| Author | Message | ||
     Catalan42 |
Erik Buell in Sport Rider There is a great interview with Erik Buell in the current (Jan 2011) issue of Sport Rider magazine. You should all run out and buy one! Teaser quote: "All the things that people know in Europe just seem to be unconsidered over here. You know, 'Motorcycles must be very big and loud and chromed, and must bark and smoke, and you only ride them on Sundays.' - Dear God, that's not what a motorcycle is!" www.sportrider.com | ||
| Rex |
In Motorcyclist too. sister publications, right? | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
I thought it was rather ironic that Erik said that he strongly disliked noise (basically saying that street bikes shouldn't be loud) but the under-bike exhaust design that's one of the Buell signature characteristics means that the system is so short that it's very hard to make one that flows well and is even remotely quiet. | ||
| Pattio |
Are you saying that Buell stock exhausts are louder than other bike's stock exhausts? Or that total power output is more important than weight distribution or aerodynamics? Or that he shouldn't have an opinion that modern street bikes could be quiet because he builds loud race bikes? Maybe you can get him to give you a job vetting his statements against your personal ideas, so he doesn't make these embarrassing gaffes in interviews. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Maybe he meant more like the straight pipe harleys | ||
| Anonymous |
Thefleshrocket, whoever you are, you are completely out to lunch claiming that an under the bike exhaust is not able to flow well and be quiet. That is a ridiculous and factually, technically undefendable statement. Buell's versions of H-D motors that were street legal made more power than any of the conventional exhaust versions. The ability to package such a large volume with multiple tune chambers that allowe noise reduction by damping frequncies rather than choking exhaust flow was the reason. 1" H2O backpressure on a 78 dB muffler. | ||
| Court |
That's TOTALLY inaccurate. | ||
| Ridenusa4l |
ya as i recall highscore did some flow testing and found that the STOCK can is actually on par in flow to STRAIGHT THROUGH designs!! only SLIGHTLY more restrictive! that my friend is what VERY GOOD engineering accomplishes! Jake | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Fleshrocket=foot in mouth. Whoops | ||
| Zac4mac |
Cue in a slew of facepalm pix I know, but it's Winter.  | ||
| Cataract2 |
I know, but it's Winter. Oh be quiet Zac. You can still ride to work there in CO. Can't really do that here in Germany due to lot's of ice everywhere much less snow. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
I based my comment on the 1125r exhaust comparison. If memory serves, practically every exhaust in that test made more power than stock and some made significantly more. Additionally even the quietest exhaust was far louder than stock. If it's possible to make noticeably more power than stock without being significantly louder than stock with an under-bike exhaust, why hasn't it been done? Longer exhaust systems and bigger mufflers (such as that custom high mount dual exhaust 1125r posted on Buelletinboard) manage to have noise levels closer to stock but make a good bit more power than stock. This isn't a scientific conclusion by any means but it would seem that an upgraded exhaust that retains the under bike mounting can't make significantly more power than stock without being significantly louder. And since longer systems seem to be able to make more power without a lot more noise, it would seem that an under bike exhaust system isn't long enough to offer significantly improved power without a lot of extra noise. This is not a criticism of the principle. I have a Barker on my 1125r and even with the quiet core, it's still LOUD. My original point was that I was surprised that Erik said that he disliked noisy bikes when every 1125 with an aftermarket exhaust qualifies as a noisy bike. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Also, allow me to amend my original post. I was referring to the power improving characteristics of aftermarket under bike pipes, not their flow compared to stock. What I meant to say was that I was surprised that Erik said that he disliked noisy bikes when it seems that the only way to get significant power gains on a bike like the 1125 while maintaining the under bike exhaust is to also make a lot more noise. Is Erik implying that he doesn't like 1125s with aftermarket exhausts since they are all much noisier than stock? | ||
| D_adams |
Yep, I heard that one direct from him myself when I showed him the prototype RT-4 back in June. Yeah, on a racebike, it's fine, but for street use, what I got was it just made you a magnet for any cops (gendarmes (sp?) was the word he used) in the area. Why attract undue attention if it's not needed? He definitely liked it, but only for the power/sound on a race bike. There was quite a bit of discussion over the bed rails of my truck at the time. I know I had a pretty good time anyways. | ||
| Curve_carver |
I'm not sure correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the stock exhaust not properly tested in the exhaust shootout? I think it had a baseline but not a 100 WOT pull tuned like the other aftermarket pipes. I think that Erik's design was shorthanded as a possible candidate in the shootout.I believe this was a huge error not testing the stock buell exhaust tuned at wot. I also agree with unnecessary noise.Thats why I always end up with the stocker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY6h-D6Dvm4 | ||
| Bettybuell |
Thefleshrocket, are you saying you can take a underseat or beside swingarm design and make more power than stock while keeping it as quiet as stock. Maybe but it would be as big as the muffler on my diesel pickup. Sure it would fit, but not if you wanted to go around corners or carry a passenger. | ||
| Mike1125r |
My 2009 buell 1125r with stock exhaust and stock ecm flashed from Erik Buell Racing. Best pull made 140rwhp dynojet  | ||
| Curve_carver |
Mike do you have a overlapped chart comparing the full vs the stocker? | ||
| Mike1125r |
No sorry I don't have an overlapped chart. | ||
| Pattio |
At first I thought fleshrocket was making some kind of accusation of hypocrisy against EB and I was annoyed. On further reflection, I have come around to realize that there is, indeed, a great amount of 'irony' in the fact that great minds expend great efforts to make things like the 1125's muffler, and then we, as motorcyclists, immediately take them off and discard them. What is it about us motorcyclists that makes us hate mufflers so much, and think that we know (and deserve) something 'better' than what came on the bike? We hate our mufflers, we hate our turn signals, we hate our license plates, 'cause each of us rugged individualists think we're so darn special. I'm no different, I've put different exhausts on the majority of bikes I've ever owned. I just don't think that I somehow know better than EB in doing so. I'm going to go tear the sleeves off my shirts so I can look like a cool guy. I sure wish shirt makers would make the sleeve threads easier to remove and tailor the shoulders so they fit right after I tear the sleeves off. | ||
| Father_of_an_era |
I don't think I know better that Eric nor do I believe most of us on here do think they know more then Eric. Its a matter of person preference and opinion. The Fleshrocket didn't makes claims of knowledge about the exhaust systems, he only made his opinion known. The ones who are qualified like D-adams and those alike are providing factual information with actual proof backing their claims. Maybe some want parts of their bike to have that cool factor but so what. It their bike and its their preference. Personally, I have modded my bike for both safety related and performance related purposes. The cool factor came when I purchased the R to begin with! | ||
| Tombuell |
Not for nothing, but when it comes to a motorcycle, I'd rather have a little noise than total silence. I bought my Buell back in May and in only 3 months I had 4 cars and a box truck almost run me off the road due to them having no idea that I was even there in the right lane on the highway. I previously owned an 07' Harley Night Train with V&H Big Radius pipes on it and in 3 years, I never had one vehicle try moving me off the road due to them having no idea I was there. So whether Erik is a fan of loud exhaust or not, my experience tells me it's worth it to have at least a little bit of noise. Of course it is 100% personal preference and to each his own. | ||
| Nattyx1 |
Tombuell I hear you. And yes, I can still do that even though I have a stonking-loud FMF pipe on my CR. I know it's politically-incorrect, but so is veal and I like mine in thick-cut chop-form and grilled thank you very much. The fmf doesn't make more power than stock, it DOES let cars know I'm coming when they're stopped and I'm filtering between em. And that my friends is an ass-saver. | ||
| Nattyx1 |
Amendment: Obviously it doesn't let the "cars know." What it does is make the drivers look up from their texting conversations and check their mirrors. | ||
| Jandj_davis |
I am in the minority camp that actually prefers the stock exhaust sound over any aftermarket can. Unfortunately, I bought my bike with the race can on it and have never put forth the effort to replace it with a stocker. | ||
| Jdugger |
I've got an essentially new stocker I could be made to part with. You in Texas? | ||
| Dman |
I'll need to grab the mag, thnx. As for exhaust, on my other bikes, like R1, I kept stock, I too have no desire to attract unwanted attention, I agree with Erik on that one. On the 1125, I think they did too good of a job for me though, it was so quiet IMO. I went with a Barkers becasue of the shootout, most bang for the buck & quietest. I'll admit I love to hear it, but would rather me quite a bit quieter for the reasons Erik told Dean. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
The attitude of local police certainly has a lot to do with the viability of running an aftermarket (IE loud) exhaust on an 1125. Fortunately in my area (southern Illinois, which is mostly small towns with rural areas in between), the cops don't give too much scrutiny to bikes. I've ridden next to a cop in stop-and-go traffic for a mile or so on my Barker-equipped 1125 and I don't think he even gave me a glance. I've ridden past cops on plenty of other occasions with no trouble either. That said, my personal preference would be for something quieter than the Barker with the quiet core but a lot louder than the stock exhaust which seems whisper quiet. My previous liter-class twin was an '03 SV1000S with a Yosh 3/4 "race" system on it. It came with a quiet core insert installed, which I promptly removed. That was about the perfect level of loudness as far as I'm concerned. The Barker with the quiet core is easily louder. I've got two videos I took of the SV before selling it: http://www.thefleshrocket.com/images/bike/sv/yosh_ exhaust/ Anyway, I didn't mean to derail the thread into an exhaust discussion.. the reason I made my original post was that Erik's comment about not liking loud bikes was blown up really big in Sport Rider so it caught my attention. Motorcyclist and Cycle World (I know the interview was also in Motorcyclist and I think it was in CW too) didn't give any extra emphasis to that comment. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Back on topic, Erik's comment about the differing attitudes of European riders compared to American riders rings true. European riders, it would seem, are more concerned about practicality and all-around usefulness of bikes rather than either outright "show" (the chromed out trailer queen bikes) or "go" (which bike posts the best numbers and won the most recent comparison test). I'll admit that I used to be a spec sheet junkie myself and I bought my '03 GSX-R1000 because it was the fastest, most powerful and best reviewed bike at the time. More recent purchases (like my SV1000S, Daytona 675 and 1125R) have been based on less tangible things like character and coolness. That said, I won't buy a bike that oozes coolness if it doesn't have the performance to back it up--my '03 Z1000 was a sexy bike but disappointing in every other category. The problem with selling to the American public is that unless the bike has an HD logo on it or is the most billy-badass sportbike of the moment, it probably won't sell well. So a lot of good bikes (like Buells) end up getting ignored. Speaking of which, how well did Buells sell in Europe? | ||
| Cataract2 |
Flesh, seen more Buells here in Germany where I'm stationed than I did the whole time I was in the US no matter where I was. |
