Is Riding Without a Muffler Bad For Your Bike? | MC Garage

Some riders will actually remove their muffler to make their bikes sound better. Is riding without a muffler bad for your motorcycle, or just bad for humanity?

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Today’s stock exhaust systems are far too quiet for most riders’ preferences, and word on the street—or forums—is that you don’t need to spend $500 on a slip-on to make your bike louder. That’s because your bike will sound sick if just yank off the stock muffler and run an open pipe. But is riding without a muffler bad for the engine, or is it just bad for humanity? We’ll get to the bottom of things in this MC Garage.

Why You Should Not Remove Your Muffler
It might be tempting to break out the wrenches and yank off your stock muffler, but the only thing that you’re going to be doing is making your bike louder and possibly damaging engine internals. By removing your muffler you increase your chances of burning your exhaust valves, melting plastics or your boots due to the change in heat distribution, and possible backfiring. Why risk harming your engine to make your bike louder? Are there any performance gains from removing your muffler? Probably not.

Removing Your Muffler For Performance
Stock exhaust cans are heavy and by removing them you are shedding some weight, but are you gaining any horsepower from taking the can off? Louder might make it seem like your bike is moving faster, but it’s not. After testing a Yamaha YZF-R3 with and without the muffler, we found no negligible difference between the two in terms of horsepower. The only thing that changed was the sound. The YZF-R3 is equipped with an underbody catalytic converter, that traps most of the exhaust sound. If your bike is not equipped with one and you remove the muffler, it will make your bike obnoxiously loud. Don’t be that guy.

I Want Sound And Performance, What Should I Do?
If you’re looking to take off your muffler, you can always opt for an aftermarket slip-on or full exhaust system. This will not only make your bike look and sound better, but it can also increase the power output. You won’t see a huge increase with a slip-on alone, but with the right adjustments to the fuel-air mixture, you can see a nice bump. The price of aftermarket slip-on mufflers and full exhaust systems vary, but they will be cheaper in the long run compared to the cost of the damage you’ll do to your engine by just pulling the stock muffler off. So keep your ears and engine safe and invest in some aftermarket parts if you want a change.

[lancevance]

if that's too loud... tell that to Harley guys

[vytas]

Technically a slip-on costs infinity times more than removing your muffler

[starnr]

"I searched GSXr no muffler" haha truest stereotype ever

[bryangarcia]

To get the actual effect of a straight pipe you would have to take out the catalytic converter. The benefits come from no gas restrictions so keeping the catalytic converter is counter intuitive if you are trying to straight pipe. Also the engine must be tuned for this. This is commonly used in car drag racing. I assume the same concepts apply.

[SvenTviking]

Depends if the back pressure comes from the catalyst or the can. If it’s the can, you need to remap your fuel injection or re-jet your carbs if it’s an old bike.
The “big, under engine box” is the catalytic converter.

[AlienPizza]

3:22😂🤪 you’re good at acting like you don’t love the sound

[ramzukiw]

I weighed my stock mufflers from my Hayabusa 77lbs lol, Coffman slip on 2lbs .

[jrozay]

Just buy a Yoshimura logo and slap it on the stock exhaust. You’ll never know the difference. 😂 way cheaper too.

[mose]

I've had loud bikes and quiet bikes and really prefer the quiet ones. I've found that wearing hi viz gear gets you noticed just as much as a loud bike and it doesn't crank off the neighbors.

[spaceflight]

Years ago I had a 1973 Z1. One day I wondered what it would sound like with only the header pipes. It sounded like a Piper Cub at idle and more like a John Deere riding around. A good pipe and muffler are a tuned system that will make your ride sing!

[rickshaw]

I ride a 2016 Honda NC700X w/stock muffler that you can barely hear. I've had guys at work telling me I should get an after-market muffler or take off the one I have to make my bike louder. I live in a residential subdivision and leave for work at 6am. Do I really want to wake up at least six sets of neighbors, some with babies, everyday? I like the fact I can start my bike and roll with nobody looking out the window at me.

[EATSLEEPDRIVE]

Nice video dude. My solution to my quiet stock exhaust, was just a crappy $70 Chinese muffler. I’m actually very pleased with it.

[ripmax]

I think it all depends on the type of Motorcycle In my case, I have a Triumph Street Twin and I removed both Mufflers, saved a lot of money and got the same results as if I installed a pair of British Customs Turn Out Performance Tips which Costs $400. The Catalytic Converter is still there and it's not obnoxiously loud at all.

[jonfindlay]

Ya know, South Park had an episode that kinda went over this...

[daltonwilliams]

One of my friends lost his muffler when we rode to the coast about 3 and a half hours from home. 600cc sport bike, it was the LONGEST RIDE HOME EVER. thankfully he now has a proper slip on 😂

[flounder]

it improved horsepower by .2 horses lol

He really had to call us out with the "gsxr no muffler" search

[kjdaby]

I love that sound with the muffler off 😍

[davidhoover]

A dyno pull with the slip on would have been nice

[homacidalteddy]

might make a bit more power with a straight pipe if you re-jet the carby and open up the air box? air flow from the exhaust doesnt mean anything if you arent getting any more fuel/air in.