I'm about to buy an exhaust, but I don't know if I should buy an "open" or "street legal."
Apparently, open is louder, but how much louder? Will I get pulled over?
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I'm about to buy an exhaust, but I don't know if I should buy an "open" or "street legal."
Apparently, open is louder, but how much louder? Will I get pulled over?
All you are looking for is to be pulled over.
Depending on the actual exhaust, open typically means REALLY LOUD when compared to a nice quiet OEM street legal setup.
Cheers.
Moderator
What do you mean by "open"?
If you mean a straight unmuffled exhaust, commonly seen on Harleys, they are most certainly illegal. The particular clause of the Highway Traffic Act concerning mufflers is poorly worded, but you would have a hard time defending a straight-thru unmuffled exhaust even with that poor wording. And you will attract every cop within 5 kilometers.
If you mean the usual aftermarket muffler, which is a straight-through core surrounded by fiberglass packing, it is in the grey area of that HTA clause.
It is in your interest to buy something reasonably quiet and non-attention-getting, and if the muffler manufacturer offers a noise-reducing baffle (many do), get that and put it in. If there is no direct path from one end to the other then it is not a "straight exhaust" as written in that HTA clause.
Be aware that there are some clowns with badges who think that anything that isn't original-equipment, is illegal. Depends on where you go. The whole province of Quebec is like that, from what I've been told, and I've heard Ottawa cops are like that.
I"m about to buy a Carbon Fibre Akrapovic exhaust for my Kawasaki ZX-6R. And Tony at Blue Streak Racing asked if I wanted Open or Street Legal.Originally Posted by Brian P
So buy the street legal.
I had my baffles taken out, some spacers thrown in, and then the baffles popped back in there. The couple of mm gap created gives the appearance of the baffles being in there, doesn't hurt backpressure (hopefully anyway...) and you let all the sound out. In my case I got a sound that wasn't amplified or anything (not like some of those straight pipes), and at the same time louder (and in my opinion, better) than stock. I get noticed, people hear me, but I don't wake up the neighbours... as long as they didn't put their **** in my recycle bin.
Hopefully this won't be another one of those loud pipes save lives vs. loud pipes are for ******** threads. Anyone who cares to argue that needs to get out and ride...
So I spoke to Tony at Blue Streak, and he told me that :
"Nobody actually imports these to NA as the open slip on is fairly quite. The Street Legal is really intended for countries like Germany that have very strict testing."
So I went ahead and order the Open exhaust.
From the manufactuer's website:
"Evolution" is Akrapovic's flagship, and it is not excessively loud. I don't think anyone on the street would give it a second thought.92dB to 98dB (street legal Slip-on, Bolt-on)
98dB to 102dB (Racing, and Evolution)
94 dB (offroad)
Noise measurements are made following the standard procedure: 50 cm from the exhaust outlet at an angle of 45° to the side of the outlet.
Security transcends technology
Transport Canada regs for new motorcycles sold in Canada call for a 82 dBA limit on noise for all but the smallest motorcycles. Every 10 Db increase represents a doubling of perceived volume.
3. Every motorcycle shall be so constructed that
(a) where tested in accordance with Annex 3 to ECE Regulation No. 41, Uniform Provisions concerning the Approval of Motor Cycles with regard to Noise, dated January 19, 1981, as amended September 14, 1984, excluding the requirements of paragraph 3.2 of that Annex, the exterior sound level does not exceed
(i) 77 dBA, in the case of a motorcycle with an engine displacement not exceeding 80 cm3,
(ii) 80 dBA, in the case of a motorcycle with an engine displacement exceeding 80 cm3 and not exceeding 175 cm3, and
(iii) 82 dBA, in the case of a motorcycle with an engine displacement exceeding 175 cm3;
That legislation (as posted) lacks details...
It is weird that it just says "82 dBA" without specifics of the distance between the exhaust and the measuing instrument.
Akrapovic's website says that the "Street Legal" pipes ( 92dB to 98dB) are exactly the same as OEM, as per the measuring procedure they use ("50 cm from the exhaust outlet at an angle of 45° to the side of the outlet").
It just makes me wonder...
Security transcends technology
Moderator
Here is something for you to chew on.
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/713/37...ound-Test.aspx
In my opinion, if the legislature chose to abolish the existing vague clause and replace it with a requirement to be in compliance with this standard, it would remove ALL the uncertainty and we would all be able to ascertain whether or not our bikes are in compliance BEFORE getting ticketed, and there would be a black and white method of defending a ticket ... and a black and white method of convicting the gross offenders, too.
But, this is Ontario, and that might be too much to ask.
P.S. this standard is intended as a compromise that allows reasonable aftermarket solutions, but unmuffled or ignorantly undersized mufflers won't pass.
The test procedure is referred to by the opening conditional phrase "where tested in accordance with Annex 3 to ECE Regulation No. 41, Uniform Provisions concerning the Approval of Motor Cycles with regard to Noise, dated January 19, 1981, as amended September 14, 1984, excluding the requirements of paragraph 3.2 of that Annex".
Look at http://www.unece.org/trans/doc/2009/...B-2009-03e.doc starting at page 18 through 32 to see just how specific the testing procedure is.
The short version comes in the form of a flow chart and pictures at page 33 and 34.
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