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RE: Staintune Exhaust
After connecting the Stainstune I went through several phases (I beg you to excuse in advance the length of my development in broken english):
Phase of asserted desire and denial of costs: I was delivered a week just after the order. Very nice. Despite the VAT and customs duties that I had to pay on receipt - and the shock felt by the total amount ! - As has been said in the previous posts, I was not disappointed by the quality of the Staintune. Same for mounting, very easy. No doubt the Staintune increases the look of the CB.
Phase of doubt: When I started my beautiful black CB, I was really shocked by the intensity of the noise. But yet the engine was still idle! I also noticed a strong blowing effect of the exhaust gases. It is necessary to specify that this happened between the four walls of the garage, which could only amplify the sound volume... After this listening dismayed noise at idle, I immediately rode for a few kilometers in the surrounding countryside . Gently rolling in the many turns of the small road covered with chestnut bugs that left my home, I found the ubiquitous noise and wondered if it was truly bearable everyday… I reduced the engine speed to a minimum to cross - with embarrassment - the neighboring hamlet which is just before the access to the real road where I intended to let go a little.
You must know that I am a rather discreet guy who hates to be noticed.
Some questions have crossed my mind: How can I reconcile my age and my recent status as a grandfather with the juvenile manifestation of any transgressive power which consists in making all passers-by return to my passage? Is it coherent to make a sound so sporty while giving to see a motorcycle afflicted with the irremovable top-case I carry around permanently? How would I maintain the image of seriousness a bit stuffed I developed with my last professional partners - I am in an intermediate retirement / activity?
Phase of procrastination: On the departmental road, I quickly accelerated. The sensation I felt at that moment made me leave the quantitative register of my questions. The noise became a sound. This choice of qualifier fed a debate that had been held on this forum and which now seemed relevant to me. The combination of the perception of the unusual vigor of the acceleration and of the dizzying song that accompanied it made me feel a great pleasure. This sensation seemed to me comparable to the one I enjoyed at the beginning of the 80s, at that time without guilt, on my 750 XS equipped with a three in one almost empty. But with the Staintune, unlike the three in one, the effect of sound seemed to me less explosive than ordered and harmonious. Continuing to ride in the more peaceful pace that is mine, I still felt the disturbance produced by an omnipresent sound volume. I thought about selling the Staintune.
Evaluation Phase: With the help of an App for smartphone I measured the Staintune sound volume. These measurements were not carried out with necessary rigor but they seemed to me to be indicative: 88 db at idle speed and 98 db at 3700 rpm. In my CB official paper it is prescribed 88 db at 3700 rpm. Finally, these figures seemed to me less enormous than my impressions led me to believe. After all, a few motorcycles are homologated to more than 100db - HD I think - as I could see on french motorcycles sites. Throughout the outings I realized - or did I want to consider? - that up to 2500/3000 rpm the sound was nevertheless contained and that even at this speed, at the legal speeds 50 km/h ( 31 mph), 90 km/h ( 56 mph) and 110 km/h ( 68 mph), provided that the acceleration is progressive, the volume seemed to me more and more acceptable. What is difficult to achieve as acceleration is enjoyable! I have not yet driven on the highway. I do not know what the passerby meant, for that I await the visit of my eldest son for the Xsmas holidays: I will listen to him roll at different distances and speeds!
Phase of decision: After some rides I am accustomed to a volume of sound that does not seem to me as excessive. This not without bad faith certainly. I now carefully modulate my engine speed according to the neighborhood. It seems to me that the strong but silky voice specific to this engine in high speeds, already present with the original slip-on muffler, is still there, but more directly sensitive, even exciting during accelerations. Finally I experience today a pleasure comparable to that of you, predecessors when I hear at iddle the round, deep and powerful low frequencies of an engine little valued by the original exhaust.
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