With all this talk about loud pipes ...

[550ss]

By the way, in all of these official government websites, i looked and it says nothing to the extent of aftermarket exhausts being illegal on sleds. It just simply says something along the lines of "machines may not exceed the decibel limit." So if pulled over and had an objective test of the sound level and you passed but you simply got a ticket based on the looks of an aftermarket exhaust. I would read it over for your riding state, but i would fight the ticket based on that! Im no lawyer, but that doesnt seem right to receive a ticket for non stock exhaust and it says nothing in the law that i cannot have a non stock exhaust. If i find that i got a ticket for for that and not noise level, i would be pissed! I dont think aftermarket companies would sell illegal exhaust systems to spite the US Government! Someone can correct me if they find im wrong, but i looked hard and didnt find anything in each paragraph! Just my .02

 

[EZmoney]

I guess my sled is to loud because i where ear plugs when i ride, but moose dont always bolt when im cruising the trail in or out of the mountain.And when the snow is deep they seem to stick to our trail then the soft snow up to there belly to rest.The last time i drove through the Banff Jasper park i came across several Harleys some with stock exhaust others with the straight pipe,. I seen more elk,goats,moose ect. in that two hour ride then a year or two years worth of sledding. Where was the green people then checking sound decibels for the little animals ears???Harleys are loud are they not? Someone compared trains, ya a train is loud! and trains run over thousands of moose or deer a year in b.c.Then the wolves eating the moose or the eagles eating the deer that are on the tracks.But the sledders are doing way more damage to the animals,what a f%cking joke!!! Some of you guys throw in the towel to fast and agree with the ones that are trying to stop this sport for what it is and has always been. Alot of the riding areas out there we found first! Our dads found on there old vintage sleds from the 70s and 80s NOT johny ski clown! There trying to take ridding away and now say our "sleds are to loud".What gets me pissed off is some of you,will agree with this sh!t. Ya some mod sleds are way loud and make your head shake when they come by, but how often do you come across one, really?

 

[550ss]

Thats those PETA treehuggers...Typical

 

[CrazyCanadianCat]

How is it that people on Harley's seem to be exempt from noise rules? Nothing like having one rip down your street at 2 in the morning or having one fire up at 7 in the morning at a camp ground no less. Maybe the Angles have some pull here...maybe we need to form a snowmobile gang!... the Arctic Cat Scratchers, Ski Doo Stingers, Yamaha Thumpers, Polaris Pounders, whatever!
My point is, as long as your not annoying people or animals, what's the problem?

 

[NoSecondChances]

I, Myself have a stealth thing can on my REV, and it is not too loud, but it has a nice exhaust note.

Doesn't this statement mean that you are as guilty as the rest of us? Could you define "too loud" and "nice exhaust note"? What one thinks might be a nice throaty sound could be ridiculously offensive to someone else.

My Jaws twins are actually quieter than my buddy's 800 single with can, which IMO, is quite a bit louder than stock. So don't just bag on us mod guys, typically it isn't the mod sleds, its the single piped, stinger cans with no packing that are the most offensively loud sleds, there is a reason I spent a little more on my pipes becuz I wanted to get something that made more power but were also quieter than the HPS cans of the world.

I have come up on a bobcat by accident, turned a corner and there it was 150 ft away, it heard us once we turned the corner and took off. Hard to argue that we are disturbing the wildlife when you can get in that proximity to it and not have it hear you first.

Its all about perception. If people would just slow down on the trail and slowly go by other users (skiers/whatever) and not gas it until out of sight, other users probably wouldn't have too much to say. Its the people that come flying up on them, tap the brakes to slow to about 50 mph, then hammer on it 5 feet past them. The sound bounces off the snow and they get a nice blast of exhaust fumes and sound. Its like the big diesel truck with a 4" exhaust at the stop light, guns it and takes off, leaves a big cloud of smoke and noise behind him. Was it necessary to do it right there? No. Does everyone around think he is a big d!ck? Yes. If he did it on some treeless alpine mountain side with no animals in sight would anyone care? No.

 

[Hardass]

So let me get this right The enviros or sound police are out there riding snowmobiles? And reporting loud pipes? It sounds more like it;s other snowmobilers that are doing the complaining, at least thats what this thread is sounding like. divide and conquer is always a good technique. i guess we do not ride in citys or around housing areas so it;s a bit different for us.Loud pipes are just a tool just like goats, bears, links and what not. i in no way think that we are being shut down because of loud pipes. Not thatI;m for or against loud pipes but it;s not the reason. as for animals if theres animals out there that were scaring where are there track? we never see any thing because around here there all down in the valley. you guy;s that have converted to quite pipes and are down on loud ones thanks for doing your part to save our riding HaHaha.Yep your saving us allright.

 

[Ollie]

So let me get this right The enviros or sound police are out there riding snowmobiles? And reporting loud pipes? It sounds more like it;s other snowmobilers that are doing the complaining, at least thats what this thread is sounding like. .

They don't have to go beyond the parking lots.
The FS if proposing doing the sound testing right at the trail heads and parking areas. Then if they do run across someone on the mountain running straight pipes they will have them follow the Ranger back to a testing sight.
As for the enviro's..
They log down the ID number on your permit sticker as you ride by. They never have to set foot in the actual riding areas and usually don't. If they can't get your ID number they just call it in (or make stuff up for that matter) and the forest service logs it as a complaint.

Most of the problems with loud pipes arn't in the mountains. It in the flatlands where trails run by private homes and thru highly public areas. The problem is they don't bother to draw a difference between one type of riding and another. To the averager person, a snowmobile is a snowmobile.

The other problem we fight is the perception that all snowmobilers do is ride from one bar to another to see how drunk they can get. This also is a flatlander problem. However, it still affects us.

Loud is just an easy excuse for the enviros to use to shut us down.

 

[maluchm]

Some street bikes with aftermarket exhaust..... Imports with coffee can fart tube mufflers at the end of the stock exhaust or sleds with obnoxiously loud exhaust cans. If it makes more noise, it must be faster right Aren't these the same type of people that back in the day would drill holes in their catalytic converters to make it faster?

 

[HIGHMARK]

I'll worry about how loud my sled is when they start worrying about how loud every other Harley Davidson is on ANY road. Not that I am against Harley's at all, it just pissesmeoff that we get singled out when there are a LOT of other offenders that don't get a second look. As far as spooking the wildlife, where I ride the snow is too damn deep for most wildlife to even be there so I have to call BS on most of that argument. The ones I DO see are usually using the snowmobile tracks and trails to get around anyway. And as for the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, etc. 99% of those azzholes are nothing but a bunch of smelly, no shower taking, uninformed, overpaid bark eaters with too much authority anyway that wouldn't know the proper way to measure decibles in the first place! ARGHHHHHH.....Now I have to go kick someones dog or something!

 

[Ollie]

I'll worry about how loud my sled is when they start worrying about how loud every other Harley Davidson is on ANY road.

Start worrying.
Denver has enacted new laws about exhaust pipe modifications on all bikes and they are looking at cars and trucks as well.

You can't change or modify any pipes on your bike. This was aimed directly at Harley bikes.

 

[maluchm]

Start worrying.
You can't change or modify any pipes on your bike. This was aimed directly at Harley bikes.

To bad this will effect everyone riding a bike no matter what brand. No matter how much I like Harley's, and always will... Do they need to run short drag pipes and rev the $hit out of them? Yeah, we see you. Whooope you got a loud bike.

 

[irideabigpumpkin]

This is how I see it. There are designated areas for hiking, cross-country skiing, etc. If you are cross-country skiing down a groomed snowmobile trail, you do not have a right to complain about snowmobiles. The skiers tend to favor the trails, but there's a complication, the trails are groomed using dollars from your state registration, and snowmobile club dues/donations. Get INVOLVED, there are planned closures to snowmobiles EVERYWHERE!!!!!!! I recommend joining any snowmobile clubs you can!!!!!!!

 

[R J]

There should be if there isn't already.

The db thing is a funny deal though as the way it goes up the scale is rather interesting. Take a look at a standard db chart and what things are considered ok, not ok and above the threshold of pain.

96db doesn't sound all that much but it's very easily noticable over stock at those given rpm also the tone is important because of how it will carry though the air waves. I'm just saying it's interesting. I run stock just because the cost to performance benefit doesn't seem to be there for me personally.

 

[Dogmeat]

There should be if there isn't already.

The db thing is a funny deal though as the way it goes up the scale is rather interesting. Take a look at a standard db chart and what things are considered ok, not ok and above the threshold of pain.

96db doesn't sound all that much but it's very easily noticable over stock at those given rpm also the tone is important because of how it will carry though the air waves. I'm just saying it's interesting. I run stock just because the cost to performance benefit doesn't seem to be there for me personally.

It could just be the two stroke vs. four stroke sound, but I swear that "96dB" exhaust I just put on my quad is an awful lot quieter than my 900 with the SLP can (stock pipe) is ... I didn't think my 900 was really that noisey until I rode this quad around the last couple days, it's really pretty quiet.

 

[KingCatz]

There is a lot of difference in the sound and the peak frequencies between a two stroke and four stroke. Two strokes are a lot higher in tune and are more rappy. Just take a two stroke and four stroke dirt bike side by side.

It could just be the two stroke vs. four stroke sound, but I swear that "96dB" exhaust I just put on my quad is an awful lot quieter than my 900 with the SLP can (stock pipe) is ... I didn't think my 900 was really that noisey until I rode this quad around the last couple days, it's really pretty quiet.

 

[OuraySledder]

Then if they do run across someone on the mountain running straight pipes they will have them follow the Ranger back to a testing sight.

As for the enviro's..
They log down the ID number on your permit sticker as you ride by.
.

Two reasons I avoid all contact in the back country, unless they are in the group I am riding with. I'll be dammed if I am going to talk to a Ranger, he is going to have to catch me and that isn't happening. The CO tags have pretty small numbering, skiers aren't going to be able to read thm as a sled passes. They can if you stop to talk though...your choice.

I don't ride a loud sled, but this battle has caused me to just go out and do my own thing. I don't trust that anybody else out there anymore doesn't have an adgenda.

 

[HIGHMARK]

Two reasons I avoid all contact in the back country, unless they are in the group I am riding with. I'll be dammed if I am going to talk to a Ranger, he is going to have to catch me and that isn't happening. The CO tags have pretty small numbering, skiers aren't going to be able to read thm as a sled passes. They can if you stop to talk though...your choice.

I don't ride a loud sled, but this battle has caused me to just go out and do my own thing. I don't trust that anybody else out there anymore doesn't have an adgenda.

My feelings EXACTLY!

 

[maluchm]

It all comes down to this. If you don't police yourself, someone else will. I don't want any regs about how loud anything can be. So deal with it yourself. You want to keep riding inform fellow riders that what they are doing may not have the majority in mind. This pizzes me off, I've had loud pipes on the trail till someone stopped me telling me how far away he could hear me coming, at night. Treat people how you would want to be treated. Less ammo given to others. I don't give a shiate about how loud a harley is. This is about saving snowmobile riding. There wouldn't be drunk driving laws if no one drove drunk.

Kind of contradicting

 

[Scott]

I don't have loud pipes. It's my engine that's loud.

Seriously, if anyone has ever been around those big long 18" PSI bazookas...they aren't very loud are they?

Maybe.........
if they happen to break loose an avy when you are a mile away!
(except pity the poor rascal on the hill at the time!)

Myth.

 

[Flit-e]

I have a set of crank shops with stingers on my 770 with a shock tower exit, when i first got them 3 years ago i enjoyed them, the first time i ever took it up i was riding with my brother who rides a psi piped mm when he started up everyone at the trailers look, then i started mine and drowned his out..cool for a high schooler, these past two season i have not been able to take the 770 out much, when i do i feel like a giant tool so i will be putting a single on it to bring the sound level down...but that said.

i still love the sound of a piped sled but i do believe there is a difference between piped and loud