Maxim exhaust question.

1982 Maxim XJ 650. I have the stock exhaust on the bike and I have a spare stock exhaust lying around. Is there a way to make this sucker louder without replacing the exhaust? A friend of mine attempted to punch out the baffles, which gave it just an ever so slight rumble but I'm looking to make this sucker sound loud enough that the sound of the sewing machine engine won't be as noticable to me. Any suggestions?

 

Short of uncapping the mufflers, I've no idea. Easy fix is of course to save the factory system and invest in a Mac 4:1.

 

My bike has harley plow through pipes, and makes a nice sound and look great!

 

Just about any after market muffler with a 1-1/2" opening will be louder than the stock mufflers (and alot lighter) I've tried several mufflers on mine in the past few weeks and there is alot of different sounds to be had.
The Screamin' Eagle Harley mufflers are loud and very deep tone to them. A little more than I want early in the morning.
The Jardines I put in are not as loud as the Harley ones, but still have a nice deep tone to them. They would be my second choice.
The little 12" shorties I have on now are the best. They have a nice deep tone to them, but not too loud.
My next ones will be Harley stock mufflers (haven't found a cheap pair to try yet) I know they won't be as quiet as the stock mufflers, but still enough so as not to wake all the neighbors in the morning.
I have a pair of Screamin Eagle turn outs for sale if you want to make some noise! >PD<

 

The previous owner of my 550 maxim drilled four holes in the end of each exhaust pipe. I personally am too much of a wuss to modify anything that cant be returned to its previous state. For the results of this mod, I dont mind it at all. I think my bike sounds kinda cool with it. Not too loud at all. Growls at low RPM's and sounds mean when entering the upper RPM's.

Each hole is about 1/4 inch.

 

Won't drilling a few holes in the end of the muffler pipe to get a little louder affect the engine carb mix and make it run a bit leaner?
:?:

 

<The little 12" shorties I have on now are the best.

Whereabout did these come from?

 

I just don't get why anyone would want exhaust to be louder?
I mean, I understand some people like the sound, but I just don't understand why you want to annoy the rest of the world?
Anyone else been noticing the increase in places that are restricting or banning motorcycles? Care to take a guess why?

 

Well eventhough my mufflers are staight through, they are louder, but are not as loud as straight pipe. Now some of the Harley's are waaayyy to LOUD, they go by and u jump, thats just too loud.

The idea behind louder exaust is so others know ur there, u must know peeps dont see bikes as good as they see cars- trucks, so aleast with louder pipes they should hear ya.

 

Oh don't go into the whole "loud pipes save lives" schtick - that's been disproven as a myth for ages... the only place that sound goes while you're riding is backwards, and some rediculously high percentage of any and all accidents you might be involved in come from the front - thus the sound is useless for preventing anything.

Loud pipes don't save lives -- loud pipes piss off your nieghbors and get motorcycles banned.

I keep trying to get my exhaust as quiet as possible, while maintaining the power level -- now this is a challenge!

 

Except the noise is directed BEHIND you, so it does little good unless someone is about to hit you, then it is unlikely they hear you anyhow.

Loud pipes save lives? Nah, situational awareness and defensive riding save lives!

Jim 8)

 

Ya you must be a defensive rider, but sound does help.
The diff between regular pipes and aftermarket does make a diff and can be head to a point around u.

 

I like the way the Harley pipes sound on my bike, not to loud at idle, beefy from 2000 to 4500, and sportbike soud from 6000 - ?
And under load going up hills is just awsome!

 

More like offensive, but my offense is speed, not noise!

They never see me coming, and never hear me either, and I like it that way! :lol:

Jim 8)

 

This just doesn't make sense to me. It's your bike and you can and should obviously do what you want with it, but I can't imagine why you would want to make an XJ louder.

I'm even a Harley guy. A couple of weeks ago, I put a set of drag pipes on my Sportster. Long story. It's jetted for them and was running very rich with the stock pipes. From the moment I hit the starter button the first time, I knew these pipes had to go. It's absolutely embarrassing to ride a bike this loud.

I'll never buy into the 'Loud Pipes Save Lives' thing. As far as I'm concerned loud pipes only startle drivers and make them more likely to do something unexpected.

XJs sound fantastic as they are.

Greg

 

I'll record mine at idle and other speeds, while riding and not to show the awsome sound.
Give me a few days.

 

There's no need for preaching here. If I want my freakin' bike to be as loud as a freight train then it will be and if I piss off some people in the process then that's just a bonus.

Next thing you know somebody is gonna bitch about riders who don't wear helmets.

Ride high, live free.

 

So, you are preaching about not preaching? :roll:

Jim 8)

 

Um, no but thanks for your input.

 

Very mature attitude there, Graves.

Unfortunately, your freedom only extends to the point that it infringes on someone else's (reasonable) rights -- which is why you can't legally ride naked, drop grenades behind you as you go down the road, or have pipes that exceed local noise ordinances.

I couldn't care less if you ride without a helmet (unless my tax dollars are going to be used to scrape you up off the pavement and dispose of your carcass, or pay for your medical treatments for the next 50 years).

But I do care if your pipes degrade my experiences on the road, or irritate everyone else to the point that they restrict MY activities because of your actions.

Herb

 

Wow, we got some real "tough" bikers on this forum.

 

Speaking of Due Process and Rules ...

The rules are:

You write about the bike and bike related matters in the Public Forums.

You write to each other and argue, bitch and complain about everything else using the Private Message function or email.

 

Amen.

 

Sorry, I should know better.

My appologies!

Jim 8)

 

"It takes a child to squabble, a man to apologize".
It may not come as a surprise but part of the enjoyment of riding is the environment we ride in. I'm firm believer in the "soft footprint" approach. This means leaving as little an impression on the area around you as you can possibly manage. Loud pipes do make folks aware of your existence, but in a very negative way. Now the crux here is that I'd rather someone notice me and be annoyed than not notice me and pin me against the wall. I don't advocate loud pipes nor do I believe they help (reference the Hurt Study). But I'd rather not become an invisible rider. As was mentioned, my rights end when they trod on another's. I absolutely believe we need to set good examples on the road, there are far too many bad and this causes more reciprocal indifference from cagers. If you want to blast down the road shattering the sound barrier, there are great places to do just that located through out the States. Unfortunately Modoc isn't around the corner. This topic will bring out a great deal of emotional responses, most with merit, but I still have yet to hear a constructive answer short of "don't ride". And that isn't happening. MH has a very good point about losing privileges. Unfortunately, progress has shown that the folks in power who don't ride are dictating policy for those of us who do. And they have the boobs out there who set the poor example and ride stupidly to thank for their skewed perspective. Just keep doing what your doing without thought about others and soon enough they will exact a price for our inconsideration through legal means. I for one don't want any more legislation that restricts my enjoyment of the road. Do you?

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

 

ok i cut mine just past the headers and put turn outs on them.loud and annoying but cheap.i am working on a limited budget.sorry. :wink:

 

Sorry, guys. I must have forgotten my Prozac this morning.

I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Herb

 

Just don’t point them straight down, made that mistake once and it felt like I was ridding THUNDER, the noise goes straight back up at U!

 

I had straight pipes on my old 1100 VStar. That was loud the right way.

I gave up on loud, when I sold it. My XJ550RH has OEM cans on it and my 1300 cc VFour Venture is even quieter than the XJ.

Loud pipes save lives, and loud pipes also generate anti-motorcycling laws.

 

Here in Colorado springs. Loud pipes were out lawed. If you get pulled over for loud exhaust and your pipes dont have a stock part number on it the you get a ticket. Now STOCK is a broad word. If you bike is a harly, Then the exhaust better say harley, Yamaha better say yamaha, and so on. Aftermarket exhaust is a no, no around here. Generally if the exhaust is not discustingly loud, you are safe.
The year it went into affect, Riders were avoiding Colorado Springs entirely. It is a little better now. The police still pull bike over though. Had a loud bike come flying past me the other day, I was going 55 or so in a 55 zone. He was probably doing twice that. Scared the he-- out of me. Never heard him coming until he past me. He came out of no where.
Morale of the story. Loud isn't allways good.

 

Well, I did the poor mans exhaust mod by drilling a few small holes in the end of the stock exhaust. Now it is loud enough to hear but nowhere near as loud as a hog or my friends midnight star with straight pipes. This suits me fine. Another successful topic to find out who's who.

All I wanted was a little rumble and she wouldn't give it to me, just a pepsi....
oh, wait....wrong song.

 

What do you mean WE decided? MY best interest?

 

Exactly...what are trying to say? that i'm crazy...
..when I went to your schools, I went to your churches, I went to your institutional learning facilities, so how can you say that i'm crazy.

(I'd rather not quote the very ending of the song if you know what I mean)

 

ok now im just plain confused :?

 

I took a torch to the ends of my mufflers opening them up and they sound great and the bike runs cleaner too! besides the discoloration that happened on one of the pipes I love the new deep rumble!

 

I was interested in the same thing for my X - just a little more sound, not to blow the ears off anyone near. Also I like the look of the stock pipes.

Did you do something like this?
http://www.zillaphoto.com/MaximX/5-vide ... stMod.html

Z

 

yeah, im diggin that sound sno has going! good stuff.

 

I drilled mine out as well I did 5 3/4" holes in each and it is not to loud but overpowers the wine of the engine till about 4000 rpm's However it does not have that deep rumble I would like

 

you will not get that rumble(V-Twin) from an inline 4 it just wont work lol

 

It's going to sound louder inside a hollow building with the door closed! Outside it will be alot quieter, trust me. But it does sound better than stock.

 

I took the muffs off too see what it would sound like. Sounded kinda cool at idle, but when accelerating, it sounded like the trashy neighbors car that is dragging the muffler on the ground.

I hate to modify the stock muffs as they are the only ones that I have. But I did just score a set of sportster piped off ebay for $15.00. Hopefully I can get a little grumble without sounding like a POS car. I really only bought them because I hate the look of the megaphone pipes.

When I get the adapters made, I put a slight bend in them to lower them just below the rear axle. Should look way better and stop burning the bottoms of my saddle bags.

 

I agree. I started mine up a few times with the mufflers off and I can't believe someone would actually ride with pipes that loud (whatever melts your wax I guess)
Don't do anything to your stock mufflers if they are in good shape. You may want them for resale (when/if you sell the bike) use them again one day.
The stock Harley take-offs are just what the doctor ordered. They sound better than stock, but are not loud by any means. Just a nice quiet rumble at idle and smooth out at speed. You can still hear the whistle coming from the engine while riding with them on.
Just make sure you get the ones that don't have the crossover tube outlet in them, or you'll need to block it off.

 

Here's a question:

My bike has been modified (long before I got it) to 4 into 1. Is this louder than stock? What other differences does this create?

Here in Washington the law states you can't have exhaust louder than stock. I don't know how exactly how they nail you on that one, but apparently it happens most frequently waiting for the ferry.

 

Stay off the ferry. Cop's usually aren't mechanics, nor do they have any idea what is stock on a 30 year old bike, or a 1999 s10 blaze (long story). If you bought the bike that way, and the exhaust doesn't look chopped, How would they know. I would take the ticket all the way to a jury trial. You could easily produce hundreds of pictures of these bikes with 4 to1's. And I'm sure the court is not going to waste time trying to find specs on a 30 yr old bike. They have no case.

Sorry, sore subject

 

If your canister on the 4-into-1 exhaust has a removable baffle (like the MAC systems do) you can remove it and wrap it with exhaust fiberglass. That will quiet it down conciderably. I did it on my MAC muffler (when I had one) and it made a big difference. Try it.

 

Yeah, I'm not worried about it. That was really two separate comments/questions. I'm mostly curious if it's louder but not really concerned with getting a ticket. Most folks around here are pretty cool with motorcycles because we're all liberal tree-hugging hippies. And all liberal tree-hugging hippies secretly want to be cool enough to ride. I've got a couple Subarus, three bicycles, a bus pass and a Ford V-8 (not sure if that one fits!) I'm a contradiction. My liberal, hippie clients love it when I show up to a meeting on my Maxim. I swear that alone gets me 10% of my copywriting work!