Going back to stock exhaust?

[LanceK]

My NC came with a two brothers exhaust and after installing my madstad windshield the sound of the exhaust while going down the highway is a little much. If I went back to the stock exhaust, could I expect a big reduction in the sound levels?

 

[Possummanj]

Yes

 

[Rabbit]

I think my wife’s sewing machine has a louder exhaust than the NC stock

 

[LanceK]

Hmm, sure sounds like that’s the way to go!

 

[the Ferret]

I think my wife’s sewing machine has a louder exhaust than the NC stock

Interesting. I think my stock exhaust on my 21 is pretty throaty. Sometimes annoyingly so.

 

[Rabbit]

Interesting. I think my stock exhaust on my 21 is pretty throaty. Sometimes annoyingly so.

All my friends ride Harley’s so I suppose I may be biased.

 

[750dct]

I like the stock exhaust sound and the looks of it too but when I was much younger that as the first thing to go. It's a matter of preference. Many people change it but get tired of hearing the louder one.

 

[dduelin]

Does Two Brothers sell a baffle or decibel killer that fits into the muffler? The Leo Vince on my 2013 is not much louder than stock but still has a deeper tone that I prefer over the stock sound when the baffle is in place.

 

[670cc]

I wonder if the stock exhaust noise level has changed as the NCX has morphed over the years. Someone posted once that they thought the 2016+ got louder than 2012-2015. LanceK, what year is your NC?

After riding my electric motorcycle , and driving my electric car, I find the exhaust noise of my stock ‘12 NC to be rather annoying. I wish it was quieter, but then there is also inevitable mechanical noise from all the moving parts. To me, moderate to loud engine exhaust noise seems so last century, so archaic and antiquated, and antisocial.

To answer the thread question, without any first hand experience, since it seems all aftermarket exhausts are as loud or louder than stock, then reverting to stock should be as quiet or quieter.

 

[INTHEWIND]

I wonder if the stock exhaust noise level has changed as the NCX has morphed over the years. Someone posted once that they thought the 2016+ got louder than 2012-2015. LanceK, what year is your NC?

After riding my electric motorcycle , and driving my electric car, I find the exhaust noise of my stock ‘12 NC to be rather annoying. I wish it was quieter, but then there is also inevitable mechanical noise from all the moving parts.

To answer the thread question, without any first hand experience, since it seems all aftermarket exhausts are as loud or louder than stock, then reverting to stock should be as quiet or quieter.

Ear plugs are your friend.

 

[670cc]

Ear plugs are your friend.

Yep. Ear plugs are my friend. I wear ear plugs on every ride, except when needing to use helmet communicator to converse with wife.

 

[Possummanj]

It may be easy and cheap to make a dB killer for the existing exhaust -what does the end cap look like? When I had my Strom it came with an obnoxiously loud exhaust and I made a killer from a stainless drain strainer mounted in the end cap--think it cost about $5 at HD and my time to drill some of the holes in it a bit larger---worked great-knocked the loud edge off the sound

 

[dduelin]

It may be easy and cheap to make a dB killer for the existing exhaust -what does the end cap look like? When I had my Strom it came with an obnoxiously loud exhaust and I made a killer from a stainless drain strainer mounted in the end cap--think it cost about $5 at HD and my time to drill some of the holes in it a bit larger---worked great-knocked the loud edge off the sound

When I was a teenager I had a two stroke Kawasaki with a torque pipe expansion chamber. Noisy as noisy can be at 5 AM. I threw a paper route with the bike so practically every other day I took a soda can, probably Tab or Fanta, and cut the top off and made 6 or 8 lengthwise cuts so I could draw the can diameter down to the tip of the pipe with a hose clamp. In the bottom of the can I punched a bunch of holes. These decibel killers lasted about two days due to vibration cracking the can but got the job done for nothing.

 

[LanceK]

Mine is a 2014
I wear ear plugs
They make a dB killer. $50 that seems like an expensive trial.

 

[750dct]

IDK why anyone would need earplugs with a stock exhaust but I guess "to each their own".

 

[potter0o]

IDK why anyone would need earplugs with a stock exhaust but I guess "to each their own".

I wear ear plugs for wind noise, the exhaust isn't an issue.

 

[670cc]

IDK why anyone would need earplugs with a stock exhaust but I guess "to each their own".

Yes, to each their own. I’ll tell you why I wear ear plugs with a stock exhaust: wind noise. I also wear ear plugs for the same reason while riding my electric motorcycle, which has no exhaust noise at all. Do an internet search on “motorcycle wind noise hearing damage” and you may find lots of articles.

Another thought that comes to mind as a result of your comment is if a rider wears ear plugs simply because of their own loud exhaust noise, what about the poor bystanders that are forced to listen to it unprotected?

 

[750dct]

Yes, to each their own. I’ll tell you why I wear ear plugs with a stock exhaust: wind noise. I also wear ear plugs for the same reason while riding my electric motorcycle, which has no exhaust noise at all. Do an internet search on “motorcycle wind noise hearing damage” and you may find lots of articles.

Another thought that comes to mind as a result of your comment is if a rider wears ear plugs simply because of their own loud exhaust noise, what about the poor bystanders that are forced to listen to it unprotected?

I doubt if any of that is going to hurt your ears, I worked with skil saws and nail guns etc for 25 years and my ears are fine. Many people endure a lot more noise at work than a little wind while riding on an electric bike and have no problems.

 

[CamaroEric]

I doubt if any of that is going to hurt your ears, I worked with skil saws and nail guns etc for 25 years and my ears are fine. Many people endure a lot more noise at work than a little wind while riding on an electric bike and have no problems.

According to OSHA the level of wind noise endured at certain (higher) speeds can damage ears over time or in a few minutes. It's as much argument as what oil is better.... I feel like ear plugs reduce my riding fatigue but I also don't want to lose my hearing. Most people probably won't be severely affected but I ride at 60mph an hour every day and I'm a musician. I don't want to take a chance.

 

[Rabbit]

I doubt if any of that is going to hurt your ears, I worked with skil saws and nail guns etc for 25 years and my ears are fine. Many people endure a lot more noise at work than a little wind while riding on an electric bike and have no problems.

Wind noise on a motorcycle is frequently in excess of 90 db. This, over time, can definitely cause permanent hearing loss. If you watch helmet reviews on Champion Motorsports (European channel) they measure the noise inside the helmet at speed. I think the quietest one I saw was around 85 db for a schuberth. Also remember the db scale isn’t linear it’s… logarithmic or exponential I can’t remember which.