Holy crap!

I replaced my Muzzy's Drag Pipes with Hard Krome 3" Big Straights, and holy cow are they loud! As a matter of fact, they are so darn loud I am probably going to piss off the neighbors. I am going to ride a bit more and see how I like them, I know they are not going to get any quieter and may need to do the strainer mod to save my hearing!

Quick thoughts, the Muzzy's are much, much, much easier to install, and seem to be engineered better as well. The Muzzy's are quieter, but still have a great sound, and they also have a port that connects them together ahead of the baffle which makes me think they flow more freely. They seem to perform as good or better than the Hard Kromes. The Hard Kromes look very nice, but were horrible to install, and took me at least 4 times longer than the Muzzy's. The Muzzy's came with metric harware, the Hard kromes came with SAE.... What gives?

Bottom line, I may just put the Muzzy's back on and sell the Hard Kromes on eBay, but will give it a week first to make a decision.

Loud? Just wear a full face helmet...then they get much quieter...

The last 1 mile of my ride home is a residential back street, lined on either side with a 4 foot high stone fence. The reverb in that little "suburban canyon" is awesome...but I'm always very considerate and putt along in 2nd gear at 25 mph, just to keep peace (relative term) in the neighborhood.

Now, blasting the 139 decibel Stebel Nautilus air horns at those dogs that always chase me, Hell, that scared ME! Couldn't hear my HK3 pipes at all...or anything else for about 5 minutes after...

They are big, they are fat, they are heavy, they were a bitch to put on, they were the first and only pipe I ever saw that made me say "Ooooo! Gotta have those!" and they are LOUD...and I love them!

RK

Just my 2 cents
As a biker I have sat at restaurants where bikers meet and have seen bikes go by with very loud pipes they hurt my ears and I find it hard to hold conversations with people that I am eating with. I have modified pipes I like a sound with a bite, but they sound good without offending most people. What is happening with bikes is a little bit like an arms race everyone wants the biggest and most powerful. I have a gun, OH ya I am getting a machince gun. Oh ya I am getting a bomb. Oh ya I am getting a nuclear bomb. My point is and it is only my opinion. There is over kill here some pipes are just to dam loud. I love bikes and everything about but there is a difference between sounding good and being obnoxious.

Ron

cruiser wrote:
Just my 2 cents
As a biker I have sat at restaurants where bikers meet and have seen bikes go by with very loud pipes they hurt my ears and I find it hard to hold conversations with people that I am eating with. I have modified pipes I like a sound with a bite, but they sound good without offending most people. What is happening with bikes is a little bit like an arms race everyone wants the biggest and most powerful. I have a gun, OH ya I am getting a machince gun. Oh ya I am getting a bomb. Oh ya I am getting a nuclear bomb. My point is and it is only my opinion. There is over kill here some pipes are just to dam loud. I love bikes and everything about but there is a difference between sounding good and being obnoxious.

Ron

Ron--

I understand your point and totally agree with you. Personally, I don't consider the HK3s obnoxiously loud...unless someone is trying to make them that way. I still have my baffles in, control the blip urge, and keep the RPMs low in residential areas. I like the sound, have received 100% positive comments on it and have never received a complaint from a neighbor.

Now, a bike with obvious straight pipes, well, that's obnoxiously loud just for the sake of being loud. And with the eradication of all back pressure, terrible for performance to boot.

RK

Hypecat,

I agree with you on the HK3s being very loud. I really enjoy the sound out on the open road, but riding through towns, they are a bit much...to me.

I just recently (3 days ago) completed the "crumb cup" mod on my HKs. Very simple to do, and did an acceptable job of toning the pipes down a smidge. They are still loud, but have more of a rumble to them than before. I can actually hear myself think now, but when I twist the throttle, everyone still knows I'm coming.

I didn't follow the posted instructions to the letter, because I wanted to make sure the cups didn't rattle in the baffles. So, rather than cutting between holes on four sides and bending the pieces out, I simply used high temp caulking to hold the cups in place. This is the stuff used to seal around fireplaces and such. It dries very hard, not flexible, so the crumb cups won't budge.

Anyway, before you disown your HKs, you might want to give the crumb cup mod a try. I am happy with how much it toned things down, without losing the ability to roar!

My 2c

P.S. If you use the caulking to hold the cups in place, you can easily remove the cups later if you decide you still don't like it and want to get rid of the pipes.<br><br>Post edited by: 04Roadrider, at: 2007/05/06 11:16

I have two HK baffle mods that have not been put into the Tech Tips section. They are by rmruder and curt.

If anyone wants I can e-mail them to you if you are interested.

Doc

I too have the 3&quot; HK.... I disagree that are too loud however. I think they are just a little shy.... They are great don't great me wrong, but I guess I'm still just too much of a kid.... Louder the better. If your not on her hard though they can be quite.... Which is a good thing around here... In some towns (Stillwater) they cops are ticket happy.... I ride with a couple of guys that have some choppers and they comment how great the sound and how loud they pipes are for a &quot; JAP&quot; bike..... In the end does it really matter???? RIDE HARD, RIDE SLOW, RIDE, RIDE RIDE..... just keep the rubber side down....

Hey snowman

Did you ever get your AIS off?

Hi musky... I am taking her to the stealer on tuesday.... They are doing the 1st service for me so I figured since it was going to be there I'd have them put a few goodies on it....... I wish someone told me this &quot;hobby&quot; was gonna cost me some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$..... Damn chrome!!!!!!!!

Well, Sunday night I went to Stillwater and sure enough a cop stopped me. He said the pipes were fine and as long as I was respectful with the throttle I would not have a problem. That being said, I nursed it in and out of town about the speed of a nice Zuma!

Riding home however at 70 MPH on the highway is deafening! I need to tone them down... You guys that liek the volume, you must be wearing a helmet, right?

Doc, can you please email me the baffle mods that you have?

Thanks,

Hype