I dig the snowbikes and may get one someday but......

[ReTodd]

You all have to do something about the sound.....they are so loud, point straight back, and are at a lower frequency that they reverberate from a long, long, long way and really are going to give the tree lickers greater ammunition to shut us down.


Just saying

 

[off road rider]

Noise is a serious issue. Powersports in general are at risk due to overly load machines. That load pipe isn't making you any faster.
Its not just snowbikes, a 4 stroke motor with a load exhaust will make sounds that travel far farther than a 2 stroke. Riders do need to be aware of impacts on others in order to save our riding opportunities.
Did you preach the same thing to your sled buddies? I hope so.. this is a larger issue than just us snowbikers. Just saying

 

[summitboy]

I'm sure its no different than a Doo or Poo with a can. They are all loud ! You can hear sleds valleys over.

Having said that the greenies, alarmists, and the mis informed don't need noise ammo to shut us down. They have organization and support to the point where they fabricate science to push their agenda. They then advertise lies and misinformation about what is really going on science wise to the uneducated and illiterate masses and create a cult following.

These people can be told the truth until you are blue in the face and they will never change. Its like brand loyalty, the more you are a customer of a brand the more you follow and support the brand.

If you want to keep land open get organized and fight for what you believe in ! Appeasement seldom works to change the minds of these environmental/alarmist fools !

 

[highflyernick]

Wait are you saying that not everyone loves the sound of my kx500 as much as me?? The humanity!

On a serious note.. Big bore 4 strokes are loud, but it sure makes it easy to find your friends in the trees!

 

[backcountryislife]

I big part of the difference is that the sleds in general point down... so unless they're standing straight up, they're at least slightly muffled by the snow, the bikes on the other hand are just loud no matter what. I felt the same thing last year riding with a couple 450's.... super loud compared to most sleds.

 

[powdermuncher]

There is no can on a 2 stroke that could match the way a single 4 bangers sound travels. It is also the hardest engine to get power from with a quiet exhaust.
Don't really have the answer on that one exept maybe a twin 500 cc 2 stroke purpose build snowlike engine around 100 hp
If they can make a 400 pound 800cc sled they should be able to give me a 300 pound 100HP snow bike that is quiet like a sled--Is Polaris listening

 

[summitboy]

300lb snowbike ? That must be a Yamaha with a TS !

 

[Chadx]

This is something I've wanted to figure out, too; how to quiet the exhaust without totally killing the power. Thought about a huge volume street bike exhaust on the tunnel, but these thumpers are so touchy to pipe tuning, I figured it wasn't even worth a try. Still really curious, though. I would LOVE an exhaust that is as quiet as a stock sled. I would gladly pay for one.

The other end (intake) is just as loud as the exhaust end. Amazing how loud an intake is with no foam or panels;just a pre filter over a basket. Crazy loud. Lots of fun big brains outthere. Hopefully one will come up with some creative solutions.

 

[needpowder]

This is something I've wanted to figure out, too; how to quiet the exhaust without totally killing the power. Thought about a huge volume street bike exhaust on the tunnel, but these thumpers are so touchy to pipe tuning, I figured it wasn't even worth a try. Still really curious, though. I would LOVE an exhaust that is as quiet as a stock sled. I would gladly pay for one.

The other end (intake) is just as loud as the exhaust end. Amazing how loud an intake is with no foam or panels;just a pre filter over a basket. Crazy loud. Lots of fun big brains outthere. Hopefully one will come up with some creative solutions.

This is part of the reason I bought a two stroke. You can hear those 44 strokes for miles and miles and miles. I've been hearing the turbo Yamaha's for years heading out to their big hills. While we ride in the trees and I can't even hear my buddy 100 yards away for me.

 

[powdermuncher]

300lb snowbike ? That must be a Yamaha with a TS !

60 hp snow bike at what around 275 pounds

+25 pounds and +40 Hp and quiet

 

[mountainhorse]

I agree that these machines are often too loud for use in any areas where there are other people..(90% of the mountains we ride).

See this thread: http://www.snowest.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1823048&postcount=1

I'm not a fan of the loud pipes save lives crowd.

IMO... Quiet is best... and I'm sure there are mufflers out there that do not rob power and are quiet...

I like the sound of motors in general.. but others may not... and I prefer not to hear the loud engines with the other people I ride with or any of my equipment.


From the first post of the thread linked above:

OK... I'll start up a nice "HOT" topic that, IMO, needs to be discussed more... especially as we see more and more lands getting closed to sled access.

Non-Snomobiler impressions of snowmobiles are being directed by some people that primarily show loud exhausts in videos etc to ruin the public image, of snowmbile riders and their machines. Non sledders/offroaders outnumber sledders/offroaders by a Gargantuan margin.

"They'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands" ??? Well, "they" just might

And "they" wont just be granola crunchin greenies... I've met plenty of card carrying, large carbon footprint, ultra conservatives that could give a rats azz about sledding and find them to be very irritating... so lets not make this into a Conservative Vs. Liberal thing.

Loud exhaust does not equal "PERFORMANCE"... It just makes you feel that your sled is making more power... compared to a Well Designed quiet exhaust. You can design a quite exhaust, be it 2 or 4 stroke, to make just as much power or more than a straight exhaust...It just costs a bit more.

"Screw the Greenies... I'll run as loud of exhaust as I want to!!" is actually "Screwing" ourselves as snomobilers....

I like the sound of a nice loud engine running in good tune...Weather that is John Forces funny car or a good running MX bike.

But we live in a shrinking world today

What sounds "Sweet" to you can sound really BAD to others.

Look at it this way... if you were sitting in your living room, with your best buddies, watching the Superbowl on your new surround sound equipped 50" plasma TV... beer is flowing / steaks on the grille...... and in the middle of the second quarter....the neighbor kid and 6 of his buddies decide to "tune" their chainsaw-engine powered Go-Peds for the next 2 hours, on and off ...with straight pipes..... Would you sit down and say... "Heck, junior has the right to run what he has....I'll just turn the volume up a bit"

OR

You are fishing a great little trout spot... and 6 loud dirt bikes decide to ride there while you fish...

OR....

You are hunting and somebody keeps ripping buy in their modded turbo RZR for a while and scares off that prize 12 pointer....What would happen?

Others may say "Well that analogy doesn't apply to me....I only ride EXTREME backcountry and there are no other people around"... Is that ACTUALLY true??? Do you live and ride in the Yukon hinterlands?? Can no one else hear you... when you unload in the lot, or take the fire/logging road to get to your favorite spot??? If you really can say yes to this... then you are in the 0.05% of the snombilers out there.

"Loud pipes save lives"... That dog just don't hunt anymore... that excuse has far too many negative consequences to it.

IMO, Loud cans/stingers or straight Turbo exhausts are bad for the public image of sleds...
Those that ride with loud pipes are causing more damage than just "pizzing off a hippie". They are taking away from the future of snowmobiling in the backcountry....

Radar guns, speed limits on trails with Police watching....boy, that sounds good!

Bad public image of snowmobiles...even from people that are NOT 'greenies' starts a chain reaction from other people that don't care if motorized access is closed.

It is sad to say... but the PUBLIC OPINION will decide weather or not we have sledding access in the future.

We don't need any new people that want to take away sledding access.

Manufacturers that make loud exhaust products are actually hurting, IMO, their own long-term ability to make a living off of snowmobiles...if sledding areas keep getting closed at the rate they are = big problem.

 

[SnoFro]

I never liked any loud engine weather it be my truck, bike, or sled. This talk isn't new either. I'm 44 now and can remember people complaining about noisy dirt bikes when I was ten. The truth is manufactures haven't figured out how to silence the exhaust without robbing horse power. My bike is loud in stock form, but the last time I was at Boulder cabin no one was complaining about noisy sleds or bikes. We could do more by loading our machines without the engine running so your neighbours laying on the couch and watching TV can't hear them and therefor have nothing to complain about. You don't see these people in any ridding areas.

 

[mountainhorse]

This Video... shows clearly the diff in noise between a turbo sled and a snowbike.

Keith Curtis and Reagan Seig riding backcountry... GREAT riding... But DANG is that bike loud!
Much louder than the sled even with the sled in the air with the exhaust facing the the camera-person.

https://www.facebook.com/timbersled/videos/973136206077065/

 

[paulharris]

I put the fmf Q4 on my crf450r snowbike and it ran great. didnt notice any loss in power and definetly quieter. but unfortunately i dont think they sell a lot of them because it seems like the bike crowd equate noise with power. loud bikes are like shooting yourself in the foot, only a matter of time before its closed.

 

[ezra]

why could a bike pipe not run down the fr of the bike and dump under motor ? wrap it for heat put a skid plate under . snow would deff muffle them a ton . really why?

 

[Chadx]

why could a bike pipe not run down the fr of the bike and dump under motor ? wrap it for heat put a skid plate under . snow would deff muffle them a ton . really why?

Mainly due to pipe tune I figure. Need a certain length of pipe for tuning waves and power pulses. That is why the reverse head Yamahas first had the pigtail curly pipes and then went to it wrapping around the head; to get the needed pipe length. Plus, you still need length for the muffler because you are not always in snow deep enough to muffle the sou do and even then, it probably isn't enough.

 

[Danbot]

I 100% agree with the OP, but hate to single out the snowbikes since the majority of sleds, bikes, quads, sxs's I encounter are also entirely too loud for our collective good.

I ride in the woods all summer with my main riding buddy on our quiet enduro 2 strokes... we cringe when one or more of our many friends with a 450 comes along.

Mountain snowmobiling is an activity that will eventually be illegal everywhere at some point, I am convinced of that. We need to work SO much harder.

 

[wellfed777]

ok what the quietest pipe/muffer ?????
i'll buy one for my crf450r
i agree loud sled/bikes suck

 

[mrquick68]

I'm sure its no different than a Doo or Poo with a can. They are all loud ! You can hear sleds valleys over.

Having said that the greenies, alarmists, and the mis informed don't need noise ammo to shut us down. They have organization and support to the point where they fabricate science to push their agenda. They then advertise lies and misinformation about what is really going on science wise to the uneducated and illiterate masses and create a cult following.

These people can be told the truth until you are blue in the face and they will never change. Its like brand loyalty, the more you are a customer of a brand the more you follow and support the brand.

If you want to keep land open get organized and fight for what you believe in ! Appeasement seldom works to change the minds of these environmental/alarmist fools !

nailed it!

 

[mrquick68]

the long term answer here is probably a 2 stroke snow bike. they are least half as loud as the 4 strokes.