Loud Exhaust On Snowmobiles... Is there a place for this anymore?

Dogmeat · Dec 26, 2010

So, why can't OEM's and aftermarket manufacturers do like they've been doing on dirt bikes for *YEARS* now and start making snowmobile mufflers that are repackable (saves weight) and have removable baffles? That way you could cork the thing when you needed to and in the even you are actually at a competition or something you could uncork it.

I see no reason they can't be doing this. Discuss.

Blowerguy · Dec 27, 2010

Quiet dirtbikes make no power. you can't stick your pinky finger into a '07+ Yamaha WR450F thanks to California. First thing you do out here (in normalville) is order up a nice and loud FMF system to bring you from a laughable 20HP to 40ish.

I grew up on a dirtbike, now I find myself on a sled because of the government, and the enviro d'bags. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to ride a dirtbike until I use up my 3 warnings. If they can catch me.

Soon, everything will be done w/ a playstation, and we'll only have to worry about how loud your stereo is.

Gimmie a break people. The loud sled isn't the problem, it's the people that want to have control is the problem.

Things will get to a breaking point. I'm nearly there. I've already ran into someone who said "you can't be here" on a public access road I've been riding on since I was a kid. Just because you have 4 million dollars to build a house in the middle of no where doesn't mean you can restrict access to public land. I kindly asked him how good his insurance policy was against fire, then rode off.

More people need to grow a pair, and stop trying to castrate their fellow enthusiasts. Maybe if these clowns (enviros) find out who the alpha males are they'll shut up

I feel sorry for the first environmentalist I run into on any trail, dirtbike or sled.

Outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.
Outlaw dirtbikes, only outlaws will have dirtbikes.
Outlaw snowmobiles, only outlaws will have snowmobiles.

It's all coming to an end, with a big reboot/flush to start over.

I realize a sled doesn't make any more power. It's just your choice. Why dampen another mans way of life?

This country was built on freedom, maybe people should take it literally.

flying pig · Jan 3, 2011

Blowerguy said:
Quiet dirtbikes make no power. you can't stick your pinky finger into a '07+ Yamaha WR450F thanks to California. First thing you do out here (in normalville) is order up a nice and loud FMF system to bring you from a laughable 20HP to 40ish.

I grew up on a dirtbike, now I find myself on a sled because of the government, and the enviro d'bags. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to ride a dirtbike until I use up my 3 warnings. If they can catch me.

Soon, everything will be done w/ a playstation, and we'll only have to worry about how loud your stereo is.

Gimmie a break people. The loud sled isn't the problem, it's the people that want to have control is the problem.

Things will get to a breaking point. I'm nearly there. I've already ran into someone who said "you can't be here" on a public access road I've been riding on since I was a kid. Just because you have 4 million dollars to build a house in the middle of no where doesn't mean you can restrict access to public land. I kindly asked him how good his insurance policy was against fire, then rode off.

More people need to grow a pair, and stop trying to castrate their fellow enthusiasts. Maybe if these clowns (enviros) find out who the alpha males are they'll shut up I feel sorry for the first environmentalist I run into on any trail, dirtbike or sled.

Outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.
Outlaw dirtbikes, only outlaws will have dirtbikes.
Outlaw snowmobiles, only outlaws will have snowmobiles.

It's all coming to an end, with a big reboot/flush to start over.

I realize a sled doesn't make any more power. It's just your choice. Why dampen another mans way of life?

This country was built on freedom, maybe people should take it literally.

buy a good aftermarket exhaust and you can have both. there are lots of exhausts out there now that use headpipe chambers that are significantly quieter than previous designs and still show significant enough power gains that factory riders are willing to ride using them. Furthermore if a 450 doesn't have enough power for you then there's something wrong. Even the pros admit there are only a select few in the world who can ride a race 450 to its full potential. I'm a 210lb fmx rider and expert freerider and I choose to ride a 250 two smoke still and its lots of bike even for someone my size and ability. I run a fmf powercore 2 on it and its noticeably quieter than stock. This is good for me because my primary riding areas are both in urban settings, ones in a sub division and the other is right in a town's industrial park.

But back onto the sleds, running silencer packing in your silencers will tone down even the tiniest silencers a LOT plus it makes your sled sound about 20x more pi$$ed off while dropping mega DB's. And it only takes about ten minutes to do once or twice a year, And its cheap!!!!!!!!

HDEMWET · Feb 24, 2011

i think pipes are ok if used by people with brains. there is something kind of primal about ripping around and hearing a nice tuned set of pipes echoing off the trees. driving around town at all hours of the night... not so cool. there is always someone who will ruin it for everyone else, but if the pipes help add performance and aren't just a poor excuse to sound mighty, then i think that's cool.

mountainhorse · Jul 27, 2011

I agree that a well tuned motor sounds great... but just look through these forums and you will see that there are many groups that are fighing us on weather we should actually be denied access to areas we currently enjoy.

Noise is the biggest reason that they use to get new people to join in the fight.

For me... a quiet sled is the best way to go... and with the tecnology in silencers out there today, there is NO legitimate reason that a loud pipe/can will make more power than a well designed quiet system.... Just read the pages above from industry leaders in the design of snowmobile exhaust systems, engine builders and others in the performance world.

Jeff C · Jul 27, 2011

do people still think a loud sled is acceptable?

Really?

That is retarded thinking...........Period

05900 · Jul 31, 2011

A properly TUNED exhaust system doesn't have to be loud to produce a performance gain. As Many of you know straight pipes actually LOOSE horsepower and worse yet torque! And unless on a Top Fuel car sound like ****!
It cost money for the aftermarket to flow and test an exhaust system ( so they pass it on to the consumer ) as they should ) So cans are much cheaper to make/test.
So with a handful of reputable sources to test these set ups and prove or deny the claims made it lies with the manufacture to improve upon O.E.M. performance and hopefully maintain a decible level that is acceptable to us the end user of the product.

Shop and Choose carefully..why be penalized after spending hard earned money.
If they build it we will buy it.

izzni · Jul 31, 2011

Loud crap belongs at the track, or on private property. It's always nice when a Yamaha goes by and you can continue to talk to whoever you were talking to without interruption.

As for Harleys, they are too loud as well. By the time you braaap the throttle the car will have run over your *** anyway.

Scott · Sep 21, 2011

Go to page 35.

http://www.mygazines.com/issue/41947

Racer220 · Sep 22, 2011

Thx Scott. I totally agree with the article and have been preaching the need for quieter 'general population' sleds for quite some time. Although I love horsepower, the smell of race fuel, and the braaaap of a fine tuned mod sled, I believe a lot of setups need to be replaced with quieter systems unless in a closed course competition setting. One of the most enjoyable aspects of snowmobiling for me was going back to a stock sled the last couple years. Do I want more power ?? Absolutely. Would I be content going to a lighter can even if it was quiet and didn't have any power gains. Absolutely. Sound is is a huge issue right now, just as avalanche safety is when it comes to saving our sport. Everyone needs to make an effort to make a change or help educate others about the issues so we don't get screwed even more.

racer

Oregonsledder · Sep 22, 2011

I just spent the last 40 minutes reading this entire thread! Most of the important issues have been raised, many by MH. Fellow sledders, I will try to bring what I think are the most important points into better focus.

First..... If we lose more public lands it’s OUR FAULT. Think about it, ultimately the people who will end up making the decisions about if and where we can ride (and there are vastly more of them) really know very little about the sport.
Second....How do the majority of non-riders form an opinion of us?.... They form their opinion from our contact with them. Parking lots shared by skiers, with dummies hurting the sport and their snowmobiles by over revving the engine while it’s cold. Shared trails snowmobilers/skiers. YouTube videos where riders laugh and call the tops of trees that they run over “traction”!

Most of what goes on in the backcountry could still be a mystery to the majority of the general public, so think about your videos and the image you are sending to people who will only ever know the view that is created for public consumption by sledders. Be respectful of the public you do come in contact with as well as other sledders.

Noise is a real issue, and as has been said “why give the general public more reasons to dislike the sport?”.

So my view is that as sledders, we should be mindful of the perception WE are providing the public, because in the end, perception will become reality, and we will lose. It’s really up to us.

pura vida · Sep 22, 2011

well said

06IQRMK · Oct 10, 2011

Numbers...

I may not have a whole lot of room to talk here because im running a BMP powder lite thats loud as anything. I do personally think that it is obnoxiously loud. Especially once the outlet is up out of the snow. I chose that can for my new pro out of loyalty, ive always had BMP products. I am environmentally friendly, or try to be as much as possible. Taking care of the trails, volunteering on clean up days. But i still run it, MAINLY because it saves me about 6 to 8 lbs. If another manufacturer came out with a can that saves 6 lbs was quiet as stock, and had proven numbers on HP I would turn back in a heartbeat. Everyone here is on this "quest for zero" trying to make their sleds feather light... The can is usually the cheapest and easiest way to lose the biggest amount. I say lets push the challenge on our parts suppliers: SLP, BMP, HPS all of them... Of course their going to find something else to complain about once the noise is gone, but their list will get smaller and smaller...

snowcross · Oct 10, 2011

Give an inch they'll take a .....

Give an inch they'll take a mile, they will never be happy! do you think
if i ride by a greenie at 100 decibels hes going to say "that was way
better then that last sled at 110 decibels"? they dont wont sleds in the
mountains period! And one more thing, if im loading my stock e-tec or a
mod sled at 6:00 in the morning, they're pissed either way! they hate me
and i hate them! (if we all rode quiet sleds they would still hate us! it goes
a lot farther then just sound)

BillyBob25 · Oct 29, 2011

The louder the can, the better IMO. My friends need some way to find me when they can’t keep up. Though here in B.C we’re not worried about noise pollution. If you’re not a dick it’s not hard to stay off the gas at night or early in the morning when you are near houses.

Lander · Nov 24, 2011

Sledders vs. Skiers

I have been nordic skiing for about 20 years, the trails I ski are 100yds from the snowmobile staging area and frankly I don't really like listening to loud sleds or breathing 2 stroke exhaust when I ski. I would say a majority of other skiers probably feel the same. It's almost like fishing your favorite mountain stream and a D9 cat comes roaring through. Sometimes you just want a place for solitude without having to listen to machines.

On the other end I own two mountain sleds (one with a can and one without), ironically I love those things when I get on them! I love the exhaust, the motor, the sound, the speed, and the ability to go where you could never even think about making it on skiis. Frankly I could care less about what skiers think when I ride and the people who I ski with can't believe I own them.

The biggest problem is they (skiers/tree huggers) don't know where we (sledders) come from and we don't know where they come from.

mountainhorse · Nov 27, 2011

Heres one from a few pages back that I thought I bring back up.

Mountainhorse: Trying to keep this thread on track like Ollie pointed out.

Please take the time to read this entire thread, if you haven't, before contributing to the thread.

The extreme environmentalists (aka "environazis", "greenies" etc) are not the ones that will close our access...

As pointed out before... it is not these extreme groups that are making the decision... it is the public at large.... and not just one party. Those people out there that do not give a hoot one way or the other. Many card carrying conservatives, NRA members, workers, large carbon footprint people with ski boats and 2 Suburbans in the driveway and a bass boat can be convinced that "Snowmobiles are just not necessary"

I'm a sledder... that is why I take time to post on the forums. I drive a mod sled, I interact with the public out there... I see skiers, snowboarders, families that snow shoe, ice fish, etc that I share the backcountry with and the trails that get there.

Why PURPOSELY try to anger any group? Just because some people, who will never change their minds about your power sport, don't want you around? What about the McCain/Palin voter that takes his family out for a family snowshoe that does not have a feeling one way or the other about you & your sled....and you lean it over and brap it hard just to get a rise out them and scare the crap out of junior and Sally-Sue?.... they are going to probably flip you off too.

I'm a sledder, have ridden up the trails to get to the backcountry, when someone with a super loud twin or triple stinger or side exit turbo nitro rips buy at an obnoxious level.... and scares the heck out of everyone riding and just annoys everyone around them.

With the technology out there, if you have to wear earplugs because your OWN sled is that loud, your sled is TOO loud even for you.

Read my first post again with the analogies about superbowl and fishing etc.... put that into context with your response rather than your hatred and contempt for one small group that is painting everyone on snowshoes or cross-country skis as your enemy....when you allow that to happen... everyone becomes your enemy.

schmit0 · Jan 9, 2012

What happened in the Black Hills for dirt bikes could happen to all snowmobile mountain riding. Not saying that loud exhaust was the only complaint but it was the one brought our most by foes. And they all were 'greenies', no such action from the NRA crowd. We used to be able to ride unrestricted, hills, forests, trees, rocks, totally incredible. The U S Forest Service shut the whole thing down. If we aren't careful, they'll ban sleds in all U S Forests. Look what they did to Yellowstone.
I'm also a Harley rider and the biggest difference is I like my bike loud so the soccer mom on her cell phone knows I'm close by. They can't take away roads, streets, highways and freeways. They can just give us tickets if they can prove it's too loud. But they can, and will restrict off trail access. They are trying right now with a well funded, left based platform. Keep those 100db performance exhaust and soon they'll ban off trail riding.

Fab1 · Mar 27, 2012

Louder the better Brapp brapp Summer sucks

trophytaka · Apr 2, 2012

AMERICA

!!!LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES!!!
AMERICA
figured some 1 had to say it

Loud Exhaust On Snowmobiles... Is there a place for this anymore?

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