Easy Way To Quiet Down An Exhaust? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Easy Way To Quiet Down An Exhaust?

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SVeezy

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This is likely a stupid question (mine tend to be lol).

So the exhaust on my FZ09 is quite loud. It’s a full system although I haven’t been able to find any indication of brand. I do like it but I doubt the neighbours etc do.

I also have the stock exhaust but I’d like to see if I can quiet this one down a bit before swapping it out. I’ve seen videos where people modify the baffles but I was wondering if there is anything even simpler. Most of the videos involved welding and I don’t have a welder. I have to take a look and see if there are bolts on the can to open it because cutting is not an option, I’d just sell at that point.

Edit: the end of the can is riveted on so I could grind them off

Cheers


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Don't grind the rivets off. Drill them out if you want to get the end off for a repack with proper packing. Please don't use pink fiberglass from your attic. I followed someone that did that. There was a cloud of insulation behind him. :(
 
If it is a fiberglass-packed muffler, the easiest thing to do is to re-pack the fiberglass if what's in there is either blown-out or so caked with carbon deposits that it can no longer do any muffling.

If the muffler does not have adequate volume of damping material (either because it's stylishly too short, or stylishly too small in outside diameter, or too large in inside diameter) then you'll have to replace the muffler with one of similar fitment but the longest, largest-outside-diameter, smallest-inside-diameter muffler that you can find.

The auxiliary baffles that fit into the end of the muffler to quiet it down a little bit more, are only effective if the fiberglass packing ahead of it is in good shape.
 
If you're concerned about excessive noise (and kudos to you for this level of awareness and responsibility) then why not just swap out the aftermarket system for the OEM one and be done with it. The aftermarket system might be giving you 3 - 5 extra HP and, really, does it make any real and effective difference to the performance of your bike and the way you ride it? I suspect not.
 
Ive read online somewhere that using ceramic packing is better at absorbing noise than fibreglass...not my experience but what I've heard YMMV.
 
Thanks all.

@Wingboy @brianp I appreciate the tips, I’ll look into this further

@ReSTored @boyoboy I’m not concerned about the horsepower at all. I will swap back to stock if needed but I’d like to keep a bit of a better imo sound if possible while toning it down to not be obnoxious. If I go back to stock the aftermarket will definitely be sold for travel money


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A lot of aftermarket exhausts come with a "dB killer" insert often held in by a circlip that quiets it down. Does yours have this option?

I find that with them in they are similarly loud at idle to stock and only noticeably louder than stock with the engine under load. So if you baby it in and out of your neighborhood it'll only be about as loud as stock.

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I can’t say it has this, it’s loud always. Once I open it up I’ll see what the insides show and update.


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SVeezy said:
I can’t say it has this, it’s loud always. Once I open it up I’ll see what the insides show and update.


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Click to expand...
dB killer is normally right in the anus and easy to see.

db-dawg5-jpg.44487
 
Figure out the brand and get a baffle for it, I like a bit of volume so I'm not just hearing a ticky engine but don't like insane exhausts like toce etc. Put a matching exhaust brand baffle in it (they all offer them) and it's a nice volume now.
 
If you are unhappy with the tone or "loudness" of your current after-market exhaust and you own the OEM exhaust, do not modify it. I would recommend you switch to the OEM and sell the after-market one un-modified, and either ride with the OEM one and pocket some money or save the money to find an after-market exhaust that suits your requirements. Trying to modify the after-market exhaust may not provide the result(s) you are seeking, and you'll only ruin the chances of either using it and/or selling it.
 
I have a full Akra on mine with the dB killer in. When I installed the pipe, I decided to ride around with the dB killer out! It was ridiculously loud! I bought mine with a stock pipe that had been modified (baffles removed) and it sounded really nice. I guess that is another option to get the sound you want but the work involved in that mod looked very involved. If your switching out full exhaust remember to get new crush gaskets!
 
Further inspection shows there is definitely no db killer.

Thanks everyone for the input.

I’ll probably put the stock exhaust on and see how I like that then go from there.

Cheers


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Fuzzbuster said:
I have a full Akra on mine with the dB killer in. When I installed the pipe, I decided to ride around with the dB killer out! It was ridiculously loud! I bought mine with a stock pipe that had been modified (baffles removed) and it sounded really nice. I guess that is another option to get the sound you want but the work involved in that mod looked very involved. If your switching out full exhaust remember to get new crush gaskets!
Click to expand...

Looks like the stock system is definitely going back on… went to do an oil change today and there is no clearance to get a socket on the drain plug. It looks like someone actually ground out part of the drain plug to clear the exhaust .


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Well I got the exhaust swapped out back to stock . It was a bit of extra work having to remove the engine guard etc but all went well… mostly.

I got everything snugged up, fired her up and she sounds absolutely docile now. Decided to pull out the torque wrench and tighten the header bolts to spec. FML one of the bolts snapped 🤬.

Good news is the exhaust is t leaking, but I can’t leave it like this. I’m going to order some new crush gaskets (used the old ones just to get the swap done), the drain plug to replace the ground off one, and the header bolts.

Hopefully they don’t eff me any further.


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