Just checked all my V5C documents, only one of them has that information filled in, and that is my VW Tiguan diesel, so better cancel the big bore exhaust kit I was going to fit at the weekend! but until I read this post I no idea that anything was documented about noise, I would imagine just about every Harley Davidson being ridden around could nicked if there were any traffic cops around, I changed my Comet silencer quite recently as it was terrifyingly noisy, overtaking adults and children riding horses became a real worry to me, so much so I used to stop and kill the engine until they were a good distance away, I am not at all sure that young kids should be allowed to ride horses on the roads anyway, but that is a different subject entirely.
poor quality repop silencers
- Thread starter usefulidiot
- Start date
Well I had a goldstar type silencer [loudspeaker] on my 600 cc TPV Comet. 10:1 cr and racing cam I measured 120db.an earbleeding earth shattering noise.
I built a silencer myself with a Helmholtz resonator inside for max reduction at 4500 rpm. I am now down at 85 dB stationary. But under load the bike is still noisy, but acceptable.
Yet I can still rev it passed 6000 if I want to.
By the way it is not an EU thing, it is a a German brain fart the way they measure today.
But then at the age of 36 my son said he would like to ride one of my bikes, but we doesn't like the noise. He will wait for electric bikes to become cheaper.
What a crazy world, I can't believe a hairdryer will give me the same goosebumps as a Vincent accelerating hard.
I built a silencer myself with a Helmholtz resonator inside for max reduction at 4500 rpm. I am now down at 85 dB stationary. But under load the bike is still noisy, but acceptable.
Yet I can still rev it passed 6000 if I want to.
By the way it is not an EU thing, it is a a German brain fart the way they measure today.
But then at the age of 36 my son said he would like to ride one of my bikes, but we doesn't like the noise. He will wait for electric bikes to become cheaper.
What a crazy world, I can't believe a hairdryer will give me the same goosebumps as a Vincent accelerating hard.
One day at Snetterton when the Comet was sidelined we joined the 'other side' and ran the noise meter and a kneeler outfit did not pass untill we put a brick under its rear wheel then it was fine.
Best of all was an NSU sportmax giving terrible loud noise as it came up to the test point, still we worked out the revs from the stroke and up the rev band it climbed just when it got to the measuring level the noise dropped away and it passed! underneath the crankcase was a cross tube blanked off the owner said the had made a trombone extension and measured the noise at the measuring revs and moved the tube in and out till the noise dropped below the limit then he cut the tube blocked it off and brazed it up....
Best of all was an NSU sportmax giving terrible loud noise as it came up to the test point, still we worked out the revs from the stroke and up the rev band it climbed just when it got to the measuring level the noise dropped away and it passed! underneath the crankcase was a cross tube blanked off the owner said the had made a trombone extension and measured the noise at the measuring revs and moved the tube in and out till the noise dropped below the limit then he cut the tube blocked it off and brazed it up....
Just been to Armours, And spent all my money !, Don't tell the Wife.
I got myself a Stainless Silencer, £ 107- 40p, With VAT.
They are straight through, But the hole with the stuffing, Is about 1.3/8", So not a completely open pipe ! ,
The gas comes from the down pipe into the big part of the Silencer for a few inches, Then into the narrow bit that has holes in it, etc, The Bracket is welded on !!!!.
The Chrome one has a Bolted on Bracket !!, With a few holes in it.
Also has a baffle plate Blocking the Hole !!!, So will restrict it a bit, And make it more quiet ?.
But the Boss says, If you want a Chrome one with nothing in it, He can do it, But it will be LOUD !.
I find them very good to deal with, And they can do pretty much what you want.
They build the Silencers and then send them away for Chroming.
Cheers Bill.
Thanks Bill, I'll take a look round at the Annual this weekend and see what others have fitted.
Well I made a huge mistake, it seems. I ordered a complete exhaust system from Armour's. It cost 80 pounds for shipping to the US. Their price for the system is fair I thought, so no problem.
But yes, there's a problem. I don't see any way this system will fit. Both pipes will fit individually (I do have a twin -- a D Rapide) but when together, after a lot of fussing, trials and errors, I finally got both nuts threaded in. I didn't spin them completely home, just enough to see where things meet up.
The front pipe fouls the front cowl. (I do have a C-type cowl. The bike came with that when I bought it in 1976). The pipe itself points upward like a modern crotch rocket and there's no way the silencer will go on. The bracket on the rear of the pipe is about two inches too high. With the front pipe alone, there's no problem with the rear bracket. When both pipes are installed, the rear pipe forces the front one upward in the rear. It seems that the "Y" connection is in the wrong place, maybe at the wrong angle and maybe the curve of the one or both of the pipes is incorrect.
I emailed Armour's just now. Let's see what they say about this mess.
Perhaps some of you fine chaps might have some suggestions. I'm pretty sure this system can't be used without some serious bending and welding. If I could get this setup to work, I'd be fine with it but I think I'll be knocking out the flange and putting the nut back on my old system. That system is fine except for the chrome, which is in bad shape. This is the wrong time for the bike to be laid up, dammit.
Gary
But yes, there's a problem. I don't see any way this system will fit. Both pipes will fit individually (I do have a twin -- a D Rapide) but when together, after a lot of fussing, trials and errors, I finally got both nuts threaded in. I didn't spin them completely home, just enough to see where things meet up.
The front pipe fouls the front cowl. (I do have a C-type cowl. The bike came with that when I bought it in 1976). The pipe itself points upward like a modern crotch rocket and there's no way the silencer will go on. The bracket on the rear of the pipe is about two inches too high. With the front pipe alone, there's no problem with the rear bracket. When both pipes are installed, the rear pipe forces the front one upward in the rear. It seems that the "Y" connection is in the wrong place, maybe at the wrong angle and maybe the curve of the one or both of the pipes is incorrect.
I emailed Armour's just now. Let's see what they say about this mess.
Perhaps some of you fine chaps might have some suggestions. I'm pretty sure this system can't be used without some serious bending and welding. If I could get this setup to work, I'd be fine with it but I think I'll be knocking out the flange and putting the nut back on my old system. That system is fine except for the chrome, which is in bad shape. This is the wrong time for the bike to be laid up, dammit.
Gary
Sorry you are in trouble Gary, Twins have always been a problem with pipes.
Not sure it would work for you but changing the angle of the flange makes a huge difference.
Good Luck. Bill.
Not sure it would work for you but changing the angle of the flange makes a huge difference.
Good Luck. Bill.
Sorry Gary but I do not have any useful suggestions. I wrote on here years ago about my experience with Armours when I bought two sets of twin pipes off them. The stub pipes for the rear pipe and silencer to fit into were the same diameter as the main pipes, the junction for the rear pipe to the long pipe was in the wrong place and the hole in the main pipe for gasses from the rear pipe to enter was less than half the diameter it should have been. I took them back and offered to take a bike over there to act as a jig and was told that it was not necessary as they had a local Vincent owner who would help. Information on this forum more recently has suggested that they have improved but your experience, all the worse because of your distance from them, suggests that there is still a serious problem.
For years Bob Culver has been making the exhaust systems in steel using the original Vincent works jig. This is now more than 70 years old and was not in good condition 20 years ago. I have heard that the Spares Company has recently got someone else to make the pipes but whether this is correct only they can tell us. Anyone who has seen a modern tube bending machine in action will tell you that once the program has been set up then every pipe will come out the same to within thous. Moreover the machines are so powerful that they do not care whether it is steel or stainless steel which is being bent. Remember this is all thin walled tube. One of my other hobbies is sailing and I have seen these machines extrude s/s tube for marine use writhing around like a snake and even bending back on itself. I have no influence over the Spares Company but if I had then I would urge them to move to a modern tube bending firm and get the pipes made in sets of twenties. (When I get parts CNCd they do not like to make less than ten at a time). Exhaust pipes must be something that they can guarantee to sell so money invested on these would be like money in the bank.
For years Bob Culver has been making the exhaust systems in steel using the original Vincent works jig. This is now more than 70 years old and was not in good condition 20 years ago. I have heard that the Spares Company has recently got someone else to make the pipes but whether this is correct only they can tell us. Anyone who has seen a modern tube bending machine in action will tell you that once the program has been set up then every pipe will come out the same to within thous. Moreover the machines are so powerful that they do not care whether it is steel or stainless steel which is being bent. Remember this is all thin walled tube. One of my other hobbies is sailing and I have seen these machines extrude s/s tube for marine use writhing around like a snake and even bending back on itself. I have no influence over the Spares Company but if I had then I would urge them to move to a modern tube bending firm and get the pipes made in sets of twenties. (When I get parts CNCd they do not like to make less than ten at a time). Exhaust pipes must be something that they can guarantee to sell so money invested on these would be like money in the bank.
Gary, I put on another thread, That I had a set of pipes from a friend, Cheap !, That other people could not fit,
So I brazed a bit of stub, Made from old silencers, Into the Big Nuts, So that the pipes were a push fit, And held on with the clamp you used to get with Silencers, I don't think they look too bad ?. Cheers Bill.
So I brazed a bit of stub, Made from old silencers, Into the Big Nuts, So that the pipes were a push fit, And held on with the clamp you used to get with Silencers, I don't think they look too bad ?. Cheers Bill.
Armours has asked me to send them some pictures. I'll do that and see what they say but will still be hammering out the flange so I can get the nut off and re-install my old pipes. If there's a solution to be had, it will take a lot of time.
Some of the faults Timetraveller mentioned are not present in these stainless pipes (too-small diameters etc) but I'm pretty sure the main problem is the position and angle of the welded-on Y connector. Once I take the pictures, I'll post them here as well as sending them to Armours.
Gary
Some of the faults Timetraveller mentioned are not present in these stainless pipes (too-small diameters etc) but I'm pretty sure the main problem is the position and angle of the welded-on Y connector. Once I take the pictures, I'll post them here as well as sending them to Armours.
Gary