Ridin' with Harley Riders

[ZukiChaos]

It was a beautiful day...65 degrees and in the midst of leaves changing colors.

A buddy who rides a HD Low Rider and I cruised around the backroads today of south central PA. Since I have a C50 (with stock pipes) I made her ride behind me because her bike is so LOUD when I follow her!

I don't know if I'm jealous or frustrated. At every stop I hear "potato potato potato". I want to hear my bike instead! I, especially, want to hear my shifting points. I spent more time looking at my speedo than taking in the wonderous changing leaves of fall.

Ok, enough venting. (time to buy new pipes)

[Jerryzuki]

I feel your pain, brother. That's when I decided to debaffle. I rode with the big boys today and I could actually hear my revs. Go here if you're interested.

[QuacktheDuck]

I dunno...one day leaving work one guy who has a hd (not sure what type, it's a bigger one with bags and all...) started his bike after mine was idling. I could not hear my bike at all...and I have jardines. It's amazing how loud those things are, especially with pipes. Personally though, I didn't like how it sounded one bit.

[jkulysses]

Same here, my friend that I usually ride with has a Honda Spirit 750 with Hard Krome slip-ons and all I can ever hear is his bike. It annoys me.

[IntruderCruiser]

too loud is too loud

a little bit isn't bad

I think I will keep my LC stock

[tlwisner]

I don't want to go deaf hearing my bike roaring loud all day, and I sure don't want to ride with straight pipe guys. They don't seem to ride too far from home anyway...

ZukiChaos, maybe it's time to find somebody else to ride with instead of making your bike deafening.

Not all H-D riders have loud pipes, I ride with several who do not.

[WalterRC]

Originally Posted by tlwisner

I sure don't want to ride with straight pipe guys. They don't seem to ride too far from home anyway...

Very interesting observation!!
I have straight pipes and dont want louder ones. I stay pretty much in a 70-100KM radius from my house when I go riding, LOL

[Ranger_b0b]

I don't know what it is about loud pipes...I don't get it. Do people need attention so badly that being on a bike is not enough? LOOK AT ME!!!!! HERE I COME!!!! I"M GIVING YOU 2 MILES NOTICE. YOU BETTER BE WATCHIN! I'm a results kinda guy. If you gotta run a more open exhaust cuz of performance reasons, thats cool. Just putting open pipes on a bike (or anything for that matter) is silly. I know when to shift because the engine is between my legs, and I know how fast (RPM) its going by the vibrations in my butt...not because of sound.

[stp1971]

Originally Posted by Ranger_b0b

I don't know what it is about loud pipes...I don't get it. Do people need attention so badly that being on a bike is not enough? LOOK AT ME!!!!! HERE I COME!!!! I"M GIVING YOU 2 MILES NOTICE. YOU BETTER BE WATCHIN!

Yep!!!!! Hard Krome Big 3" straights with Hard Krome straight thru baffles modified with ThunderMonsters installed!!!!!! HEY,,,,LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!

Naw we have had this discussion numerous times before. Alot of it is personal preferance and what one likes. I have heard the TOO LOUD pipes numerous times and it seems there were quite alot of them at Biketoberfest this year. But to each his own,, my bike is actually alot quieter than the stock Hard Krome pipes since I did that modification. It has that deeper rumble and not that loud slapping sound. Kinda hot roddish.

[intimid8er]

Originally Posted by stp1971

my bike is actually alot quieter than the stock Hard Krome pipes since I did that modification. It has that deeper rumble and not that loud slapping sound. Kinda hot roddish.

And what a product it is, huh? I've noticed since your endorsements people are picking up on them, and it's kinda becoming a standard mod. Good deal. Maybe you should find that thread and bump it. We've got a bunch of noobs coming aboard lately. It could be helpful.

I wonder what we could do here for a report card for vendors? Quick reference kinda thing.

[ZukiChaos]

Originally Posted by Ranger_b0b

Just putting open pipes on a bike (or anything for that matter) is silly. I know when to shift because the engine is between my legs, and I know how fast (RPM) its going by the vibrations in my butt...not because of sound.

It must be nice to have a bike that has a tach. C50s don't

[tlwisner]

Originally Posted by ZukiChaos

It must be nice to have a bike that has a tach. C50s don't

You can have self-cancelling turn signals and a tach. Just takes $$$$, less than new pipes.

In the old days, the cheapest little Suzuki 125 street bikes had a tach and a gear indicator - like all bikes did. These days the marketing dept tells them they don't need those kind of things, it's all about style. We're lucky it's a good bike at all.

[MagnumForce]

Riding with Harley riders? I do that myself half the time I go riding.

[Philly Rider]

I have stock pipes (not debaffled!) with no desire to go louder. Monday thru Friday I commute to work and on weekends I ride for the pure pleasure/fun. I am looking for the "zen" of riding - and for me loud pipes completely takes away from the riding experience. To go riding along a twisty tree lined road on a beautiful, quiet Saturday/Sunday morning just doesn't get any better.

When I see an accessories catalog with several pages devoted to ear plugs and noise protection you have to wonder if at that point it's really worth it.

[cjjtulsa]

Originally Posted by Philly Rider

I have stock pipes (not debaffled!) with no desire to go louder. Monday thru Friday I commute to work and on weekends I ride for the pure pleasure/fun. I am looking for the "zen" of riding - and for me loud pipes completely takes away from the riding experience. To go riding along a twisty tree lined road on a beautiful, quiet Saturday/Sunday morning just doesn't get any better.

I agree - up to a point. I don't like the straight pipes, and really didn't mind the stock ones (other than the look). But wearing a full face helmet I couldn't hear the stinking bike at all out on the road. I like to hear the engine a bit, and also tried too many times to shift into that 6th gear that should be there before I bought the Jardine pipes. I would have drilled or debaffled, but sure as I did the next week something would take a dump and the dealer would refuse coverage because I "modified" the pipes. Now I'll say that I like the Jardines OK, but I had to get used to them at first; they were almost too loud for me. What I was really looking for was a decible level between stock and where they are now. My next bike I'll either drill/debaffle, or repipe again. But I'll definately use the Thunder Monsters or something to tone it down. I want to hear it rumble but don't want my mind-clearing rides shattered by a ton of noise either.

[intimid8er]

Originally Posted by tlwisner

These days the marketing dept tells them they don't need those kind of things, it's all about style. We're lucky it's a good bike at all.

That statement right there will get me on a soapbox faster than anything! I couldn't agree with it more.

What's even worse is a V-Twin is so LOW-tech it's ridiculous. Don't get me wrong. I like my bike. But when I can look at my brother-in-law's Katana 750 that retails for maybe $200 USD more than the M50 and is packed with way more features, it makes me angry at Suzuki. Stuff like a tach, a real gas gauge (not...the light is on you have roughly forty miles until your stranded), comfortable seat, yards and yards of body work, and a small windscreen. Let's not get into the engine specs. I've read conflicting reports that it has anywhere from 80-95 hp stock. Versus what 45 hp according to the Rider Magazine article?

Really. What kind of body work do we have? Everything is injection molded plastic, and very minimal at that on the M50. M50 doesn't have a ton of expensive chrome, and what chrome we do have is chromed plastic. So there's not a ton of expense there. Technology...it can be argued that we have "GSX-R derived fuel injection". Whoop-dee-frickin' doo.....that equipment and the tooling for it has been amortized many times over through the Gixxer program. The tooling for that has been bought and paid for many years ago. The 800 block itself, been around for almost ten years or more, and if that statement is not true, then we shared development costs with Kawasaki in their "sharing of technology" agreement that was recently dissolved.

I guess the direction I'm going with this is. Since the cruising community as a whole has driven the direction of form not folllowing function, and marketing departments following suit, determining that we don't need amenities on bikes that are standard on other models because we'll line up ten deep to buy the latest chrome doo-dad or gizmo. Or we'll accept sub-par performance numbers from a stock bike because we all tell ourselves that we are going to customize it to the look and performance level we want. The execs eat that up, because their cost to produce margins will stay low because we as cruiser riders do not demand more from the product.

[Pinhy]

tell us how you really feel Tim!!



i was told the other day that my new Jardine 2:1 makes my bike sound like the "Road Warrior" bike (Mel Gibson movie). thats cool with me.

.

[nhoel]

I don't mind having bikes beside me with loud exhaust. If you can't take the harley's "noise/rumble" (i like them) go around them... they don't go that fast anyway!!!

[S83]

Heck and if you can't pass them don't worry there stopping at the next bar anyway......

[MagnumForce]

Tim,
[soapbox]I feel your pain buddy. I have been wishing there was an actual fuel guage for a long time. My brother's '04 CBR600RR and my brother in law's '04 CBR600F4i has them. Even the maxi scooters such as the Burgman and Silverwing have them. The M50 does have the benefit of an advanced EFI system and inverted forks (among a few things). Unfortunately, cruisers in general (not just Suzukis) tend to follow the Harley Davidson evolution development model. Some cruisers however, such as the V-max, Valkyrie, and Rocket III push the envelope of innovation. These bikes are not powered by V-twins. I would like to see more "nonstandard" cruisers on the market. A blending of the cruiser and retro rocket with an inline 4 or inline 3 would be nice.[/soapbox]

Now then, if you want to talk about Harleys, my Sportster 1200 will eat the big twin HD's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I can also say with absolute certainty that my Sporty outaccelerates my M50 from the line.