Any motorcyclists on this forum?

[Sal1950]

I hear 2 strokes around here all the time, what most people ride in the forest here. Not my favorite sound nor smell.

The 2 stroke dirt bikes last forever, for the better or worse, depending on your personal attitude. LOL.

While I'm pretty sure Harleys generally start off fairly loud,

Not really, they do have to meet the same EPA noise emission standards as all the other motorcycle manufacturers.. I worked at a HD dealer for many years and also had my own service shop specializing in performance engine builds. I would estimate only about 1 in 4 bikes sold go out the door with stock exhaust systems. Besides the safety issue I argued before, a stock bike will pick up 10 to 15% more power when the quiet but very restrictive factory exhaust is removed and the fuel injection is retuned to supply the engine with the fuel mixture it wants instead of what the EPA thinks it should be. But mostly these are NOT straight pipes, as a dealer we refused to install them, not only do the citizens hate them but they DONT provide the best performance and power. The proper balance between engine tuning and exhaust backpressure for best power and all around performance is a highly complicated issue.

Been that way quite a while. Remember a friend of mine many years ago (mid-late 80s?) bought a Yamaha 2 stroke (300 something?) in Japan and had it shipped to the US

Some of the last 2 stroke street bikes built were awesome monsters. The Kawasaki H1 500 and H2 750 triples were about some of the scariest bikes ever built. Incredible power to weight for the day but a frame made of spaghetti and crap for brakes. One of the very few Jap bikes that could give my big inch H-Ds of the day a run for the money.

 

[Sal1950]

I would estimate only about 1 in 4 bikes sold go out the door with stock exhaust systems.

Shush, don't tell the EPA

 

[Newman]

The Kawasaki H1 500 and H2 750 triples were about some of the scariest bikes ever built. Incredible power to weight for the day but a frame made of spaghetti and crap for brakes.

As Hunter S Thompson wrote in his report on the Ducati 900 SS (probably under the influence of drugs): "I still feel a shudder in my spine when I walk into a public restroom and hear crippled men whispering about the terrifying Kawasaki Triple...I have visions of compound femur-fractures and large black men in white hospital suits holding me down on a gurney while a nurse called “Bess” sews the flaps of my scalp together with a stitching drill."

There ain't no substitute for a good imagination. Cheers

 

[Sal1950]

There ain't no substitute for a good imagination. Cheers

ROTFLMAO, but all very true..

 

[Chrispy]

Thought this might be interesting in light of the recent mention of 2 strokes and electric bikes