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What is the most quiet muffler?

23K views 44 replies 18 participants last post by  DKV 
#1 ·
I know a lot of people love loud pipes. They like the idea that if others can hear them, then it helps avoid accidents. That's often true, but sometimes being quiet is even more important when riding in nature.

The Goldwing motorcycle has the quietest muffler system I've ever heard. I love the rumble of my Nomad, but often just want to have a nice quiet ride.

Does anyone know if there is a Goldwing equivalent muffler available for small bikes like ours?

Would they be compatible, or is there something special going on with the Goldwing's faring and/or engine that helps keep it so quiet?
 
#2 ·
The quietest muffler is the one sitting in the garage after removing it from the TW and leaving it in the garage for a new Power Core.



In all honesty, The TDub is pretty quiet. Maybe stuff it with some extra packing. But, be careful to be sure the mufflers/silencers have a spark arrester too.

What about earplugs?...I don't mean to be a smart arse on this. Sometimes riding with plugs can be pretty nice too.
 
#12 ·
I actually do wear earplugs quite often, but after wearing them alol day at work, my ears are irritated and I just can't stand them any more. But honestly, the muffler question was more about being considerate to my neighbor and others in campground if I leave super early or come back super late.
 
#3 ·
Yes, the stock muffler is the quietest one around as far as I know.
 
#4 ·
Hi LT!

There is the 45 degree 3/4" copper elbow that can be put on the stock muffler.

That mostly redirects the sound downward.

I believe Mr. Gizmow put an additional muffler on the end of his stock muffler, but I don't remember if it was significantly quieter.

Last season I added a small muffler from a riding lawn mower at the end of the stock one.

It didn't make any difference that I could tell.

jb
 
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#7 ·
Mr. Gizmow just wanted to have the longest one.
 
#10 ·
Or two smaller ones instead of a big one. Vehicle Motorcycle Auto part All-terrain vehicle Tire
 
#11 ·
I've always liked the two muffler look...
 
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#13 · (Edited)
I think it was Gerry that made a silencer that went on the tail end of the exhaust, just a slip-on unit. I will see if I can find the old post of this for you.
You can remove the spark arrestor on the rear of the muffler, then stuff it with coarse steel wool and reinstall the cap. This will "baffle" it more but also can cause increase back pressure = loss of power. I like your thoughts on not waking up the whole campground so maybe a thread on silencer would work best and then just remove once out of the populated areas. Just need a pipe nipple welded over the tail pipe and the mate on the silencer pack. I will post the pic once I can find it for you. ( Just so you know....we never leave the campground early when we ride ! :sleepy5: :laughing7: ).
 
#14 ·
I had a stock rusted out muffler, so to fix it, I chopped the whole end of the can off, found a 1.5 inch metal tube, welded a plug on the end that would go deepest into the muffler, and drilled probably 1000 5/32" holes near the back end. I then welded the pipe to the inside end of the piece of muffler that I cut off, inserted it all back into the muffler body, and welded all around the cut again. Ground the welds down, smoothed them off with a flap sander, and repainted. Would never know that I had cut it in half. To finish the design, I removed the end cap from the muffler, and welded I 3/4 inch id by 8 inch long pipe onto the inside of the cap, so that when I install the cap again, this pipe extends nearly to the back of the 1.5" pipe close to the plugged end. The exhaust gasses now leave the header, go all the way to the back of the muffler body, through the drilled holes, up inside the 1.5 inch pipe, and head back up near the front of the pipe again, to go into the 3/4" pipe to travel all the way back out the end. This homemade baffle saved me the cost of a new muffler. This is kind of long winded, and I'm not sure if I'm explaining this very well or not, but anyways.... It's noticeably quieter than a stock exhaust system would be but still looks the same.

Sent from my m8wl using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
LT, I believe the small hole on exhaust bottom is to let accumulated water byproduct from the combustion process drain away. As such if you seal up the hole you may increase the potential for rust. If you do want to seal it up you will now have another reason to ride longer so as to build up enough heat to drive out water.:p

A quite muffler and a loud horn seem like a good combination for courtesy and safety. I saw and heard some impressive replacement horns for our TW RoadRunner Beep-Beeps in Moab.
 
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#16 ·
Really Fred?? !! Have I messed up plugging that tiny hole then? I just had never seen it before, it was so little. As I prodded it and inspected it, it did slightly flake off around the edges, so it seemed like rot to me. But if it is designed to be there, after 29 years, it would rot away a tiny bit anyway. Does your's have that tiny hole? It is located about a third of the way from the back of the muffler and it was very tiny. Did I screw up or do all of them have it?
 
#18 ·
O great, I screwed up then... :rolleyes:
 
#19 ·
Maybe not Tommy. My '03 has an approximately 1/2" diameter hole about 1.5" ahead of the primary exhaust outlet and indeed weeps some moisture while bike warms up. My hole is part of the end cap assembly and does not sound like it resembles what you are describing. Thus my prior comment should be taken with a grain of salt. Your hole may just be rust-through. Does your '87's muffler have another drain hole?
 
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#20 ·
I have the same half inch hole at the bottom of the end cap. I didn't realize that it vented some of the moisture out though. I just went out and looked at it again and my hole is near the middle of the bottom of the muffler and it was just a tiny hole, about a sixteenth of an inch in diameter or even less, very small. So, it is indeed a rust through hole just beginning. Thank you very much Fred. I'll leave my steel stick patch on then.
 
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#23 ·
Thanks for the input guys.

Couple of other questions:
How do dual mufflers help quiet the bike? Is it because there is more baffling the exhaust?
How do you know when there is too much packing in the pipe? Wouldn't that double pipe in the picture above be just as bad as too much packing?
 
#25 · (Edited)
I've got a Yamaha 2400 inverter generator that's pretty quiet, specs rate it 53-60 db at 1/4 throttle, somewhat noisier when working at full load. It's a 171cc engine, so fairly close to the tw200 in cc's. I had wondered about adapting one of those mufflers to fit a bike. Looks like they cost a bit over $100 online. The muffler also has an end cap with some heavy duty steel wool looking stuff in it which quiets it considerably i would guess. I think you can buy just the end cap with the steel wool stuff in it and I think it would be a pretty close fit. Probably would reduce the power somewhat tho.
 

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#27 ·
The picture in post #8 is of the extra muffler I added to my TW. I also posted a video. Should show up with a little searching.
 
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#28 · (Edited)
Looks like video is gone. I'll try and reload it.
Either I'm having issues or my laptop is. Video is still on photobucket. I'll try again later.
 
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#29 ·
Good Thursday LuvNot,

I think everyone appreciates your considerate thoughts. But If you go camping/riding, chances are you expect to wake up relatively early. The TW pipe is extremely quiet at idle much less at full acceleration (13 hp is pretty damn loud though). But I have a Power Core pipe that is really loud (so others know I am near them on the road), but I can baby it and keep it pretty quiet when I need to. I do it all the time heading out of my neighborhood.
 
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#31 ·
Back in 2008 my brother and me both bought new Polaris 800 RZR side by side UTVs for hunting on our camp property. The near 3000 acres were very mountainous with lots of trails and valleys throughout. One thing we noticed while hunting was we could hear the RZRs every time one started u and was riding no matter where it was on the property. The end of the exhaust pipe came straight out. I found a 90 degree muffler tail piece that directed the sound down to the ground and once installed I drove around on the property while my hunting buddies listened. The difference was astonishing between my down turned pipe and my brother's straight one. Try what has been mentioned above with an elbow first and see if this changes the audio carry of your exhaust.

GaryL
 
#32 ·
Lots of good info here and some really creative solutions!
 
#33 ·
The stock TW muffler is louder than the stock muffler on my DR650.
Then I put a GSXR 750 muffler on the DR (a common mod) and it sounds sooooooooo much nicer, like a motorcycle.
The TW muffler is still louder. :confused:
Bizarre but true.

Yes, the TW muffler is in excellent condition, no rust out or damage.
Just surprisingly loud (sharp) for what it is designed for.
I'm going to try the copper 90 fitting for the fun of it.
Maybe I will get a 45 degree fitting too and compare.
Good fun!
 
#34 ·
#36 ·
What an interesting tone change! Very noticeable difference. Is there any difference in power?
 
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