Exhaust getting louder?

4383 Views 17 Replies 11 Participants Last post by PeteW, 7 mo ago

bajakirch

Discussion Starter · 11 mo ago

As often as possible, I commute to work on my motorcycle. The other day, my wife asked if I had done anything to my exhaust, as she thought it sounded louder than usual.

I haven't, and still have the stock exhaust that came with my 2012 DL650.

My bike has always been stored inside and I don't often ride in the rain. So I don't suspect corrosion inside the muffler. A quick check of the headers and pipes didn't reveal any obvious leaks.

Anyone know if it's likely for a stock exhaust to increase its volume over time?

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Fox

· #2 · 11 mo ago

Do you think it has gotten louder?

I had a leak at the manifold gasket once, you could sort of hear it puffing out. Aside from that, in a decade and 150k miles parked outside and ridden often in the rain, it doesn't seem to have changed much in volume. I'd consider it unlikely.

dtysdalx21

· #3 · 11 mo ago

Packing gets full of exhaust residue over time. I have replaced my Akra packing before.

Not sure it's possible for the stock exhaust....

BackPacker

· #4 · 11 mo ago

Isn't it just your wife getting older?

Reactions: 2

Rolex

· #5 · 11 mo ago

Blocking the outlet with your hand will soon tell you if there is a leak.

BackPacker

· #6 · 11 mo ago

Rolex said:
Blocking the outlet with your hand will soon tell you if there is a leak.

...if you can hear it over your own screams.

I would suggest using an old rag instead of your bare hands. Especially if the engine is hot.

bajakirch

Discussion Starter · #7 · 11 mo ago

Do you think it has gotten louder?

Hard to say.

I wear noise-canceling ear buds when I ride. If I take them out, everything sounds louder.

Rolex

· #8 · 11 mo ago

I would think there would be a app for measuring your sound, then you could ask other members with the same bike to use the same app to see if they get similar readings.

thirdofthree

· #9 · 11 mo ago

Rolex said:
I would think there would be a app for measuring your sound, then you could ask other members with the same bike to use the same app to see if they get similar readings.

Even after controlling for factors like mic distance & orientation to source, environment including nearby reflective surfaces, etc., different phones (maybe even the same model phones) will have different microphones with different frequency specs and sensitivities and potentially different noise reduction software applied, all of which will prevent direct comparison.

jathkajoe

· #10 · 11 mo ago

When I did school facility maintenance I occasionally needed to read db so I have an app called Toolbox in my phone. It works well enough for my needs. It's free, there is a Pro version you can pay for.
My House AC just kicked on, it's showing 56 db, "Quiet Street".

Now if it could just read my tinnitus so I could prove to family why I can't hear some things.

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Reactions: 1

ocoas

· #11 · 11 mo ago

I think one of my bIke’s has an exhaust leak. I need to try the hand over the exhaust trick.
But I’m wearing welding glove.

Improperly Torqued

· #12 · 11 mo ago

I draw your attention to line 2 here:

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Rolex

· #13 · 11 mo ago

BackPacker said:
...if you can hear it over your own screams.

I would suggest using an old rag instead of your bare hands. Especially if the engine is hot.

If your hands are made of butter you may need a rag.

If you have man hands and they are made of flesh and blood no cover is required.

Rolex

· #14 · 11 mo ago

thirdofthree said:
Even after controlling for factors like mic distance & orientation to source, environment including nearby reflective surfaces, etc., different phones (maybe even the same model phones) will have different microphones with different frequency specs and sensitivities and potentially different noise reduction software applied, all of which will prevent direct comparison.

The sample may be enough to prove bikes with higher miles on them are louder than those with less.

And the test is free & fun so why not ?

Reactions: 1

Rolex

· #15 · 11 mo ago

ocoas said:
I think one of my bIke’s has an exhaust leak. I need to try the hand over the exhaust trick.
But I’m wearing welding glove.

You need to be braver.

You will be fine.

In my younger days I would stall my mates cars and bikes for fun by blocking their pipes with my hand.

If the motor would not stall they had a leak.

Bricksrheavy

· #16 · 11 mo ago

I would say that the exhaust sound on mine has definitely changed. Bought it used 15 months ago with 30.000 km/18.600 miles, the bike now sits at 56.000/35.000 and the exhaust sounds more "raspier".

Used to have a bike with an aftermarket Mivv slip-on and I had to repack it every ~12.000 km/7.500 miles. Interesting how no one ever talks about repacking factory exhausts - are they built differently from aftermarket or?

Improperly Torqued

· #17 · 11 mo ago

Earplugs wear out and need to be replaced every so often.

PeteW

· #18 · 7 mo ago

Bricksrheavy said:
I would say that the exhaust sound on mine has definitely changed. Bought it used 15 months ago with 30.000 km/18.600 miles, the bike now sits at 56.000/35.000 and the exhaust sounds more "raspier".

Used to have a bike with an aftermarket Mivv slip-on and I had to repack it every ~12.000 km/7.500 miles. Interesting how no one ever talks about repacking factory exhausts - are they built differently from aftermarket or?

Yeah. Most use steel baffles (no packing) but it adds to the weight.
The bike manufacturer has to guarantee noise levels don't increase for the usable life of the vehicle and packing blows out so gets crossed off the list of options fairly quickly.

That's why stock pipes are typically heavy.

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