because of you bro that I got mine, you inspired me to take the leap, and I'm so glad I did even still today!! 8)
Thanks again!! :hail: :thumbs:
-
I'm gonna go scare some deer now. ;D
Hopefully the sound of my pipe will emanate enough to alert some deer, not every deer, not all deer, not big deer, not small deer, just some deer.
The bottom line is you either like it loud or you dont. i think lound sounds cool but i dont want the headache from the loud pipes anymore, been there done that. as far as the Deer thing goes, you never know what they will do in my exp.
-
The bottom line is you either like it loud or you dont. i think lound sounds cool but i dont want the headache from the loud pipes anymore, been there done that. as far as the Deer thing goes, you never know what they will do in my exp.
The Muzzy, Leo Vince and Area P ARE NOT LOUD EXHAUSTS.........they do however emit a noise other than a wet greasy fart.
-
The Muzzy, Leo Vince and Area P ARE NOT LOUD EXHAUSTS.........they do however emit a noise other than a wet greasy fart.
??? :hitfan:
-
??? :hitfan:
Thought I made myself pretty clear? :o So many think of crotch rockets wailing and loud obnoxious cruisers, that it is hard for them to believe that some systems just sound pretty mellow unless you flog it. My Area P sounds so nice and mellow at idle and at crusing speeds, but crack her open and then she will scream with ecstasy!!!!! :thumbs:
-
I can barely hear a thing over my music from the G4 blaring in my helmet... ;)
:stirpot:
-
Thought I made myself pretty clear? :o So many think of crotch rockets wailing and loud obnoxious cruisers, that it is hard for them to believe that some systems just sound pretty mellow unless you flog it. My Area P sounds so nice and mellow at idle and at crusing speeds, but crack her open and then she will scream with ecstasy!!!!! :thumbs:
Same thing with my Muzzy, the sound is so nice it is almost intoxicating. My fuel mileage has suffered. ;D
-
Same thing with my Muzzy, the sound is so nice it is almost intoxicating. My fuel mileage has suffered. ;D
In all seriousness, the changes I made to the bike including the dual Muzzys (ZX-14 TB's with flies out, PCV, and Autotune w/LCD-200 display) have seriously improved fuel economy. Riding two-up on the stock setup had me to "fuel low" warning at 250 kms. Now I can routinely hit 320+ kms riding two up before getting to "fuel low". While I don't care about the "green"/environment bullcrap, range is everything, especially when riding in western Australia where petrol stations are hard to come by.
And yes, the Muzzys exhaust note isn't loud, but it does sound far better even at idle than that "greasy wet fart" sound the Potato Gun spewed.
-
I just ride around town (I'm a old pussy, I use my conversion van for trips)
I can use the power the bike has with out getting the cops chasing me , I like to sprint away from lights, when I had my 1100 Yamaha I changed to race headers / exhaust and I felt like I was advertising for trouble.
I like it stock , quiet and content.
-
Has anyone tried that air horn ? is it loud ? I would like a real horn, I live in Naples Fl. and we have more people over 75 driving then anywhere in the world .
-
Has anyone tried that air horn ? is it loud ? I would like a real horn, I live in Naples Fl. and we have more people over 75 driving then anywhere in the world .
Yes, I have a Stebel Nautilus Air Horn (139 dB) installed. It's much louder than stock, and I have the wiring done so that I have retained use of the stock horn as well. It works quite well.
(http://www.twistedthrottle.com/imagecatalogue/download/11669/STEBEL_112075AND11135sm.jpg//)
From Twisted Throttle's website at http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2137/539/ (http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2137/539/)
-
Thought I made myself pretty clear? :o So many think of crotch rockets wailing and loud obnoxious cruisers, that it is hard for them to believe that some systems just sound pretty mellow unless you flog it. My Area P sounds so nice and mellow at idle and at crusing speeds, but crack her open and then she will scream with ecstasy!!!!! :thumbs:
the are P is ugly in my opinion.
-
Oh my :yikes: