Better exhaust tone?

Although I wouldn't do it, nor do I recommend it...
And I definitely wouldn't do it to a nice exhaust system....
You could drill holes in the back of the muffler around the stock hole.

JMKZHI wrote:

Although I wouldn't do it, nor do I recommend it...
And I definitely wouldn't do it to a nice exhaust system....
You could drill holes in the back of the muffler around the stock hole.

Yeah. It will just be louder, with less HP, and still scream like a ricer above 4k rpm!

:laugh: :woohoo: :laugh: :lol:

I cant say nothin... I run straight pipes, and the neighbors hate when I pull in at night!

:S :blink: :ohmy:

What's the story in the US for mufflers? Can you put on whatever you want or do they have to be "street legal".

In the UK you can put more or less whatever you want on a pre 1983 bike, probably including straight through pipes.
Any "sports" mufflers have to be marked "not for road use", although you would be unlikely to be pulled by the cops but the bike would fail the MOT test unless you replaced with the original mufflers just for the test.

I hear Harleys riding around which are really loud and kids on their 100cc scooters which are really antisocial and sound like piss.

I suppose the answer is to put on what you want and if you get pulled by the law you will get a naughty boy ticking off or 2 hours community service max.

Some guy gave me two mufflers that came off a Harley. They are basically straight through with perforated inside pipes. The openings are facing the rear, so they are not as quiet as if they were facing forward. Perhaps they last longer that way, but I am not sure. The front pipe diameter is 1 3/4" inside diameter.

Anyway, I put them on my '82 KZ650 CSR, just as a trial. They are quite loud, and the tone is fairly deep, but you would never think it is a Harley. The engine design is just too different (thank goodness).

polkat wrote:

How can I get a Harley rumble (yes, I know it's mostly impossible) out of my stock KZ750 exhaust system? I've heard of doing something with the muffler baffles, but don't know what it is. Thanks!

There is a way! Yes you can get that exact same rumble. Oh yes! Jack up your gas tank and ride a hardly underneath it. Now, get away from that damned crack pipe! You want a lower rumble? Punch it out and get a nice set of cams in it. Guaranteed to sound better than a hardly any day of the week.

Get a MAC header with a megaphone tip and run no baffles. It will be nice and deep, and also very loud. You could hear me from miles away (literally) when I ran my bike like this. Needless to say, I made my own baffle because I couldn't take the noise anymore!

TeK9iNe wrote:

You basically can't make these old bikes sound anything close to the penetrating off-beat rumble of a Harley.

True, I swear I can hear the ZING of the cam chains everytime a rice burner rides by.

The closest have heard to a japanese harley was the yamaha Virago. I don't know if they ditched the chain drive cams and went to solid lifters (?)

I like the idea of my Kawi sounding like a Harley! Sadly I know it can never be. But then an idea hit me! I'll get the quietest mufflers I can find. Then I'll wire in a 400 Watt amplifier and build a couple of speaker enclosures to look like saddlebags and attache them to the bike. Then I'll hook up a volume control to work like a throttle position sensor and play Harley motor noise (yes I said noise) through my ipod! A bona-fide freakin' genius idea huh guys? :woohoo:

While the "potato--potato" idle may be easy enough to replicate on a KZ, it has proven especially difficult to achieve maximum volume at full throttle without any noticeable increase in acceleration. :pinch:

Good Luck!

Vter Bob wrote:

I like the idea of my Kawi sounding like a Harley! Sadly I know it can never be. But then an idea hit me! I'll get the quietest mufflers I can find. Then I'll wire in a 400 Watt amplifier and build a couple of speaker enclosures to look like saddlebags and attache them to the bike. Then I'll hook up a volume control to work like a throttle position sensor and play Harley motor noise (yes I said noise) through my ipod! A bona-fide freakin' genius idea huh guys? :woohoo:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I like the idea but I'd like it better if you did it with a iPOD and some ear buds.

My friend has a 1500 with cobra pipes looks and sounds just like a Harley. The ear buds concept is a good one. Hook up a lead to the throttle for real time throttle response.

I guess you could run it on two cylinders that might do it. I rather like it when I pull up next to a guy on an over priced chopper and his girlfriend starts asking about my bike.