... On the EPA form it says im allowed 100DB and that the inspector is to rev the engine to 2625RPM. Inspector had to hook the RPM meter to the spark plug somehow which he had some trouble doing.
He then got me to start the engine and he controlled the throttle. He revved it to the 2625rpm and this is about 75% of the max throttle. Ive never ever revved the bike up that much. It sounded bad. I told him i didnt want him doing this, but he says he was just going by what the EPA said to do.
Any ideas?
...
I feel terminal now. The EPA has me on record, and supposedly any cop that scans my plate will see that im on the EPA list.
. . Peace.
EPA guy very likely did not set his tachometer right and must be running your bike at double rpms 2x2600 and reading it 2600 .
My suggestion is to buy a tachometer and a decibel meter. You can test yourself.
To set the tachometer, read idle - it should be about 1000 rpm (If tachometer is reading about 500, set the tachometer again until it is about 1000 rpm). I have seen it happen when tachometer is set wrong.
As you know 2600 rpm is not high at all and OEM muffler is not loud, in fact the most muffled of all.
After you have tested, go back to EPA and show the result with your decibel meter. It will cost you a little bit but may be worth it to get your name off their list. See if you can borrow a tachometer / decibel meter from someone.
Tiny Tach is wireless, just wrap the wire around the spare plug cable and I have used that because of ease of installation. There are other cheaper ones also available.
http://tinytach.com/handheld.phphttp://www.ebay.com/bhp/decibel-meterPS - Riding at 30 mph in III gear is about 2600 rpm
- Riding at 40 mph in IV gear is about 2600 rpm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CYDNVlgdgIf you don't have tachometer, you can do the following. Put a piece of white tape on throttle grip and another piece on its plastic body. Draw lines with pen to mark idle and wide-open-throttle and line them up. Divide one of them into 4 parts. Go for a ride. When you ride at above speeds in above gears, just look at how much throttle is open to help you give some idea about position of the throttle at 2600 rpm. Most likely it is about 1/3 between idle and WOT positions.
It would be different when bike is standing but gives you upper limit of throttle movement to reach those rpms, when testing for decibels without tachometer.
JVS had another method to find rpms by recording sound waves - thumps. Send him a message or if he is reading, he can elaborate on that method.