Exhausting.

I subscribe to the BevelHeads list where a thread titled “How loud is LOUD” was garnering quite a bit of interest.  While the thread initially dealt with Ducati singles (too LOUD), it soon evolved into a general discussion about sound and I posted the following:

“What?  What?  It's that terminal ringing in my ears from 8 years on the Original Loud Bike.  That bevel twin received the moniker from Fran McDermott and the name has defined my bikes, business and blog (and I me) since that time.  All for good reason.  But it's only a formality given that I've run loud bikes continually for the past 36 years. Even my first bike, a '67 Triumph Daytona café racer ran open meggas - a set of flat track pipes scrounged from a retired racer.

But not just bikes that are simply loud; I'm very particular about the flavor of the sound. Take the 750 belt drive motor for example.  With standard Allazurra cams, the motor is downright annoying with a lightly baffled pipe and barely tolerable with an open megga.  The same engine with F1 cams and more retarded cam timing has a deeper sound and that gorgeous cadence that brings to mind a small block Chevy.  All bevel twins sound spectacular with open meggas.  But cam timing can make a huge difference. Fran's desmo bevel racer has Leoni heads with wacky cams and sounds like a tribe natives beating on empty 55 gallon drums with baseball bats, while my old Loud Bike had the MBP heads with 1978 900SS cams sounded like a continuous and rapid succession of shot gun blasts. The Triumph/BSA triple WFO with an open megga has a howl that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my eyes mist.  My old Honda MT125 racers sounded like a million chainsaws on cocaine.  The Honda Interceptor superbikes with the HRC exhaust could make your ears bleed, but what a brilliant sound.  The Cadillac, with its de-baffled aluminum F1 cans had an amazing kind of a Ferrari sound that turned heads and made people smile.  You can hear it here.  Surprisingly (or not), I've never had anyone complain that my bikes are too loud nor have I ever received a citation when running them on the street.  I recall sitting at a traffic light on the Original Loud Bike during one of its rare forays onto the public roads a few years ago.  I was waiting to head up onto the cross-town expressway and blipping the throttle while alternating my view from the road ahead to my right hand mirror, but turned to the right to make a shoulder check when the light turned to yellow.  As I swiveled my head, I found myself looking with dismay at a police cruiser sitting right beside me in the other lane.  The officer's eyes were glued to the bevel motor and as the moved his upward and we made eye contact, he just smiled. The light turned green and I nailed it, leaving him to enjoy the music.

Un-muffled motors that really make me cringe: Honda twins, most Harleys (Lucifer's Hammer excepted), late model Japanese fours, 2-stoke triples and yes - Ducati singles.”

As I continue to watch the thread and update the exhaust systems section of my e-Store, I found myself reflecting on just how important sound is to the Ducatisti.  (Am I spelling that right?)   Critical, I’d say.   In fact, it’s a major point of discussion on the popular message boards like Speedzilla, MonsterBoard and DucatiMS.  As a vendor, I’m astounded by how many choices modern Ducati owners have and how much the price of exhaust systems has dropped since I started paying attention.  Arrow exhaust for the true punk (loud and brash), SIL Motor for those looking for a bit of raw meat in their sound, and then the more refined Termignoni and Leo Vince for those that prefer to be on the right side of the law.  The new stuff by ZARD (sounds like an alien overlord, eh?) is reputed to have an excellent note, but I haven’t had the pleasure so I can only comment on the looks (stellar).

Looks – of course, have just as much to do with the choice of system and I’m a textbook example.  The more traditional TT2 or TT1-style header would probably be a more logical choice for my F1, but I bought the bike with a vintage BUB header and Verlicchi megaphone.  Once the baffles were ripped out, I came to love the deeper sound that came with the larger diameter header and megga opening and with the new engine configuration, the larger diameter works well.  I’d keep it even if it didn’t ‘cause the lines just work so well.   With the vintage stuff, we need to know the secret handshake and even then – it takes a lot of luck and persistence to find the right system for your classic.  Or you hook-up with some one like Doug Cook at ARC and have him craft a custom system. 

And that’s where I’m heading tomorrow with Mike Cecchini’s bevel project and a local customer’s RC51 (gasp!!!) in the van.  When I get rich and famous, I’ll probably have him fab a replica of the BUB in Ti.  Meanwhile, my hands have cramps from all the wrench spinning of late and a box full of CDs and the open road will be a welcome break.

Oh yeah, I heard something about loud exhaust systems actually improving performance too.

Content: 1987 Ducati 750 F1, loudbike

Comments

[Mark Young]

Just purchased a Sport1000. Have to agree with you on the tail needs to be clipped. Any after market ideas or gadgets yet? I would like to see the plate stuck to the rear axel and some led type lights installed. If you have any ideas, feel free to toss em my way.

Cheers,

Mark