Best Slip-on Exhaust

[NinjaRed]

Hey guys,

So I was just thinking about getting a slip-on exhaust for my '10 250R. I dont have any intentions of changing the performance, the main purpose is to increase the noise (for safety purpose). I am interested in something that would not require (re)jetting or anything, just a simple slip-on, easy job. Any recommendations on what I should go for?

Also, im trying to keep my budget to a minimum being a poor college student that i am. I wouldnt mind getting a used one.

Any thoughts/ recommendations will be appreciated.

[csmith12]

[JELY1990]

I think you're gonna get a lot of opinions on the noise for "safety" idea.
But if you're going for something loud, the loudest one I'm aware of is the mgp growler. Apparently that thing is annoyingly loud.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by NinjaRed

....the main purpose is to increase the noise (for safety purpose).

Any thoughts/ recommendations will be appreciated.

Being noisy is not a safety feature. The #1 excuse for most car vs motorcycle accidents is "I didn't see the motorcycle" not "Oh! I didn't hear you." Just about every week I see a motorcycle accident on the news and the majority of those accidents involve Harleys with loud ass "life saving pipes".

If you want to be heard and have a driver take appropriate action, install an air or loud car horn on your bike and use it. As a car driver myself, sometimes it's hard to react correctly to a loud noise I don't recognize or that I can't see the source of. A hiz viz vest or gear, high beams and good defensive driving positions is what will keep you safer. Placing yourself outside of a driver's blind spot will help a cautious driver to notice you before cutting you off.

There are plenty more things you can do to enhance your riding safety. For example a good set of tires can make a world of difference in stability, handling and traction, sintered brake pads stop better, adjustable levers make hand positions more comfortable and easier to control the brake and clutch, paying closer attention, anticipating and reacting quicker also makes one a safer rider.

After all, your main concern is safety right?

[krolinked]

Originally Posted by DaBlue1

After all, your main concern is safety right?

This.



A loud pipe is a joke. Honestly, don't fool yourself into believing that it is safer.

[psych0hans]

Originally Posted by krolinked

This.



A loud pipe is a joke. Honestly, don't fool yourself into believing that it is safer.

get it because it sounds the bomb and you like it, not because it's gonna make you any "safer"

[menikmati]

Originally Posted by NinjaRed

Also, im trying to keep my budget to a minimum being a poor college student that i am. I wouldnt mind getting a used one.

Reflective vest, or put that monies towards food.

So much sodium eaten during college...

[MistahT]

Originally Posted by menikmati

So much sodium eaten during college...

I would have starved without Ramen!

[NathanUc]

I'm not a fan of overly loud exhausts (aka the growler) but I DO believe that an aftermarket exhaust with a silencer installed is a MUCH safer option than stock.

I've noticed no matter how reflective and visible you are in the day, there will still be a lot of times where people won't see you even if you're avoiding blind zones. People just don't check their mirrors. You want people to still hear you for when they DON'T see you. The problem with overly loud exhausts is it gets difficult to locate the sound (exhaust tones aren't that locational to start with).

I feel MUCH more vulnerable on my new motorcycle while the exhaust is still stock. There's no way I would install something like the Totsubo (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66733) exhaust without silencers, but I'll feel a lot better once I put an aftermarket pipe on.

[mfresh]

When I got my bike it came with a Yoshimura slip-on the previous owner put on there. It had the baffle ("silencer") removed and it is fairly audible. Has a very nice sound to it in my opinion.

I've been on a couple group rides and they have told me it is not too loud and sounds good.

I have never ridden a 250 with stock muffler so I can't really say what the difference is "noise" wise, but from what I have seen in videos and such the stockers are damn near silent.


I will say this though in regards to safety. I will agree with everyone else that more than likely no one is buying louder pipes with safety as their primary concern-- or at least you could better spend the money in other areas for increasing safety.

However, I personally believe that being more audible increases your "visibility" even if slightly in certain situations. Just this past week I was riding up in the mountains and I passed up quite a few road bikers making their way up the mountain.

Some of them were riding pretty much in the middle of the lane and I could see them move to the side as I came up on them 'cause they were able to hear me.

Again, to stress the point, these guys weren't in a big metal cage-- they were riding on bicycles. There's definitely no guarantee some dude in a car is going to hear you any better.

[xSean13]

Don't get the MGP growler, it's the most obnoxious, worst sounding thing ever.

Danmoto is cheap in price & relatively decent sounding. I had the Jisu, but the GP is popular too, although some people had issues with the carbon cans.

[Jiggles]

Anyone who thinks a slip on makes you safer

I hate you

From the bottom of my heart

I hate you

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by mfresh

However, I personally believe that being more audible increases your "visibility" even if slightly in certain situations. J

Yes, but
a) when's the last time a road biker/pedestrian hit a motorcyclist and did enough damage to worry about?
b)those cyclists weren't in a cage that's chock full of sound deadening material to quiet the road noise at 75 mph on the high way.

Just saying.

[Panda]

Most slip ons from reputable manufacturers claim not to need a rejet. Danmoto, growler etc are really loud. I had a delkevic carbon fiber and it was painfully loud. I switched to a leo Vince. It comes with multiple silencers and a db killer. I run mine without a silencer but with the db killer. At WOT I am probably in the hi 90s db wise.

I wear a high vis helmet with a halo band. I aggressively use my horn, replaced my brake line with a ss, and replaced the pads. My jacket also has reflective bands and has high vis striping.

I lane split in NYC on a daily basis and have seen drivers that look in their mirrors when I blip the throttle that hear me before seeing me. My louder exhaust increases my "perceivable footprint".

I bought the new exhaust because the can I had on it when I bought the bike was too loud and I don't like the sound of the stock can. I like to think I've found a balance at is not obnoxiously loud but sounds better than stock to my ears.

[mfresh]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Yes, but
a) when's the last time a road biker/pedestrian hit a motorcyclist and did enough damage to worry about?
b)those cyclists weren't in a cage that's chock full of sound deadening material to quiet the road noise at 75 mph on the high way.

Just saying.

I agree with your points.

My personal opinion is that there is no disputing the correlation between being more audible and being more noticed as a result.

People notice loud noises.

The problem here is consistency. Will you be consistently noticed because your bike is loud(er)? No. Perfect reason why you should not rely on the sound your bike produces as a safety mechanism.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by mfresh

I agree with your points.

My personal opinion is that there is no disputing the correlation between being more audible and being more noticed as a result.

People notice loud noises.

The problem here is consistency. Will you be consistently noticed because your bike is loud(er)? No. Perfect reason why you should not rely on the sound your bike produces as a safety mechanism.

How often have you heard a passing bike while it was behind you. Never? Shocking how you only hear it when they are next to or in front of you.

[Panda]

Originally Posted by mfresh

I agree with your points.

My personal opinion is that there is no disputing the correlation between being more audible and being more noticed as a result.

People notice loud noises.

Agree. There are however, limited use cases where a louder pipe is effective. It's definitely not a panacea and its efficacy diminishes at speed.

[Panda]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Yes, but
a) when's the last time a road biker/pedestrian hit a motorcyclist and did enough damage to worry about?
b)those cyclists weren't in a cage that's chock full of sound deadening material to quiet the road noise at 75 mph on the high way.

Just saying.

A biker or a pedestrian getting hit at 25mph with 450lbs of metal and meat is more than enough to ruin his day.

[LittleRedNinjette]

Originally Posted by xSean13

Danmoto is cheap in price & relatively decent sounding. I had the Jisu, but the GP is popular too, although some people had issues with the carbon cans.

I have a Danmoto on mine without the baffle. Love it and it sounds good and is loud as hell. I have the baffle on order to try. Some are saying the tone is better with it.
I did have to shim the needles for it though. And i think you'll have to do something with the needles or the jets to get it to run rite.

[xSean13]

Yeah, with my kleen system + snorkel removed, I had to run it shimmed w/ 3 washers

[LittleRedNinjette]

I think we did 3 on mine for the slip-on and a K&N air filter. The BF did the work. i'm not to good with that stuff yet.

[Ev3rL0nG]

I constantly get compliments on my growler's sound. To each their own I guess, all the slip-ons sound alike to me.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by rPanda

A biker or a pedestrian getting hit at 25mph with 450lbs of metal and meat is more than enough to ruin his day.

Yes, but the example I was referencing was mfresh's example of passing cyclists in the mountains and them getting over to the right because they could hear him coming.

1) You're responsible legally for not hitting what's in front of you. If you're going so fast that you can't react to things in the road like cyclists and gravel and potholes, slow down.

2) I ride a road bike all the time. Trust me when I say that you hear all traffic coming by you from a good ways off; loud cars, quiet cars, semi's, motorcyclists, everything. A loud bike is no different than a quiet one from that perspective.

But I do agree with mfresh's last sentence in post number 15. I think that really sums it all up. It's not worth getting a loud pipe because you're relying on it to make you more noticed.

Also, you missed the second point I made when you quoted me. Cars have a ton of sound deadening material in them. A loud bike, in my experience driving, makes no difference when driving a car.

[Panda]

People, animals, children, cars, bicyclists, can jump in your path regardless of your speed. If people can hear you in some situations they won't jump in your path. Saying "slow down" doesn't address the point of contention that sound increases the ability of others to perceive you in some situations.

I ride in the city down one way streets all the time. My louder pipe let's others on the street know that I am there. In the same way that a pedestrian would not be aware of a bicyclist that they can't see or hear coming down the street in some instances a pedestrian can hear me before they see me.

I didn't address your second point because we can trade points all day about instances where a loud pipe is useless and instances where a loud pipe increases others ability to perceive you. See above.

My point is that it's not a one size fits all answer. Saying sound doesn't increase the ability of other people to perceive you in all cases is stupid. Getting a loud pipe and believing that instantly others will always be aware of you is equally stupid.

[mfresh]

Well said @rPanda

[aeroblade]

I must be the only nutcase here who loves the subtle stock sound of the 250

[choneofakind]

No you're not the only one. I just put my air box back on because I hated how loud the intake was. I only have a full exhaust system because I like what it did to the bike performance-wise. I wish I had gotten a quiet core full system from Area P instead of my Muzzy.

[aeroblade]

A friend took my bike for a spin and that was the first time I actually paid attention to the sound. Its really different when you're on it.

[NathanUc]

A lot of people are against a louder than stock exhaust and to me, that just doesn't make any sense. How is being more noticeable a bad thing? Just because your exhaust is a bit louder doesn't mean you're going to ignore other techniques to be more noticable. Reliance isn't a concern. If you know how to ride correctly, you know how to be visually noticed for the few who check their mirrors. You'd do this with or without a loud exhaust....

You can still hear the bike behind you, just not as well as you would next to you or in-front of you. Besides, even if you could only hear it next to you, it would help reduce drivers changing into your lane.

It is a safety feature because, again, many people don't check their mirrors or use indicators. You could be wearing a neon red tron jacket at midnight and some drivers still won't see you. If you're riding a stock exhaust (even my 636), a modern car next to you WILL NOT hear you. It's not a guaranteed deterrence, but if can ONLY help.

The only real argument one could possible make is in a situation where people get overly loud obnoxious exhausts. Those can just damage hear and disrupt others. If anyone can make a logical argument that an aftermarket exhaust is MORE DANGEROUS than a silent stock one, I'm all ears. So far, there aren't any.

Originally Posted by aeroblade

A friend took my bike for a spin and that was the first time I actually paid attention to the sound. Its really different when you're on it.

It's amazing how little you can hear a stock exhaust when you're not on the motorcycle.

[aeroblade]

Originally Posted by NathanUc

It's amazing how little you can hear a stock exhaust when you're not on the motorcycle.

A lot of people are against a louder than stock exhaust and to me, that just doesn't make any sense. How is being more noticeable a bad thing? Just because your exhaust is a bit louder doesn't mean you're going to ignore other techniques to be more noticable. Reliance isn't a concern. If you know how to ride correctly, you know how to be visually noticed for the few who check their mirrors. You'd do this with or without a loud exhaust....

You can still hear the bike behind you, just not as well as you would next to you or in-front of you. Besides, even if you could only hear it next to you, it would help reduce drivers changing into your lane.

It is a safety feature because, again, many people don't check their mirrors or use indicators. You could be wearing a neon red tron jacket at midnight and some drivers still won't see you. If you're riding a stock exhaust (even my 636), a modern car next to you WILL NOT hear you. It's not a guaranteed deterrence, but if can ONLY help.

The only real argument one could possible make is in a situation where people get overly loud obnoxious exhausts. Those can just damage hear and disrupt others. If anyone can make a logical argument that an aftermarket exhaust is MORE DANGEROUS than a silent stock one, I'm all ears. So far, there aren't any.

I never said louder exhausts are bad, I just said I love the sound of the stock exhaust. Besides my previous bike was a cruiser and it was modified to have a loud exhaust note. I've received several complaints from my neighbors that it was so loud that it woke the entire neighborhood when I went for my early morning rides. But in the city the loud note came in handy, everyone would look around to see where the sound was coming from and this as a matter of fact kept them vigilant. Never had a single crash.

[NathanUc]

Originally Posted by aeroblade

I never said louder exhausts are bad, I just said I love the sound of the stock exhaust. Besides my previous bike was a cruiser and it was modified to have a loud exhaust note. I've received several complaints from my neighbors that it was so loud that it woke the entire neighborhood when I went for my early morning rides. But in the city the loud note came in handy, everyone would look around to see where the sound was coming from and this as a matter of fact kept them vigilant. Never had a single crash.

I guess I didn't format that post as well as I should have. Really, only the first line was directed at you, sorry!

[aeroblade]

Originally Posted by NathanUc

I guess I didn't format that post as well as I should have. Really, only the first line was directed at you, sorry!

Ey its alright mate, I was not offended

[Panda]

Originally Posted by NathanUc

If anyone can make a logical argument that an aftermarket exhaust is MORE DANGEROUS than a silent stock one, I'm all ears.

A loud aftermarket exhaust can lead to the rider fatiguing rapidly.

[choneofakind]

For starters, loud bikes annoy people. Every time you start up to go to work early, or you get back late, you annoy neighbors and locals. So they complain to local law enforcement and/or their local government representatives.

Then we get proposals in state/federal governments about banning bikes from certain places or imposing ridiculous rules about aftermarket exhaust systems or we start getting targetted unfairly by the police for being heard as we ride by.

So maybe a loud exhaust is not immediately dangerous from a traffic perspective, but definitely dangerous to the sport as a whole. We've already seen some proposed laws that are more strict on motorcycle exhausts.

I'm aware that I'm part of the 'problem' because I own an aftermarket exhaust, but I do everything in my power to keep myself in check when I would bug people with noise. Also, my bike is much quieter than those that are running straight pipe or some of the brands of exhaust that are known to be louder than others.

[LittleRedNinjette]

Originally Posted by rPanda

A loud aftermarket exhaust can lead to the rider fatiguing rapidly.

How so? I've never experienced this with mine, even when i'm on a long weekend ride.

[Panda]

Originally Posted by LittleRedNinjette

How so? I've never experienced this with mine, even when i'm on a long weekend ride.

Anecdotal - http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/prof...e-fatigue.html

Study - http://www.ciop.pl/27980

[NathanUc]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

For starters, loud bikes annoy people. Every time you start up to go to work early, or you get back late, you annoy neighbors and locals. So they complain to local law enforcement and/or their local government representatives.

Then we get proposals in state/federal governments about banning bikes from certain places or imposing ridiculous rules about aftermarket exhaust systems or we start getting targetted unfairly by the police for being heard as we ride by.

So maybe a loud exhaust is not immediately dangerous from a traffic perspective, but definitely dangerous to the sport as a whole. We've already seen some proposed laws that are more strict on motorcycle exhausts.

I'm aware that I'm part of the 'problem' because I own an aftermarket exhaust, but I do everything in my power to keep myself in check when I would bug people with noise. Also, my bike is much quieter than those that are running straight pipe or some of the brands of exhaust that are known to be louder than others.

I understand that overly loud pipes are annoying to people. I'm not talking about the ones you hear from miles away. My previous exhaust was loud enough to be heard in the streets, but not to 'annoy' people unless I was being stupid and redlining around town. I believe a lot of states have limits on noise levels because of this.

The problem with that argument the bikes ruining it for the rest of us are bikes with straight pipes and exhausts like the Growler/Jardin. Those types of exhausts are almost always "illegal" for use on the street anyways. I'm talking about aftermarket exhausts that would allow you to pass emissions if your state required it. They are often louder, but no where near obnoxiously louder.

That also pretty much eliminates the argument for rider fatigue. That's an interesting argument, but those studies focus on being subjected to loud noises (and almost certainly louder than the average aftermarket pipe on a 250) over longer periods of time (shift work). It's the closest thing to a real rebuttal in my opinion, but still falls short.

[Bob2010]

Why is everyone soo over sensitive about goddamn exhausts ?! Lmfao these threads pop up as much as the "oh sh!t I crashed" ones.
Tells me 2 things:
Inexperience
And
False sense of safety to compensate for reckless riding habits

[NathanUc]

Originally Posted by Bob2010

Why is everyone soo over sensitive about goddamn exhausts ?! Lmfao these threads pop up as much as the "oh sh!t I crashed" ones.
Tells me 2 things:
Inexperience
And
False sense of safety to compensate for reckless riding habits

My experiences are why I believe in loud exhausts.

It's not a false sense of safety that we use as an excuse to be more reckless. It's a safety feature we use for situations when bad drivers choose not to see us. Anyone with riding experiences know that many drivers don't check their mirrors or use turn signals.

Personally, I don't think anyone is being over sensitive about it. It's just a conversation about our opinions and experiences. Over sensitive is when insults and other topics start flying or when people stop being open minded.

[LittleRedNinjette]

Originally Posted by rPanda

Anecdotal - http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/prof...e-fatigue.html

Study - http://www.ciop.pl/27980

Working in a loud environment and ridding a bike with a loud pipe is like apples to oranges. Not the same. And the first link was a guy that knew he was to tired. Still not the same.
Maybe if you going on a long highway ride where the constant drone would get to you, i could see that. BUT you would have the some problem with any constant noise, not just a loud pipe.
Anyway, a loud pipe is not a cure all for safety. You still need to be vigilant and use your horn and high beam to insure other motorists see/hear you.
That's my