[2bikebill]

Having had the Watsonian Goldstar exhaust on my G5 for most of its 10,500 miles, I thought I'd have a change. The Goldies's getting a bit rusty, and I've always fancied more of a bass thump than the BLAT sound of the Goldstar. So today I fitted the Hitchcocks EFI Silencer. Easy bolt-on job. Doesn't look half as good to my eye as that upswept Goldstar pipe though.
Took the bike down the road to try it out, opened it up, and was surprised to find it goes even better than with the Goldie!
But bloody hell what a racket. I thought the Goldie was loud but this thing......  I tried it with the removable baffle, but it makes hardly any difference. Even with earplugs I wouldn't want to be on it all day.
But I love the way it goes. With the 18t front sprocket and this pipe I don't think the bike would object at all to cruising for long spells at 70-75mph. But I'm pretty sure everyone else would! No way this thing is street legal.
I actually like the sound of the stock silencer, but I'm too used now to how nicely the bike runs without that gigantic torpedo tube choking it back. So it looks like back to the Goldie for looks and only slightly compromised performance. Of course Hithcocks wont take the thing back now I've used it, so I'm slipping in a crafty small ad here.
Anyone interested in a new EFI silencer with only twenty or so miles on it, let me know..... (probably realistically only applies to UK)

[Maturin]

I love my EFI-trumpet, it´s just a classic look on the Bullet. Leave the Goldstar silencers to the Goldstars!  After having done some 10´kms with it I wanted to try the baffle because the local Police started to use mobile db-testers - nasty!
It made a huge difference. Nearby a Hokayasuki with 4 pots nobody will take any notice from the Bullet, acoustic-wise.
But when our police is busy with criminals again someday, the baffle will get kicked out. My neighbour just asked me if anything is broken, "she sounds so...quiet". I don´t like to hear that about Precious, honestly 
I think that the baffle muffles the sound quite well, especially when you open up your throttle wide. Without the baffle that is really loud! Best regards
Maturin

[john hut]

Just changed back to the original torpedo silencer from my Goldie for tomorrows MOT,Went out for a 30mile run today and felt that the power was well down on the Goldie (or is it my imagination)..I,ll be changing back as soon as possible,,Ill also be asking if it would pass with out changing to the original..

[2bikebill]

It's not your imagination John - the difference is very noticeable, particularly if you're a bit of a throttle-monger  . The torpedo really holds it back. What surprised me was, the EFI "silencer" (!) actually improves on the Goldie (Watsonian). Can't speak for the Hitchcocks version.
Maturin - I had a quick thrash for a couple of miles with the baffle in, but it didn't seem that much quieter. A little, certainly, but really not much.

[Maturin]

Amazing. We´re talking about the baffle with the Hitchcock´s part no. BAFFLE1, aren´t we?

[2bikebill]

Yes that thing with all the little tangs you can bend. I fitted it just as it came, all the tangs folded over (maximum pipe obstruction) and it makes a difference, but not a heck of a lot. I'd say with the baffle attached it's about equal in volume to the Watsonian Goldie, perhaps a little louder. I'm going out in a minute to try it again just to see.

[2bikebill]

Update -
Earplugs in this time  (I wanted to hear the exhaust, not the engine cacophony!) I had a twenty minute blat with the baffle in, then a quick pit stop to take it out (ouch, hot) and off for another half hour.
Yes it's louder with baffle out, but the quality of the sound is completely different too - it has that lovely big single THUD THUD THUD, which is flattened out with the baffle in. Not a lot of difference in performance either way, and I'll be leaving the baffle in just to tame the volume a bit.
I have to say I'm warming to it, if only for the improvement in the way the bike runs, although it's a tighter & tidier fit than the Goldie was with the angled elbow piece, and my chrome "flame" heatshield is a better fit with it too. This pipe outperforms the Watsonian Goldie noticeably. This surprised me. I found I was banging along at 70mph without even realising it, it felt like 60mph did before in terms of engine effort. And acceleration is nippier too.
I'm converted. It's a keeper. But earplugs essential.

[barenekd]

Obviously, the Watsonian EFI isn't the same as the EFI (Indian) I have which is quieter, but still has a good tone. Not quite the same performance gain, no removable baffle. Have to figure out how to afford the Watsonion!
Bare

[2bikebill]

Bare, it's the Hitchcocks EFI I'm referring to. I think the Watsonian equivalent is their "sports" silencer, which comes with integral heatshield.
I had the Watsonian Goldie, now I have the Hitchcocks EFI.
But I'd quite like to try the Hitchcocks Goldie too.... 

PS I also have the 18t front sprocket,(G5) which adds a bit.

[john hut]

Just passed the UK MOT ,need not have changed from my Hitchcocks GoldStar silencer as it was legal without cat. converter,I,ts down to the testers discretion as to wether its too noisy or not,One thing he did comment on was wear in kickstart side rear swinging arm joint(bush).will investigate over the weekend..Has anyone else had this problem,,,

[2bikebill]

Glad to hear it got through the MOT John.
My swinging arm has had around 4mm sideways play from new! I plan to replace the bushes with Hitchcocks Metalastics before the MOT next March. The original nylon ones aren't up to the job really.

(Are you bored with that fine looking studded seat yet?) 

[john hut]

Thanks Will,running with the dual seat at the moment so the wife can come along when we have the dry weather,I,ll change back when it gets cold again,There is only a small amount of play in the swinging arm and possibly not too much to worry about but i,ll keep an eye on it and replace the bushes if it gets worse,,

[AwL]

Recently purchased a 2009 G5.  Previous owner had installed a Harley type muffler(with fin) which was too loud for me, and I was concerned about using a muffler not "tuned" for the EFI.  So  bit the bullet (so to speak) and bought the EFI muffler from Enfieldgear (same as Hitchcock-newspaper packing was from Redditch UK).  Quieter and quiet enough for  me.  Bike seems to run better but  that's just seat of the pants opinion, not based on any testing.

[2bikebill]

The EFI on these bikes seems to be fairly forgiving. Any silencer that doen't backfire excessively is fine - in spite of what Mr Hitchcock says (possibly with half an eye on Power Commander sales) 
A couple of members here are using the "Electra Silencer" from Royal Spares in India (about £35 inc p&p!) with no problems. I tried one but it backfired all the time on my G5. Sounded really good though. A bit trickier to fit than the "proper" one.

[mattsz]

So many EFI silencer threads to choose from!  Why not this one?

I installed my, you guessed it, EFI silencer yesterday.  Lovely idle sound, little louder than I'd like on the gas, but I'm going to live with it for awhile.  I took about a 5 mile ride, and noticed a couple of "pffft" backfires early on, then nothing until I was a block from home, when a gentle in-gear, off-throttle slowdown provided a gunshot-like report which truly startled me!  Is this ok - what kind of damage, if any, might I do if this continues?

I'd rather avoid the backfiring altogether.  I read about adjusting the TPS, but I don't wanna go there just yet.  I installed a new header gasket, and I can't feel or hear any leaks in the exhaust.  Might the EFI adjust?

[ace.cafe]

So many EFI silencer threads to choose from!  Why not this one?

I installed my, you guessed it, EFI silencer yesterday.  Lovely idle sound, little louder than I'd like on the gas, but I'm going to live with it for awhile.  I took about a 5 mile ride, and noticed a couple of "pffft" backfires early on, then nothing until I was a block from home, when a gentle in-gear, off-throttle slowdown provided a gunshot-like report which truly startled me!  Is this ok - what kind of damage, if any, might I do if this continues?

I'd rather avoid the backfiring altogether.  I read about adjusting the TPS, but I don't wanna go there just yet.  I installed a new header gasket, and I can't feel or hear any leaks in the exhaust.  Might the EFI adjust?

This type of "backfiring" can come from being too rich or too lean in a closed-throttle position.
Typically it is a too lean condition that is seen most often.
In a too lean backfire, there is a cycle where the lean mixture didn't get ignited, and goes out the exhaust valve into the hot exhaust pipe, where it then ignites. This makes a big "pop" in the exhaust pipe that can be very loud.

I have never seen any damage from this. But it is an indicator that the mixture is not correct for the closed-throttle position.

[mattsz]

Thanks ACE!

I thought this silencer was made to work with the EFI engine - and perhaps it IS working as designed.

For the moment I'll ride it and see what happens.  But if the EFI doesn't sort the mixture out, should I try something? 

[ace.cafe]

Thanks ACE!

I thought this silencer was made to work with the EFI engine - and perhaps it IS working as designed.

For the moment I'll ride it and see what happens.  But if the EFI doesn't sort the mixture out, should I try something?

It is very common for a free-flowing exhaust system to require some attention to the fuel/air mixture. Generally, a free-flow system has the effects of leaning out the running of the bike, because better cylinder scavenging takes place. Some EFI systems have enough flexibility to deal with this change, and some don't. Some might need adjustment.
Adjusting the TPS closer to 0.7v output seems to help some people, from what I have read. Don't go all the way up to 0.7v, though. That's the maximum. You might need to try just a little higher than you have, and then see how that is, and make a judgment about whether it needs more, or not. It's a trial-and-error process to get it right where you want it.

This is a process that we do with carburetors all the time, when a free-flow system is installed. Except that we re-jet the carb to get it where we want it. If we don't, then it pops out the exhaust like yours is doing.

[mattsz]

Ok, thanks.  I'm out for a longer ride today.  I'll watch it and see what happens.  As I understand things, too rich is troublesome, but too lean is definitely bad.  As long as I'm not doing any damage...

[ace.cafe]

Ok, thanks.  I'm out for a longer ride today.  I'll watch it and see what happens.  As I understand things, too rich is troublesome, but too lean is definitely bad.  As long as I'm not doing any damage...

The backfiring might not be causing any damage, but the lean condition MIGHT be able to cause some damage. So, it needs to be made correct, if the EFI cannot adapt to it.

[JVS]

Great advice from ace.cafe as usual. I will tell you my side of things.

When I installed my EFI silencer from Hitchcocks, I had a very similar story such as yourself. Had a few backfires just after the installation..that is I went for a quick ride and had pops whilst I accelerated quickly on purpose and let the throttle off. I guess the ECU needs a bit more than 5 minutes to adjust..or maybe it just depends on the oxygen sensor.

With any aftermarket silencer on our EFI bikes, you will always have some backfiring on certain occasions. Give it a few more days and see how it is. It's just just you getting used to the new loud  sound and your B5 getting accustomed to it also.

I had gone down the TPS lane and had altered the voltage to make it a tad richer. There was not a lot of difference. So after a week or so, I had returned to my original TPS idle voltage. My B5 doesn't backfire often now. The system is used to the silencer. I have checked the spark plug on numerous occasions with the EFI silencer and it is running at optimum mixture. (Nice brownish/tan spark plug electrode ~ 0.7mm gap) I am sure your RE wouldn't backfire as much after a few days of riding. If it persists, then let us know.
 
For the past 2000 miles or so I've been running without the mechanical baffle. It runs decent. Very rare backfiring. Nothing to be worried about. It's just some fun! A loud pop here and there is good for the cagers and pedestrians alike. Brings a smile to my face sometimes haha.

[barenekd]

Mine did the big bang occasionally, no damage, no problem. It did serve as a great deterrent for me one day, though. A guy pulled out in front of me turning right on red, and as I pulled up next to him, I kinda gave him the evil eye and he was just staying alongside as a kind of aggressive move. My EFI let out one of those famous bangs, and, man, did that guy back off! The timing couldn't have been better! I think he thought I took a potshot at him. Any way he didn't stick around me any more!
Bare

[TWinOKC]

I have the EFI silencer also.  When I first fitted it the thing would backfire quite often, usually when the outside temp was a little cool like in the 40's.  I liked the backfiring but now it seems to have calmed down (computer self adjusted) very seldom get any good bangs.  I really miss the backfiring, like others have said, it keeps those cagers off your ass.

[Royalista]

Mine did the big bang occasionally, no damage, no problem. It did serve as a great deterrent for me one day, though. A guy pulled out in front of me turning right on red, and as I pulled up next to him, I kinda gave him the evil eye and he was just staying alongside as a kind of aggressive move. My EFI let out one of those famous bangs, and, man, did that guy back off! The timing couldn't have been better! I think he thought I took a potshot at him. Any way he didn't stick around me any more!
Bare

Bullet as guardian angel.   I like it.    A lot.

[mattsz]

Went for a 160 mile ride today.  The bike performed well, only backfiring three or so times, and nothing as loud as that gunshot report the other day.  I also got unusually good economy, 71 MPG on that tankful.    Wonder why?

That silencer is loud, though - probably too loud for my liking...

[Boots]

Gotta admit I love my NField Gear EFI silencer - performance is improved, it looks the part and the sound is really something special. I plan to run it until it falls off (heaven forbid) and becomes bluish gold.

[JVS]

Went for a 160 mile ride today.  The bike performed well, only backfiring three or so times, and nothing as loud as that gunshot report the other day.  I also got unusually good economy, 71 MPG on that tankful.    Wonder why?

That silencer is loud, though - probably too loud for my liking...

Awesome stuff. That silencer does seem loud when you are new to it. Trust me, after a few more rides you will get used to it. I'm riding without the baffle and now I'm used to the even louder sound. Doesn't seem bad to me anymore. You can try earplugs.

However, for me personally, earplugs feel like they disconnect me from the surroundings and reduce your overall awareness of people/cagers around. Those little sounds/noises matter. Keeps you alert and you can hear any other vehicles when they come close to you etc. Even if you scan your mirrors every few seconds whilst riding, there are some idiots who tend to come up on your backside as fast as they can and then try to overtake you etc. 1 second there is nothing behind you, and the other you see a big 4x4 O_O

According to your fuely thing, 71mpg has been the best performance of your B5 till now. It is easily capable of 75mpg+. Enjoy.

[singhg5]

That silencer does seem loud when you are new to it. Trust me, after a few more rides you will get used to it. I'm riding without the baffle and now I'm used to the even louder sound. Doesn't seem bad to me anymore.

Watch out JVS if it does not seem bad !

From another perspective, you don't want a hearing aid in your mid 20's or  mid 30's.  Hardly anyone thinks about it until it is too late.

Ear plugs are not for me during motorcycle riding. Hate the ear pressure changes and feeling of something in ear canal. I like to hear and see everything around me.

Occasionally used them during flying, these specially designed Ear Planes which have a hole inside to balance air pressure inside out.

[JVS]

Singh Ji,

I agree with you. Our helmets (mine at least), muffles the excessive sound of the silencer and other ambient noises. However, the main factor that degrades our hearing is the wind noise. Excessive wind noise is the culprit for lowered hearing and possible tinnitus in motorcycle riders.

For local town and suburban riding, I do not use earplugs. However, the wind noise gets quite bad for me on longer trips where the speed is around or greater than 50mph. Wind noise levels over 50dB in our helmets can be bad. There is a chart on some website showing how much volume our ear drums can handle fine for a certain period before it starts to hamper the hearing. In these longer trips I do try to use the earplugs.

[mattsz]

...You can try earplugs.

I WAS wearing earplugs!  I generally don't wear them on my 12 minute ride to work, but I always do on any longer rides.  It was against the wind noise, now it will clearly by against the wind and the bike noise.  I have pretty sensitive ears, and I want to keep them working well as long as I can.

I once worked for a year on a small industrial beach-landing ferry, transporting mostly trucks and equipment to islands that have no vehicular access.  The truck drivers always wanted to see the engine room.  I would bring them down and offer them ear protection, and about half the time they refused it - the primary reason was, "It's ok, I'm used to the noise."  This was a seriously loud engine room environment - we ran twin 12-cylinder Detroit Diesel mains.  Well, I would argue that it wasn't that these guys were "used to" the noise, but that their hearing was already shot.

According to your fuely thing, 71mpg has been the best performance of your B5 till now. It is easily capable of 75mpg+. Enjoy.

Easily capable?  Maybe, but I haven't gotten near it until this last tank.  And while I'm at it, I need to figure out why Fuelly says my average MPG is lower than my worst number.  Maybe those two "partial fill-ups" are skewing my results?

[2bikebill]

"Getting used to" excessive noise can bring a special kind of torment in later life.
There is no cure for tinnitus - in spite of all the snake oil hogwash you'll find online. I'm not talking about that occasional ringing in the ear we all get from time to time - there ought to be a different name for that.
Full-on continuous tinnitus will change your life. No more silence. Ever. Don't want to go crazy? Practice practice practice. No choice.
Wear your earplugs or wish you had...
 

[mattsz]

Continuing the thread...

Adding fiberglass muffler packing to the baffle came up recently in another thread - I'm wondering if anybody has done this with the EFI silencer?  I like the sound, but it's still a little too loud for me.  Can I quiet it down somehow without a big change to the way the bike runs?

[TWinOKC]

I'm not sure if its the noise from the silencer but just wind noise.  Maybe its just my helmet?  I wear ear plugs on longer rides, short trips around, maybe not.

[High On Octane]

Continuing the thread...

Adding fiberglass muffler packing to the baffle came up recently in another thread - I'm wondering if anybody has done this with the EFI silencer?  I like the sound, but it's still a little too loud for me.  Can I quiet it down somehow without a big change to the way the bike runs?

Adding muffler packing is VERY easy, AS LONG AS you have a removable baffle.  On the other hand, it isn't that difficult to add a new removable baffle either, just use a micrometer on the inside of the muffler at the exit and make sure to order the correct sized baffle.

Get yourself some fiberglass muffler packing from online or your local motorcycle supply store and some bailing wire  from a hardware store.  Cut the material to a size that will be about the same length as the baffle surface and then enough to wrap around the baffle 1-3 times, depending on how quiet you want exhaust.  Next, wrap the material round the baffle as tight as you can and put a piece of masking tape on it to hold it in place temporarily.  Then take your bailing wire, start at 1 end leaving about 4-6" tail of wire wire where you start.  Make 2 full wraps around your starting point and start coiling the wire down, when you get to the other end, make 2-3 wraps around the end and start coiling back up.  When you get back to your starting point, make an additional 2 wraps and stop when the 2 ends of wire are next to each other.  Take a pair of pliers and twist the ends of wire until tight around the baffle, but not so tight you break the wire.  Trim the twisted wires about 3/4" long and fold it over.  Put the baffle back in and you're done!

I like the Moose Racing packing, it's cheap and works very well.
http://www.bikebandit.com/moose-racing-competition-muffler-packing?WT.mc_id=googlemerchantfeed&utm_source=feed&utm_medium=merchantfeed&utm_campaign=pla&gclid=CMbehNPwyrgCFaY-MgodMy4AlA

Scottie

[D the D]

Scottie is right.  You can get an insert baffle for under $10.  I had one of the barbell type, but took it out.  They're perfect for wrapping/packing.

[barenekd]

My EFI silencer (Indian) wasn't that loud and didn't have an insert, so when I got up to speed the wind noise was all there was. earplugs were mandatory with the Davida or Bell 500. It wasn't bad with my Fulmer 500 style helmet, it fit better and I don't use earplugs with full coverage helmets unless it's a flip front job, those things are noisy! Other full ace helmets definitely very in noise. I think my old Shoei is the quietest one I have. However I've had tinnitus for the last 30 years probably. Probably because back in the days before that I was racing unmuffled Karts, ring dinger motorcycles, flying model airplanes and open cockpit biplanes, and working in some pretty noisy shops riveting, etc. with no ear protection at all. Helicopters were the worst of the bunch, but I always had headsets in those. I guess you have to start a lot younger than I did with the ear protection!
Bare

[mattsz]

Scottie-

Pics stolen from wildbill's thread (http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,16335.msg177968.html#msg177968)...

I have the same silencer as he's got in that thread; it came with a removable baffle already installed:



in the end of the silencer here:



Mine has the same screen permanently attached where the silencer narrows again before the exhaust opening.

The wide opening is a tight fit in the end of the silencer, so any packing wrapped around that portion would prevent the baffle from fitting back inside the pipe.  Is the idea simply to wrap packing around the outside of the narrow portion of the baffle?  If no exhaust escapes around the outside of the baffle, due to the tight fit at the wide end, what does the packing actually do?

[Sectorsteve]

i hear ya. ive been a fool regarding my ears. never used earplugs. the new muffler is heaps loud. i really need to save my ears because im going deaf. This isnt good for a sound engineer. i need to hear stuff or i will no longer be able to do my twice monthly audio gig at poontang central. Earplugs today.

[D the D]

You only wrap the small part.  Obviously you can't wrap the large diameter and stick it back in.  If you have long enough straight pipe you can use the barbell shaped ones, which flare out on both ends.  The packing seems to last longer with those.  It's like making a glass pack muffler for a hotrod/muscle car.

[Craig McClure]

BIG SINGLES idle pretty quietly even with a megaphone. When approaching a police cruiser head on, get off the Throttle & pull in the Clutch. Coast on by-They don't even notice you. Worked for me for decades.
Here in the USA, its the Harleys that are offensive & get spanked.
  If you observe a watch full constable, just go lightly on the throttle.  BE OBSERVANT - Its the ones you don't see......

[mattsz]

Yeah - I thought mine was noisy, then my work mate started his harley up, and I couldn't even hear mine.  Noisy harley riders don't get spanked here - so many cops ride them!

My town tried to pass a noisy motorcycle ordinance, but it was voted down on the grounds that we already have a noise ordinance which doesn't need to be duplicated for any individual item which might be noisy.  Who cares about either one if nobody enforces it?

[D the D]

BIG SINGLES idle pretty quietly even with a megaphone. When approaching a police cruiser head on, get off the Throttle & pull in the Clutch. Coast on by-They don't even notice you. Worked for me for decades.
Here in the USA, its the Harleys that are offensive & get spanked.
  If you observe a watch full constable, just go lightly on the throttle.  BE OBSERVANT - Its the ones you don't see......

That's my method too!

[Bulletman]

BIG SINGLES idle pretty quietly even with a megaphone. When approaching a police cruiser head on, get off the Throttle & pull in the Clutch. Coast on by-They don't even notice you. Worked for me for decades.
Here in the USA, its the Harleys that are offensive & get spanked.
  If you observe a watch full constable, just go lightly on the throttle.  BE OBSERVANT - Its the ones you don't see......

Excellent Idea Craig 

[sparklow]

A EFI silencer question. From reading the many posts on the EFI, it seems that some have a baffle installed and some do not. Mine was installed by my dealer at the time of delivery and has no removable baffle. As it was dealer installed I assume that it is a genuine RE part. So, any idea why some have a baffle and some don't?

[barenekd]

They are made by different companies! Mine didn't have a baffle and when you looked in the tail end there was about a 1/2" tube down the center of it. It sounded great without being excessive, and performed better than the stock torpedo. A little louder with more punch. If you listened to it driving away is was loud enough, but not annoying to be heard about a block away. Never had a cop give it a second glance.
As I look at it now, it does have a bolt hole for the baffle. I never got one with either muffler I had. Can't say I needed or wanted one!
Bare