Seems a bit messed up when the pipe you use on the road has to be swapped for a quieter one to use on a racetrack.Well, I put the original pipe back on the MT-09 today, mainly because I want to try it out at Castle Combe and they have very strict noise limits there - 105 Db (which doesn't sound too bad) but at 75% redline revs (which is much higher than most other tracks). The last time I was there, on a road bike only day, 10 bikes failed, including a new R1 with the standard pipe.
Anyway, I took it out for a test ride, and although the evidence from the speedo was that I was riding just as quickly, it just seems to have lost most of its character. All I could hear was the wind and some gear noise. So maybe that goes some way to answering Sdrio's original question - we all want our bikes to have that little extra something, and having it make a "nice" (to us) noise is one sure way of doing that.
I think the Akra will be going back on once it's had its track test!
Next in my series of pointless questions . . . why do people change their exhaust?
bobh
Member
Yes, it's ridiculous really. There's a long, and growing, list of bikes on CC's website of bikes that won't pass with standard pipes. Many of them are twins (Ducatis etc.) and the R1 crossplane sounds like a V4 - so it partly has to do with how the sound is made - a normal four makes a "smoother" noise.
It's not as if the circuit is that near the touristy village itself, and there are banks around most of it that must deflect the worst of the sound. But I suppose if the local council have imposed these limits they have to stick to them or risk losing their right to operate. That's the problem Mallory faced, and which almost got them shut down.
To be honest, Castle Combe is not one of my favourite tracks, but it's an easy hour's ride away, and with its chicanes it's quite suitable for a nimble bike rather than an out-and-out fast one. Now Cadwell, where I was yesterday with Hopp Rider Training, is something else!
It's not as if the circuit is that near the touristy village itself, and there are banks around most of it that must deflect the worst of the sound. But I suppose if the local council have imposed these limits they have to stick to them or risk losing their right to operate. That's the problem Mallory faced, and which almost got them shut down.
To be honest, Castle Combe is not one of my favourite tracks, but it's an easy hour's ride away, and with its chicanes it's quite suitable for a nimble bike rather than an out-and-out fast one. Now Cadwell, where I was yesterday with Hopp Rider Training, is something else!