What's your fav bike engine sound?

[LunarOne]

Someone I worked with many years ago owned a TL1000S with some sort of aftermarket exhausts. That thing sounded pretty fruity even at quite low revs, but I'm still a huge fan of the V4 sound and by the looks of the responses, I'm clearly not alone.

[pessimal]

depends, sometimes its the sound of me winding out my tiger, sometimes after a wet ride home, its the sound of me turning it off!

[Speed addicted]

I’ve had 3 Triumphs and have always liked the way the note changes as you go up the revs on the triples.

For the nicest noise in my garage the modified Ducati ST2 with open pipes is hard to beat though.

I had a VFR1200, the V4 drone was also lovely, but only with the louder exhaust. As standard it was almost silent.

[andburg]

biased obviously but i love the noise my bike makes even if its is on at the obnoxious end of the scale. (I have bought some quiet baffles but not got round to fitting them yet)

Harley V-twin but with a crossover pipe, meaning i dont have the potato potato

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMLD4FqBK8o

[CousinDupree]

For a stock bike, an earlier 675 Daytona I rode had a sublime exhaust note.

A lovely howl with pops and bangs, sounding pretty exotic. Terrific!

[Jules Sunley]

4 cylinder four stroke 750's - I've had loads of bikes but my two past ZXR750s made sweet music in the upper rev ranges

[ddom]

Has to be a properly crisp 2 stroke. The RG500 is a favorite but I grew up with 125/250 and 350 race bikes, they are still the most awesomely amazing sounds and smells.

[Don Roque]

The old 955i Triumph engine on a Triumph Off Road can. The T595 Daytona and Speed Triple just sound utterly brilliant.

[Pebbles167]

I love most V Twin sounds, but all of my bikes have been inline 4.

Two stick in my head for noise. Firstly my GSXR750 SRAD. I did loads of trackdays on that and just got so used to the noises, I could tell exactly what it was doing. Been fond of it ever since and can tell the sound instantly.

Secondly my BMW K1200R. The intake noise on wide open throttle was immense, reminded me of an E46 M3, just had such a bark to it. When I fitted a liud aftermarket exhaust, I ended up putting the standard one back on after a few days, so I could hear the intake more.

[Pat H]

My favourites are triples.

Doesn't matter whether its a T160, a Jota, a K75, an XS750 or a Hinkley 900 Trident. They all make wonderful music.

[SAS Tom]

LimSlip said:

roboxm3 said:

Really??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbODEUl7Vs

Yes really. That clip reminds me of my GPZ500, it's not awful but a slightly unpleasant farty noise. Also never understood the love for the Subaru boxer, sounds almost exactly like an IL4 with a bad misfire.

This is music to my ears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwJYqAmybLg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNAfSWHOa8w

I think triples sound awful. Like broken 4 cylinders. That stupid whistle noise triumphs make is annoying. I’ll go against the grain here too and say that I hate the power delivery too. Contrary to what a lot of people say, none of the torque of a twin and none of the power of a 4.

[Roguexcess]

bunchofkeys said:

I tend to favour the big V-Twins, for that thump thump thump sound.

However, the CBX1000 https://youtu.be/PnmXrjqx8b4?t=153

Edited by bunchofkeys on Monday 6th July 07:49

so good

[LimSlip]

SAS Tom said:

I think triples sound awful. Like broken 4 cylinders. That stupid whistle noise triumphs make is annoying. I’ll go against the grain here too and say that I hate the power delivery too. Contrary to what a lot of people say, none of the torque of a twin and none of the power of a 4.

I don't like the whistle noise that Triumphs make, spoils what is otherwise a lovely sound. Triples tend to make as much or more torque than twins FWIW, though comparing like with like is difficult i.e. finding engines of a similar capacity in similar state of tune.

Edited by LimSlip on Friday 10th July 20:22

[leighz]

this does it for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYYiSqMh8hs

utterly brutal

well done kawasaki for producing a completely bat-st crazy motorcycle

[Stuart Fordyce]

The sound of a Harley... being switched off. Absurd sounding things which make a dreadful racket for no performance.

Most Kawasaki four cylinder sportsbikes sound good, that intake roar and high rev scream. Oh, and the V4 MotoGP bikes... screaming speed

[smithyithy]

SAS Tom said:

I think triples sound awful. Like broken 4 cylinders. That stupid whistle noise triumphs make is annoying. I’ll go against the grain here too and say that I hate the power delivery too. Contrary to what a lot of people say, none of the torque of a twin and none of the power of a 4.

Interesting. I personally don't mind the whistle sound, on my Daytona it's not that noticeable against the exhaust (or I've just gotten used to it..)

But for power delivery, maybe it depends on the specific bike / application and what other bikes it's being compared to in that category...

For example I've owned / ridden quite a few mid-size inline-4 sports bikes, and although it can be nice to really get up the rev range (my old CBR400RR would rev to silly RPM), I do think the triple has more useable midrange, and although it can definitely rev out, you don't have to ring its neck quite as much.

Lad I used to ride with had a GSXR600 about the same age, and mid-gear pulls I'd leave him behind pretty easily.

Sadly I've had much less experience with V-twins so can't fairly compare them.. Although I've had a couple of Street Triple loan bikes, and although they're a fantastic package and I'd definitely consider owning one, I'd have to try out some twins first if I was in the market for a naked bike, as I imagine those engines are really nice in that type of bike.

Edit: Just to add, a guy in my street currently has a VTR 1000 with some rather loud pipes on, it does sound nice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruCDTw4lIaY

[moto_traxport]

SAS Tom said:

I think triples sound awful. Like broken 4 cylinders. That stupid whistle noise triumphs make is annoying. I’ll go against the grain here too and say that I hate the power delivery too. Contrary to what a lot of people say, none of the torque of a twin and none of the power of a 4.

Not just me then!

I rode a mate’s 675 Daytona at a trackday fully on the expectation that this was going to be the perfect compromise of Vtwin and in-line 4 I had been looking for.

Nope! No grunt & constantly bumping into the rev limiter. Noise was similarly not one thing nor the other.

Best noise of recent bikes has got to be a 2015 onwards R1 with a long exhaust on it (Seton tuning or PipeWerx) so less volume / more quality,

Best noise ever for me was a big bore VMax we built with a 4-2-1 Hindle exhaust system and a long can (same reason as above). Bike not my cup of tea at all - but the noise was sublime. It also had flatslide carbs on it. People sometimes ignore some of the best noise is the air going in rather than that coming out and from a rider point of view the induction noise is a lot of what you hear.

[LimSlip]

moto_traxport said:

Not just me then!

I rode a mate’s 675 Daytona at a trackday fully on the expectation that this was going to be the perfect compromise of Vtwin and in-line 4 I had been looking for.

Nope! No grunt & constantly bumping into the rev limiter. Noise was similarly not one thing nor the other.

Can you think of one V twin road bike of similar capacity that offers more grunt? The rev limiter on the Daytona is a bit over 14k RPM, so if you kept bumping into the rev limiter it would suggest it's pulling rather hard through the gears, no?

[tvrolet]

I'm no fan of anything 'screaming', especially fours. And I hate the sound of 2-strokes - any 2-stroke. And singles...

Now I've got that out the way I like bass, so big capacity v-twins (or triples) but at idle or under load - not being revved to an inch of their lives. With that in mind, here's my '47 Chief idling...plus a little throttle blip. 1200cc of 73-year-old v-twin goodness.

https://youtu.be/Ko51DyAjSnk

[andburg]

impressed they had remote control throttles on those things!