Making my bike louder...

[kazokazo50]

hey guys,
   Just signed up here and had a few questions for you guys. I want to make my GS500F louder. Would love to make it sound like a R1 or GSXR1300. But i dont think thats possible. Any tips on what I can do to make my bike sounds better and louder? Is it just changing the exhast? thanks.

[94suzuki500]

well the gs has 2 cylinders and the r1 and gsxr have 4.  It will never sound like it....unless you weld a trombone in place of your orginal muffler.  I did it and its really cool.  You can change the tone by moving the slide up or down.  It looks sweet too!

[ducati_nolan]

It'll never sound like a four but it can sound simmilar to a ducati, TLR, SV, or other twin, which sounds better in my oppinion anyways. The cheap way is to drill holes in the end of your pipe. A better way is to take a straight through glass pack style pipe off of a bike, and weld that in place of the stock can. I got one from a dirtbike for free, and once I polished it it looks and sounds pretty good.

If you want to spend $250 or $300 you can buy a full system, but if you just want the sound, find something cheap to weld on.
have fun 

[CirclesCenter]

Ride it for a few months before you mod anything except the front suspension.

You might be suprised at how what you want from the bike changes.

[Trwhouse]

Hey there Kazokazo,
I have got to tell you, loud and motorcycles are not what those of us who ride want in our communities.
I have been riding for 31 years and I believe that quiet is better. Motorcyclists don't need to be despised because our bikes are loud or because idiots do wheelies on public roadways.
If you want loud, buy a racebike and race it on a track.
Don't ruin street bike riding for the rest of us.
'Nuff said.
Yours,
Todd

[makenzie71]

I don't think any of us (motorcyclists) are going to be very beneficial to your cause, trwhouse.  Most bikes aren't quiet from the factory.

[Trwhouse]

Hi Makenzie,
Actually, that's not always so.
I have owned other quiet bikes besides my GS500E, which is relatively quiet.
The quietest bike I've owned was a 1975 Honda CB400F, a jewel of a sportbike, with a very quiet stock exhaust.
My point is, noise doesn't do anything on the street but make other people mad.
I can't stand when loud bikes come blaring down my street either.
It's just not necessary.
And to the ones who will inevitably claim that loud bikes are safer, that is so stupid that I can't believe that people make such claims. Riding smarter and having loud horns and NOT DRINKING alcohol whenever you are contemplating riding make you safer, not a loud, obnoxious exhaust.
The beauty of life is that we can disagree on this, but I'm stating my opinion to a new rider whose first post on our site if to ask how to make his bike louder.
That's just ridiculous in my opinion.
Best wishes,
Todd

[505]

i know ive posted these a bunch.....but here's what i did to my bike and how it sounds.
i chopped my exhaust


here's how it sounds
http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e53/zmeg/?action=view&current=videowheelie.flv

[mattf]

I like to think that along with bringing attention to how cool my bike and I think we are, a loud exhaust is also an important safety feature....

[505]

I like to think that along with bringing attention to how cool my bike and I think we are, a loud exhaust is also an important safety feature....

it is! ive actually noticed now that people can hear my bike i don't get cut off and that kind of stuff as much

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I like to think that along with bringing attention to how cool my bike and I think we are, a loud exhaust is also an important safety feature....

Also, it's a well known fact that exhaust sound level (dB) is directly proportional to pee pee length (in).

[makenzie71]

dB at idle, cruise, or WOT?

What would 154dB at WOT be?

[CirclesCenter]

The same as a Jet taking off.

[makenzie71]

oh I was trying to find out if my dB equivalent pee pee size was similar to my actual pee pee size.

But yeah...on the bike it wasn't nothing...helmet hides a lot of sound...but I had a buddy do a ride-by on her while I was standing.  Having heard a Concorde take off, I'll compare it to that.  That was with 60mm true dual dumps.  Some replumbing left me with open pipes, but knocked her down to around 115dB.

[savagebeauty]

OMG!! I just spit Coke all over the computer screen.  You guys are too funny.

[Cal Price]

My other bike, a Yamaha XS400 is also a naked twin but is has two seperate pipes, yes it sounds a bit throatier than the GS but it aint ever going to sound like an in-line four. There are ways to make your bike louder but this may not mean better.

I think CirclesCentre "wait and see" advice is the best on offer, give it a while and prioritise whatever modifications you want, if any. In the meantime just enjoy the ride.

[makenzie71]

THREADJACK!!

My other bike, a Yamaha XS400

PICS! PICS!

[sledge]

I used to live next door to a respectable family. As soon as the eldest son turned 16 he got himself some European 3hp 50cc 2-stroke scooter. Him and all his other knobhead mates thought that by removing the baffles and making their scoots twice as loud as normal made them worthy of praise and gave them some sort of enhanced street cred`. After about 4 weeks of listening to the din every evening I went and had a `quiet` word with him. The upshot was that he and his mates immediately put the baffles back in! The moral is this, loud exhausts are anti-social in residential neighbourhoods..........people dont say `ooohhhh wow look at him on the bike, isnt he cool`. People are more likely to say ` what a fu***** tosser` You put one on your bike and before long one of your neighbours will complain about it, either to you or the authorities. If your real lucky that person who has been driven to the edge of madness after being forced to constantly  listen to your pointless and needlessly noisy exhaust everyday WONT use violence against you.

[Turd Ferguson]

`what a fu***** tosser`

Haha!

I am likely going to go with a Hindle "street" can.  It has a 1 3/4" perforated core that is set up to deaden a lot more sound than your average aftermarket can.  I'd like a bit more flow, a bit more sound but nothing annoying.  I currently live in an apartment complex and I have a serious moral dilemma when I have to go anywhere on my Monster before 9:00 AM.

-Turd.

[Cal Price]

Mackenzie71's threadjack....

here it is about a year back, it looks much the same now, it has been something of an engineering and electrical challenge. It has new bars, i have turn signals, mirrors, rear shocks and a new headlight on order and plan to do a lot of restoration work this winter. The exhausts are a lot rustier now especialy the right side so I'm scratching my head over that one. i will do some up-to-date pics soon and then hopefully some next spring when i have done the work and something with the paint job, I have managed to get from a scrapyard some passable plastic-chrome tank emplems as well.

If it were not for some vandalism a while back I would be further ahead but there you go..and it uses far too much gas....all the joys of a 25 year old bike...but it sounds good!!