[smokeizfire]

I own a hyosung GV 250. Definitely not the loudest bike out of the lot. An acquaintance of mine said all I needed to do was remove the baffles from the exhaust. This would make the engine sound louder. Hmmmmm. So I called the dealer for a yea or nea. The dealer guy said louder pipes won’t make cars hear you any better. Hmmmmmmm. Few days later I called to finalize my insurance. She(who the dealer referred me to, and is a rider as well)said I definitely want louder pipes. Should I
a)remove baffles from exhaust?

b)buy aftermarket exhaust(like Vance n Hines, Cobra, etc)

c)do nothing

[Matt]

The question of “Loud pipes save lives” is a highly debated subject. I suggest reading up on it to find where you stand. My opinion on it is that loud pipes are only loud behind you, and to a lesser degreee to the sides. The biggest danger you have are cars ahead of you. I don’t feel the negative image the pipes project to be worth the (imo) questionable increase in safety. Obviously others disagree. As I said, highly debated subject.

Now, moving away from that debate. Baffel-less exhausts are called “straight pipes” (as the air travels straight out of the engine into the world, without hitting anything to muffle it). Straight pipes on larger bikes are extremely loud. Often above the legal limit for a big cruiser. I don’t expect your 250 will reach those levels, but still, many areas have laws prohibiting the modification of an exhaust system.

You can replace it with an aftermarket one, you just can’t gut it and pretend it is stock.

Aftermarket systems also have two other benefits: They are designed to produce a particular sound. Chances are, the 250 will not produce a the nicest sound with straight pipes. This is an entirely personal thing. So make suer whatever pipes you put on (or just straight piping it if that is your choice) sounds the way you want the bike to sound.
Many companies have mp3s on their web sites of what a particular installation sounds like.

The second benefit of a baffelled exhaust is back pressure. Engines operating at lower RPM actually benefit from some back pressure in the exhaust to produce better torque.
If you get an aftermarket exhaust you won’t lose any noticible amound of low end torque, and on the 250s, we don’t have much of that to give up.

Hope this helps.

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Andrew]

They went over this in the MSF class. If you want loud pipes then get them. Check your local laws on loudness also. Don’t get them thinking they make you safer though. They don’t. It’s a myth that they do.

[Bank]

you can also look at youtube vids of other peoples exhaust to get a general idea

[Budd]

Loud pipes are so annoying. I mean, do you want to be that person that people roll their eyes at. One day there was a Harley two cars in front of me (driver was wearing flip flops, shorts, and a tank top), I had ear plugs in, and my head still felt like it wanted to explode. It was impairing my ability to hear what was going on around me and even my ability to hear my own bike. It was worse than annoying, it was dangerous.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Amoryl]

you want loud, get that airhorn attatchment elwood posted about a bit ago. personally I can’t stand really loud pipes, it makes everyone angry, it makes cages violent, and it makes neighbors talk crap about you to everyone (including me, your mild mannered drain technician who’s never even been on your block before, but thanks for telling me what an A-Hole your neighbor is at 5am warming his harley up and making your windows rattle. now normal pipe noise, the throaty purr of the japanese cruisers, the rumbling potato potato of a harley owned by a non-jerk, is a nice sound, makes you feel good, turns heads….but the loud pipes that are usually equated with “loud pipes save lives” are, to me, similer to those caddies with rims and all the subwoofer crap crammed in that makes your change in your change cup start flipping when that caddie gets about 6 car lengths away from you….

I don’t talk in movies, I don’t yell obscenities around young children, it’s basic civility, and one I will extend to other riders as well by not making my pipes arseholishly loud.

[Andrew]

I know on the Ninja 250 forum they say you have to re-jet if you change your pipes.

[sarc]

If its just for the deep, rumbling, wholesome sound aka loud noise, just understand that your neighbors will probably slash your tires, tip your bike, or string you up by your thumbs the first or second time you come home late or leave early. I know I am not too rational about being woken up after 9 or 10pm (early I know, but I’m at work before 6 most days).

If its for safety, put an air horn on your bike. There are a bunch of aftermarket options, and I believe web bike world did a review of a few of them at some point. Its a hell of a lot louder than pipes, will scare any oncoming cars, and usually get them to stop and take a good long look for that semi that should be right behind them. Just make sure you get used to it a few times before using it real world…they can be quite a shock to the rider as well and you don’t wont to start cranking open the throttle, grabbing a handful of brake, etc. when you jump.

[Jiriki]

if you change the pipes, yes…. if you are just getting a slip-on.. you can get away without rejetting…

[Author]

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