| Author | Message | ||
     Augustus74 |
What exhaust will make my XB sound the least like a Harley? Maybe sound like a Ducatti? I also have a Harley so not looking for another loud/no pipe sounding bike. How much does a different header make sound wise? Does hi-temp coating or wrapping the exhaust change the sound at all? | ||
| Jraice |
Drummer is a favorite for performance and sound... As is Special Ops... Neither will sound like an open pipe harley, I was told by my dealer that a buell with a drummer will be just a bit quiter then my dads touring harley with rhineharts and I think its the perfect volume... The engine is smaller then a touring harley and reving 1.5-2 times the amount so even if its a similar exhaust setup (which its not) it still will sound much different. Now a ducati, maybe not, but it will sound sweet and different then a harley with almost any pipe. | ||
| Buelltroll |
Leave it stock so it sounds like a blender.... | ||
| Jraice |
Haha yeah my industrial sewing machine is getting old afer less then a week  . Drummer should be hear by the begining of April though  | ||
| Andymnelson |
Get a Ducati maybe?  I'm thinking you bought the wrong bike. If you don't want it to sound like a Harley, you probably shouldn't have bought one with a Harley motor. Jraice has yet to hear either pipe- they both sound like Harleys....because they are. Download the American Sport Bike shootout here: ftp://ftp.americansportbike.com/outgoing/XB_Exhaus t_Shootout_Test_Report.zip In the folder that unzips are all the test data, as well as sound clips for each pipe used. Study the data carefully alongside the soundclips, and the race pipe clip sounds NOTHING like my XB9 with race pipe. Should give you the ability to compare pipes however. | ||
| Jaimec |
Since it's a Harley engine, it'll ALWAYS sound like a Harley... just at different volumes depending on which exhaust you use. Metallica always sounds like Metallica no matter where you set the volume on your stereo, why should your engine be any different? Don't want your Buell to sound like a Harley? Buy the 1125R or 1125CR then. | ||
| Froggy |
Foul a spark plug, instant thumper, problem solved. | ||
| Jraice |
I have heard a D and D and while maybe lugging around at 2,000rpm it'll sound like a harley, the way buells are ridden its noticably different to a harley rider but perhaps to the untrained non riding ear its no different. | ||
| Jraice |
And if you read the OP's thread he talks about loud no-pipe harleys, it may have a tune similar to one but its far from an open pipe bike. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Best bet is to leave it stock. Other than that, it gonna be hard to get a Harley motor to not sound like a Harley motor. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Metallica: you haven't been following the recent fuss about their recording compression settings. They sound more like a sewing machine in a blender now. Yep, it sounds like a Harley and just enough different to throw everybody off. That's one of the major reasons why I bought one. Xopti had a pipe design which had the sound of raw V8, with the washer in it. He can't sell it but he left the mod online someplace. That might be what you're looking for. | ||
| Rah7777777 |
my XB9S with special ops, does have the "potato-potato-potato" sound at idle. Sounds pretty bad ass if you ask me. Once you start riding, it still has a nice semi loud rumble, but not as much potato sound. BUT, on a really cool note, if im riding and blip the throttle it sounds MEAN!!! plus most cagers think by the sound its a harley, then when they see the bike, they point and say "hey what the hell is that, someone built a sportbike with a V-twin!" I LOVE my special ops pipe, but I did just move and the new neighbors don't like the noise.....so im trying to sort my options, as I don't want to take that pipe off!! I need it to be semi quiet at idle and roar up top! just my 2 pennies! | ||
| Augustus74 |
Been listening to vids on Youtube, but its hard to get a good idea of the true sound in most of those clips. I know full well what I bought, I just don't want to sound like every Harley out there, much less the one parked right next to it. Looking for an agressive growl more then just being loud. | ||
| Js_buell |
Well not to sound like a dick but you bought a bike with a harley motor in it so it's going to sound like a harley no mater what. the guys are right when they say you should have gotten something else maybe like the 1125 line if you really wanted to stick with buell. | ||
| Spdrxb |
Speaking of that who makes the engine in the 1125? Harley have any input in the design? If not is that a gateway of things to come, I happen to like the association buells have with harley. Sportbike with harley powerplant thats one of the reasons I bought a Buell to begin with. | ||
| Blackm2 |
I don't know, maybe it is just me, but it bothers me that you guys are saying these are Harley motors. Yes it is a Harley design, 45 degree, 4 stroke, V-twin. They stopped being "just Harley" motors back in the late 90's when they slapped on Thunderstorm heads. I have torn my motor down, and I don't see a bar and shield casting on it anywhere, I see Buell casting. Harley Sportsters didn't get rubber mountings until 2004. They didn't get fuel injection until 2007! The real kicker is, no Sportster has ever put out over a hundred horses without spending a crapload of money to do it. Buells ride off the showroom like that. The only Harley that has that much or greater horsepower is the V-Rod, and Porsche had to help them do that. Harley bought into Buell, because quite frankly, they kick ass. Harley does not make Buells. Buell makes Buells. Oh, and Augustus, go with the Drummer, I think that would be the sound you want. (Message edited by blackm2 on March 28, 2009) (Message edited by blackm2 on March 28, 2009) | ||
| Buelltroll |
You're not looking hard enough then,my 03 HAS a bar n shield logo cast into the head.... | ||
| Vanvideo |
I always thought that was one of the appealing characteristics of Buells - that harley engine. I now ride a stock Nightster and you know what? - I wish it sounded more like my old race-exhaust XB9R! | ||
| 03firebolt |
Yea my 03 heads and jugs are stamped with a bar and shield. | ||
| Niceguyeddy |
My '08 has the stamp...like it or not. | ||
| Andymnelson |
It's a Harley motor. | ||
| Andymnelson |
....and mine has the bar and shield stamped on it. I remember that actaually being the first thing I showed my neighbors when I brought it home- they had no idea what I was riding, so I pointed to the bar and shield (many of them ride Harleys) and boy did they look confused! | ||
| Jaimec |
The only input Harley had into the 1125 engine was to give Buell the go-ahead to pursue that venue. Thank God for that, the LAST time Harley tried to build a liquid-cooled engine for Buell, they ended up making so many design changes so they could use it in a muscle cruiser that when Erik saw the final design, he passed on it. The 1125 engine is a Buell design developed in tandem with Rotax of Austria. | ||
| Andymnelson |
oh and to answer your question about wrapping exhaust, here is my experience: the header wrap did not change the sound at all. | ||
| Augustus74 |
I am by no means looking to sound like a Jap bike guys. I have a Sporster with the baffles out of the exhaust. I don't want both bikes to sound exactly the same. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
My bike's still in storage until next Saturday. Where is the bar and shield stamp located exactly? | ||
| Iamarchangel |
BTW, seeing as this thread has barely stayed on topic... When I was looking for insurance for my 9R, one company saw it as a Buell sportbike and wanted $2800 for the year. The company I went with saw it as a HD sportbike and wanted $1000 (big reduction on following years). Do you think I spent any time on fine tuning the name details? | ||
| Augustus74 |
Off topic - a little. I got my Firebolt used from a dealer and they wrote up the bill of sale as year/make/model - 2004 Harley-Davidson Buell. No mention of it being a XB12R. I know the insurance can figure that out from the vin but i'm paying approximately $425 a year w/collision. | ||
| Augustus74 |
And as for my exhaust question, maybe the title throws people off a little. I went through the same thing when I had a 5.0 Mustang. Yes the cars/motors were the same so most Mustangs sounded the same, but some definitely sounded different/better. Anyone have a sound clip of any of the titanium exhausts? | ||
| Captcaz |
HD ... left side, front corner of the rear jug:  |
