Muffler / Exhaust

[mrbmoran2]

Hello everyone, Merry Christmas!

I have a 2003 Voyager Xll that I bought this past summer. It seems to have the factory exhaust, however the turndowns are not on the bike, and the baffles have been punched out. It's not extremely loud, but I would prefer the factory exhaust as I'm getting old and not hearing as good and don't want to continue any hearing loss.

Has anyone had factory and factory with baffles removed? How much of a difference is there in sound level? Trying to see if buying used factory exhaust is worth the time, money and effort to replace??

Any feedback or thoughts would be helpful and appreciated. Take care!

[mayhem8]

I have a 2003 with a stock exhaust, and it is so quiet that when I'm riding it, it sounds more like a sewing machine than a motorcycle.

[Barry]

You will really like how quiet the VXII is with stock exhaust. There are lots of people on the VXII facebook page that have or are parting them out. While waiting to find a good set, try to find another vxii in your area so you can confirm you'd like the change. Once you have the factory exhaust, you might be able to hear other sounds that others have complained about. Ring & pinion or transmission straight cut gears might become audible. Those sounds are normal.

[SgtSlag]

mrbmoran2, wind noise at 55 MPH will damage your hearing, irrevocably. I recommend custom fit, ear plugs. If you can, get 32 dB plugs. The custom fit will not cause ear aches, while the foamies may, or may not, depending upon your ear canals.

Yes, you can still hear traffic when you are riding with them in place. You can hear sirens, squealing tires, horns, etc. I found that when I began to wear ear plugs, my tension level dropped, along with my stress level. The road noises made me very tense, very stressed out. I did not realize this, until the noise was lowered, drastically, by my ear plugs. Cheers!

[mayhem8]

Thanks for the post SgtSlag. I have noticed an increase in ringing in my ears lately and suspected this may be contributed to by wind noise from this past riding season. Even though I wear a full coverage helmet, it did feel as though the wind noise was having an adverse effect on my hearing, and this is just mostly from backroad driving.

Come next season, I will definitely give ear plugs a shot. My concern was that it would drown out too much background noise, but that doesn't sound like that's the case.

[GrandpaDenny]

I wear 30db foamies, and with my full-face helmet (and a cut-down windshield so I get wind noise) I can't hear the engine at all. More than once I've been going nuts wondering why the cruise control wouldn't come on and then realized it was because I was in 4th or even 3rd gear.

BTW I *love* the "Jetsons" sound these bikes make. To me that means "tourer" and "luxury" and just-plain wonderfulness. Don't want no blatting from my bike! Give me four cylinders! BTW in four-wheeled vehicles I'm a six-aholic. Straight six. V-8 is 2nd choice. No desire to have one of the fancy new turbocomputerized V-6s even if they do put out amazing amounts of power for their size and go a quarter-million miles easily. Can't work on it myself, don't want it. I also don't want a car that sounds like a sewing machine. Yuck.

Merry Christmas or Happy Whatever to all!

[SgtSlag]

I've worn various full-face helmets, open face helmets, and modular helmets. I've ridden bikes with/without fairings, of diverse types (started riding in 1981, when Windjammers were commonplace). No matter what the configuration of helmet/fairing I've ridden, wind noise, road noise, and traffic noise, have been quite high.

I never realized how bad it was, until I tried foamie ear plugs, around 2011, or so. I have tinnitus (irreversible damage) as a result of my riding without ear plugs for numerous years. They will not stop the damage from occurring, but they will slow the progression rate, drastically.

To all Riders of every stripe, I recommend trying some foamies in your ears. I dare ya'! I Double-Dog Dare ya'!!! Try them. Just once. In town, on the highway. Then go for the same ride, without them in place!

Then share with me your thoughts. I especially would like to hear your thoughts of what it was like without them. I guarantee you the difference will be startling -- unless you have previously suffered dramatic hearing loss.

I also recommend getting your hearing tested by an MD. Check with your insurance to see if it will be covered. Consult your primary physician, of course. Merry Christmas, All! Cheers!

[Barry]

I recommend custom fit, ear plugs. If you can, get 32 dB plugs. The custom fit will not cause ear aches, while the foamies may, or may not, depending upon your ear canals.
You can hear sirens, squealing tires, horns, etc. I found that when I began to wear ear plugs, my tension level dropped, along with my stress level. The road noises made me very tense, very stressed out. I did not realize this, until the noise was lowered, drastically, by my ear plugs. Cheers!

I've worn foam ear plugs for years. Recently I've found I no longer tolerate them in my ear canal. Tried changing brands several times and no success. Where did you purchase your custom made ear plugs? I understand there is a do it yourself kit available, but they say the quality isn't very good.

[SgtSlag]

Had a friend cast them. She is an MD. Check with your.primary physician. Typically the castings are done by ENT MD's. They send off the castings to be used to make the custom plugs.

Stay away from the short tabs for removing them from your ears: the tabs will break off, leaving nothing to grab onto! Go for the long string, attached to both plugs: eventually, it will pull out, but you can glue it back in with E6000 Glue, filling in the hole. The E6000 Glue is flexible, when dry. Cheers!

[ekap1200]

Good luck in finding a good exh sys. I searched for over 3 months for one, finally picked up a 1991 that had been kept in good shape. But it sat out for about a year under a tarp. I got very lucky , as it was a solid exh with only surface rusting was behind the shilds and on the crossover. Got the entire bike for only 450.00, and it had only 50K on the odometer. Still had OEM brake rotors on it. Using this engine and exh to build on a 2000 frame with 02 plastic. Deals can be found , be patient and keep looking. You will like the sound of the stock exh.
Gene Kap.

[mrbmoran2]

Hello everyone, I ended up buying a 2002 left and right exhaust from ebay, but they weren't a set, they were from two different bikes. The exhaust gasket that fits between the two is missing, but all the clamps seem to be there.

I haven't been able to get them on the bike yet, it has been cold and we've had freezing rain today.

The gaskets don't look readily available from the usual parts places online. I do see one on eBay for about $30. I'm trying to change this out on the cheap. Do you think it's ok to use the old gasket, or is there any kind of substitute for it that isn't that expensive?

[triton28]

Perhaps some exhaust pipe lagging such as in the web site enclosed may be of help for the hard to find gaskets.
Dave
https://www.heatshieldproducts.com/blac ... haust-wrap

[coffeeboy4]

Check eBay for exhaust manifold gasket for Kawasaki 1200. They have a couple of ones for $ 10.65. I bought two & they fit perfect.

[mrbmoran2]

Thanks for the info coffeeboy4, I guess it's all in the search term you put in, I could only find one yesterday. I see a few that are around the price you mentioned after searching how you said.

Take care!

[mrbmoran2]

I finally had a day where I could work on the exhaust for a bit. I told you guys originally that the baffles had been punched out, well not only that, but both mufflers had been capped off where they join together under the bike.

So, what I thought about using the old gasket turned out to there not being a gasket there at all.

I bit the bullet and bought the $30 gasket on eBay, it was the only one I found that matched the part number for the bike. I got it on the bike Thursday. What a pain getting everything in place and bolted in by myself!

However I do like the quiet sound. It sounds like a singer sewing machine at idle. All together I spent $140, not too bad, but more than I was planning.

Thanks for all the advice!