Do you wonder how to make motorcycle exhaust sound deeper like some professional motorcyclists make the roaring sound? The answer lies in how they modify the muffler.
The muffler is the part of your exhaust that muffles the sounds produced and keeps your environment noise-free. However, many people, particularly professional bikers, have started to modify their mufflers, so they’re a lot louder.
A lot of people won’t understand the appeal. It’s just noisier. But only a true motocross enthusiast would cherish the satisfying sound their motorcycle makes without a muffler.
Nevertheless, you should be very careful when fiddling with the muffler. Not only could it be illegal, but you might also block the exhaust’s path.
But all things aside, do you know how to make motorcycle exhaust sound deeper? Here’s a short guide to help you get started.
Purpose of The Motorcycle Exhaust:
What’s the point of a motorcycle exhaust? The motorcycle exhaust performs two curricula functions: exhausting combustion gasses and muffling noise.
When fuel combusts in your engine, leave behind harmful gasses that must be removed from the system immediately. A motorcycle exhaust performs this function much like the exhaust of a car or a truck.
However, your motorcycle’s exhaust performs another crucial function: muffling noise. People who have been on tracks would know how incredibly loud a motorcycle with no muffler can get. Exhausts typically come with mufflers installed in them. But you can buy a muffler separately as well.
How to Make Motorcycle Exhaust Sound Deeper?
Method 1: Removing Baffles
The easiest way how to make your motorcycle exhaust sound deeper is by removing the baffles. The process is quite simple and doesn’t require a lot of skill. However, one should be careful when removing the baffles, as this may cause your engine to roar. Check up on local laws to see if it’s illegal to remove the baffles on your exhaust.
Step 1: Remove the Bolts
First, you need to find the 10-inch nut and bolt at the end of the exhaust pipe. It is this nut and bolt that fastens your baffler with the exhaust pipe. To unbolt this, you must reach into the exhaust pipe.
Use your wrench to unbolt the exhaust pipe from the baffle. However, you’ll want to keep the bolt on the baffler to prevent it from falling.
Step 2: Remove the Baffle
Now that you’ve unbolted the nut, it’s time to remove the baffle. Take your flathead screwdriver and place it at the end of the baffle. Now give it a little push back, so the baffle detaches completely from the pipe. If it shows some resistance, considering unfastening the bolt some more.
Step 3: Reinstall the Muffler
Now that you’ve removed the baffle, you should reinstall the muffler where it usually goes. Work your way backward and screw in any screws or bolts that you removed.
The baffle is the part of the muffler that muffles out any sound produced by the vehicle’s exhaust. By removing it, you’re essentially letting yourself and everyone around you take the full blast of the noise.
It’s a good idea to keep the original baffle in case of inspections or if you want to sell the motorbike in the future.
Method 2: Modifying the Muffler
Now you know how to make motorcycle exhaust sound deeper by removing the baffle. But since the entire baffle has been removed, you get to hear all the noise with no attenuation. This can be bothering not only you but the people around you. And local laws might be against it.
Instead of completely removing the baffle, you can modify your muffler and make the sound deeper to a certain extent. Here’s how:
Step 1: Cut the Muffler
The first step is to cut through the muffler. For this, you’ll need a hacksaw or any blade that will work through the metal. You may want to remove the muffler from the motorbike to make this easier, but it’s unnecessary.
To remove the muffler, you can unfasten the screw/bolt that holds it together. If your muffler is welded, you can cut through it and then weld it again, but it’s not recommended. It’s a good idea to hold up the muffler when you’re removing it and keeping your feet away from it in case it falls.
Start by cutting around the part of the exhaust pipe that juts out from the muffler. Keep cutting through up till the point where the disc is going through it. Now, you’ll need a smaller blade, one that can comfortably fit inside of the pipe. Next, cut two inches around the inside of the pipe.
Step 2: Twist with Your Pliers
After that, use your pliers to twist the cut piece of metal to cut a bit cleaner. In this way, the end of your exhaust pipe should pop right off.
This will significantly increase the volume of your exhaust. And depending on how far you cut, you can deepen the sound or make it shallower.
Like before, you should keep the baffle with you in case your motorbike needs to be taken for an inspection. Plus, if you want to sell your bike in the future, you’ll need to retain the original baffle. And in many cases, you’ll need to install the baffle again before you can sell it.
What Are Stock Mufflers?
You may have heard the term being thrown around, so what are stock mufflers? Stock mufflers are the mufflers that your motorbike already comes with. These are usually relatively silent and don’t produce a satisfying enough sound.
If you do want to deepen the sound, you can use any of the above two methods. Either you can remove the baffle entirely or shorten the exhaust pipe to make the sound a lot deeper.
Stock mufflers come with the bike, but you can purchase them separately as well. They’re a lot cheaper than performance mufflers and often a lot less efficient too. Plus, they are prone to bending and will deteriorate in quality if you overburden the car.
These mufflers aren’t as efficient as performance mufflers and will hinder the amount of horsepower you can get. You may not notice it nor be able to understand it, but your vehicle’s exhaust plays a vital role in the power output of your bike.
What Are Performance Mufflers?
What are performance mufflers, and why are they better than stock mufflers? Performance mufflers are specifically designed to overcome the adversities of stock mufflers. Visually, performance mufflers can be differentiated from stock mufflers by their wider diameters.
Durability-wise, performance mufflers are twice as good. They aren’t prone to bending under heat or stress. Unlike stock mufflers, which use crush bending, performance mufflers use mandrel bending. This ensures that heat and overuse won’t affect your muffler.
And regarding fuel economy, performance mufflers should be your go-to choice. Stock exhausts aren’t as efficient or economical as performance mufflers.
Furthermore, if you want to know how to make motorcycle exhaust sound deeper, buy a performance muffler. They are more or less louder and make deeper sounds than stock mufflers. You can perform any of the above two modifications on them as well. But their natural sound is a lot deeper than that of a stock muffler.
FAQ
Does A Larger Exhaust Tip Change the Sound?
Yes, but only slightly. A larger exhaust tip means more air is expelled, resulting in a deeper sound. A smaller exhaust tip, on the other hand, means the opposite.
Does Cutting Your Exhaust Make It Louder?
Yes, cutting part of the exhaust will shorten the gas’s path, resulting in a louder sound.
What Is the Loudest Type of Exhaust?
The loudest type of exhaust is, quite ironically, no exhaust. But this is neither recommended nor comfortable. There’s a louder version of this, too, though. You can replace the muffler with a resonant chamber, which enhances the sound instead of silencing it.
Or you can use a short header muffler to direct combustion gasses away from you. In the short header, the gasses have to travel a very short distance before being expelled. So, the sound doesn’t get muffled too much.
Is It Legal to Change Motorcycle Exhaust?
The law differs from location to location. Most aftermarket exhausts are legal as long as they follow the legal guidelines or are approved by the competent authority. This would mean that they don’t produce a lot of noise and prevent gasses from getting exhausted.
Most exhaust modifications, however, are illegal. Again, the law differs between locations and can change with time too. You are responsible for your motorcycle and can absolutely get a fine if you don’t comply with the local laws and regulations. In some countries, the bike might also get confiscated!
Are Aftermarket Motorcycle Exhausts Illegal?
Depends on where you are and when you’re reading this. In the UK, for example, you must get an aftermarket exhaust that’s MOT-approved. In the US, you shouldn’t pass the legal sound limit, which is around 82-86 decibels.
Check with local state or provincial laws to learn about the right sound level for your bike.
Are Straight Pipes Illegal on Motorcycles?
Straight pipes are illegal in most jurisdictions. Straight pipes don’t have mufflers and can be very loud, not to mention highly harmful to your engine. It’s best to avoid them even if they are legal.
Conclusion
So, now you know how to make motorcycle exhaust sound deeper! If you’re still confused, here’s a rundown:
There are two ways you can make the exhaust sound deeper. First, you can remove the baffle entirely. But this doesn’t allow you to adjust the level of sound. For that, you can go for the second method, in which you modify the muffler by cutting the exhaust pipe.
Additionally, you can swap out your stock muffler for an aftermarket performance muffler. But constantly research local laws first before modifying the exhaust.
Now that you know how to make the sound deeper, it’s time to work at it in your garage!
