Went for my annual MOT today - it passed but had an Advisory Notice attached which reads 'Loud exhaust'. At first I was dead chuffed and then thought 'loud' it's not loud it's bloody gorgeous but I suppose the tester could not write that - bet he thought it though judging from the time he spent looking at the bike afterwards! Actually I know he's got a Sportster himself - nice work if you can get it!!

 

Do they ride the bikes to inspect them at the Ministry Of Transportation?

 

Should have just told the guy "My exhaust is not too loud, your ears are just too sensitive".

 

LOL! I like that alot. I don't think my open pipes are all that loud most of the time, but some people think they are.

 

I got SE II's on my bike and i don't think it's THAT loud... i mean some other people think it's loud but i really don't think so...

 

I've heard both louder & quieter and I think SEII's are just right.

 

Got them on my bike too, definantly not the loudest, but just the right amount of rumble. Actually did get it inspected once, where they brought out the decibel meter, but this was a Suzuki shop, which is the closest inspection point to me. The shop hates Harley's, so now I go elsewhere even if its farther. Oh, and the bike passed their decibel test.

 

The test is done at an approved testing station (my local bike garage) He did ride it round the back! Here is a link to the uk requirements annually due on all motorcycles from 3 years old:
http://www.motuk.com/Motorcycle%20MOT.asp

 

I agree SEII's are not too loud. The 'quality' of sound is as good as I've heard from any other exhaust. They do differ - I heard a Dyna today with them on and they were quieter than mine and a few weeks ago I heard another 883 that were louder than mine (baffles in!) The tone to me seems to mimic the WW2 fighters (Spitfire etc) - quite a metallic rasp sound that really soars when opened up. 'Loud' is not a word that does the SEII note justice to my mind. Shame they stopped doing them.

 

when I bought my Sportster, it had Short Shots on it. Crazy loud. Eventually I couldn't stand it anymore, I took them off, tossed the factory exhaust back on. Way too quiet. My lifters were louder than my exhaust.

I finally settled on SE-IIs. I think they are the perfect exhaust. Not too loud, but definitely not quiet. Really nice tone. Not only were the Short Shots loud, I thought they had a horrible tone.

If your SE-IIs are too loud, there are after market quiet baffles out there for them.