2004 BMW r1200 Montauk

Hi,
Can anyone please advise me on what to do to make my bike louder?
I was told that removing the baffles is going to cause the bike to run bad, is that true?
I love this bike just bought it last month. I has only 9000 miles. Not bad for a 2004.
But I think some noise is a safety issue on a bike.
So please, tell me what could be done. Thanks to all in advance.

1200 Montauk

If you want a loud cruiser style bike.....trade it in for a Harley.

Friedle

Friedle said:

If you want a loud cruiser style bike.....trade it in for a Harley.

Friedle

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Thank you for your advice. But tell me why I should trade a MOTORCYCLE for a piece of junk? I do have another cruiser, its a 2003 Kawasaki 1500 Meanstreak and I also don't trade it for a Harley. I think having a louder bike its a safety issue. Actually most of Harleys owners don't know exactly what they have. They just bought it because they were conducted to believe in a legend. A false legend.

First off, a fine choice in bikes.
Second, that is not a Montauk. It is a "Classic" or a "C" but still a fine motorbike.
Third, there are NO removable baffles in the OEM silencer on your bike.
Lastly there are some alternative muffler choices out there. Most are discontinued and some can be bought from overseas.

Several options:
Google "Kalinski". Available brand new from Poland. Some You Tube vids and on Ebay (US & Germany)
Also Bub, ZTechnik & Hookijac. These are NLA but can be found with a diligent search & some patience.
Lastly, Staintune from Australia.

Feel free to join us at www.Chromeheads.org for all you'd ever want and need to know about your new bike.

Hope to see you there.

Rocketman

Brazdoc,

Congrats on the fine purchase. But, I completely disagree that more exhaust noise will make your new bike safer.

BTW - Don't forget to wear hearing protection when you ride. The damage is cumulative and permanent...

Conspicuity lights will help more than a loud exhaust. These bikes are notoriously dark front and rear. Suggest either Hyperlites or Skene P3's for the rear, and MotoLights or Skene Photon Blasters for the front.

Just like these on my Montauk:

Or here is a combination of Euro lights and Motolights on my '02 C (Tyson Road (Woo! Hoo!), Rochester Gap, VT):

Louder?

I'd be willing to bet there hasn't been one motorcycle accident report that says... "Cause of Accident: Pipes weren't loud enough."

anglojaxon said:

I'd be willing to bet there hasn't been one motorcycle accident report that says... "Cause of Accident: Pipes weren't loud enough."

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Oh I don't know. Remember, the Oakland PD switched their Harleys to illegal pipes/mufflers because the OEM ones weren't loud enough.

brazdoc said:

Thank you for your advice. But tell me why I should trade a MOTORCYCLE for a piece of junk? I do have another cruiser, its a 2003 Kawasaki 1500 Meanstreak and I also don't trade it for a Harley. I think having a louder bike its a safety issue. Actually most of Harleys owners don't know exactly what they have. They just bought it because they were conducted to believe in a legend. A false legend.

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Brazdoc- If you do some more reading around on this forum, or any other bmw forum, you'll find that the general conscientious is that being louder isn't' your best approach to avoiding accidents. You can spend a little time like I did and read.....after awhile you realize that the arguments for being loud don't make as much sense as being more "visible". People are in cages where they can't hear well and then most have the radio going on top of that....you'd have to park your bike right next to the drivers door and point the exhaust pipes at the door before they'd hear you! "Loud pipes saves lifes".....just doesn't make sense!!

Now if being a little louder is your want, then go for the after marker exhaust; but if being noticed is your goal, then lights are your friend like most are eluding to in there reply's. Most here have gone to using aftermarket driving lights in different and creative arrangements. Many different lighting combo's to play with here. Cruise the forums some and you'll get plenty of ideas. I took it one step further and added LED strip lights under my mirrors on the fairing. Pretty cheap on amazon and I simply tap'd into my running lights. Now when the key is on, so are the running lights and the led strip lights. Between that and my extra running lights...people notice the odd arrangement of lighting and I've noticed more than one person do a "double take" and actually notice the lights. I give those extra lights credit for getting me noticed on more than one occasion.

Nice bike by the way....always had a soft spot for those C bikes.....you're is particularly sharp.

If you're interested, here is what I did for both my wife's (silver 08) RT and mine (blue 09). Taking the pic in the light really doesn't do it justice....at night, the front of those bikes pop and you really notice them.

Not a fan of loud pipes and I wish I had a set of stock pipes for both of my bikes. Previous owners had changed them out.

The stock exhaust system is part of the engine and as such, any changes will affect the overall running of the engine. Engines need backpressure to function properly.

That being said if you are going to go the aftermarket route, then you will want to go with one that removes the cat, but keeps the 02 sensor. So the first place you might be able to start is to see if there is a non cat pipe that can be put in place of the stock cat pipe. That will make the stock exhaust a bit louder. You can make up your own non cat pipe, try muffler shops etc if you can find the small diameter pipe and weld in a bung for the 02 sensor. You will then need something like an AFXied to richen the mixture as removing the cat makes the engine run leaner.

One thing that I have done on several bikes ( with butchered exhaust systems ) is to install stock HD mufflers, off something like a Road King or even a Sportster. The inlet pipe diameter is 1 3/4 so you would have to match that up with the stock BMW diameter and then build a hanger system. IMPORTANT: If you go this route you have to make sure that the HD mufflers you use flow the same amount of exhaust gas on both sides ( especially ) if you don't have a cross over pipe to balance the exhaust. Many HD mufflers flow 80 % to one side and 20% to the other by design so you have to be really careful. Helps with the HD sound.

Good luck in your muffler quest. If you are after better visibility think of triangle lights on the front like the HD and Gold Wings have stock. You can see them coming from a long ways away.

Loud lights save lives.

I've never understood the "loud pipes" argument. The sound comes out the back. The danger is in front. Even if they hear the sound, all a driver knows is there's a bike somewhere, but not where, then they have to look around for the source of the noise which takes their attention from <strike>texting</strike> driving. If you want loud pipes because you want loud pipes, that's one thing but trying to justify it on safety grounds is a stretch. Plus you ruin your hearing which is irreversible, or if you wear earplugs to preserve your hearing they're no longer loud to you and you've defeated the purpose while spending money and irritating everyone else.

I prefer to actively manage my visibility - position myself that oncoming traffic can see me not an empty space, stay out of their blind spots and keep them out of mine, move to the outside of the curve to see as far down the road as possible, when in doubt do a SMIDSY weave (look it up), and so on. I do the passive stuff too: lights and reflective stickers and high-viz gear.

Cutaway view of the silencers?

Nice bike, brazdoc. No ape bars and the aluminum rims- Great choice! Regarding the silencers, if there is a cutaway view anywhere out there, I have friends that may be able to help tell you where to drill a hole or two inside. It's physics that I would personally leave alone and agree with lights more than sound. The horn is the other great audible alert for that ass that watches his phone more than the road.

Coincidentally this just came up on our CH site. Check it out:
http://www.chromeheads.org/index.php?threads/goldilocks-muffler.31473/

Do you think loud pipes are safety issue? Do you believe a distract driver will stop and look around, to see where the noise comes from?
I don't think so! Would you like to have a next door neighbor wake you, your mother or your child at 5am when he goes to work, or at 2am
when he comes home? If you live out on a farm with no neighbors, so be it. But if you live in a city, treat your neighbors as you wish they
would treat you! Loud pipes are nothing but annoying! JMHO.
Great looking bike, by the way!

temesvar said:

Do you think loud pipes are safety issue? Do you believe a distract driver will stop and look around, to see where the noise comes from?
I don't think so! Would you like to have a next door neighbor wake you, your mother or your child at 5am when he goes to work, or at 2am
when he comes home? If you live out on a farm with no neighbors, so be it. But if you live in a city, treat your neighbors as you wish they
would treat you! Loud pipes are nothing but annoying! JMHO.
Great looking bike, by the way!

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Why does everybody think living in the country gives you license to be a bad neighbor????

If the loud pipes saves life was true, the more endangered species on the road would be goldwing rider! And we simply all know it's the other way around, so if you want loud pipe please dont tell it for safety reason!

Loud pipes save lives in the same way that doo rags are good head protection and handlebar tassles smooth the air flow around the saddle bags. Yep, for sure.